Mid-Year Rankings for Cardinals' 2023-2025 Draft Picks

photo credit: Tyler Drake Arizona Sports


By Walter Mitchell

QB:

* Clayton Tune --- GB practice squad

RB:

* Trey Benson --- IR --- #73 RB

WR:

* Marvin Harrison Jr. --- #71 WR

* Michael Wilson --- #125 WR

* Tejhuan Palmer --- practice squad

TE:

* Tip Reiman --- IR --- #94 TE

T:

* Paris Johnson Jr. --- #8 T

* Christian Jones --- IR

G: 

* Isaiah Adams --- #106 G

* Jon Gaines II --- #100 G

C:

* Hayden Conner --- IR

DI:

* Darius Robinson --- #189 DI

* Walter Nolen --- #13 DI (missed 7 games)

* Dante Stills --- #158 DI

ED:

* B.J. Ojulari --- IR (designated to return)

* Jordan Burch --- #156 ED

* Xavier Thomas --- #104 ED

LB:

* Cody Simon --- #22 LB

* Owen Pappoe --- has not played on defense

CB:

* Garrett Williams --- #104 CB (missed 5 games)

* Kei'trel Clark --- #119 CB

* Max Melton --- #158 CB (missed 2 games)

* Elijah Jones --- has not played on defense

* Jaden Davis --- practice squad

* Will Johnson --- #11 CB (missed 3 games)

* Denzel Burke --- #54 CB

S:

* Dadrion Taylor-Demerson --- #42 S

* Kitan Crawford --- #1 S (missed 4 games)

Commentary:

These are underwhelming and disappointing results. Especially when comparing the Cardinals' draft pick development with the Rams', Seahawks' and 49ers' --- none of which had the higher picks and draft capital that the Cardinals have had the past three years.

Rams' All-Rookies: G Steve Avila, DI Kobie Turner, DE Bryon Young, WR Puka Nakua, ED Jared Verse, DI Braden Fiske, KR Jordan Whittington

Seahawks' All-Rookies: CB Devon Witherspoon

49ers' All-Rookies: K Jake Moody, S Ji'Ayir Brown, G Dominic Puni

Pro Bowls: WR Puka Nacua, CB Devon Witherspoon, ED Jared Verse

2024 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year: ED Jared Verse

No Pro Bowlers or All-Rookie Teams for any of the Cardinals' players as of yet. Not sure if Will Johnson or Walter Nolen will make the 2025 PFWA All-Rookie Team due to missing games.

Joanna Cards Fan (one of my all-time favorite, most well-informed Cardinals' fan on X) and I conversed in the topic of the Cardinals' draft pick development yesterday and here are the exchanges:


Walter B J Mitchell
@WBJMItch
That's an outstanding effort, Joanna! Kudos! Just would have hoped one draft pick be a Pro Bowler by now when some of the players Monti passed on are. That, and his propensity to overlook medicals is hurting him and the team akin to the way it did when he was at TEN. And 7 CBs?
Quote
Joanna Cards Fan
@cardsfanjoanna
Replying to @WBJMItch
It’s obvious at this point there were serious flaws in these staff hires On the flip side, I think Monti’s drafts have a clear methodology behind them and are much improved vs Keim. So it’s a tough one

Walter B J Mitchell
@WBJMItch
Right on the money, Joanna! Developing players is often accelerated by having experienced coaches with a certain gravitas on your staff. Cardinals, with this staff, have none of that. Plus, what kind of favors are the coaches doing for the players by not only being the most inexperienced, but also the most conservative?
Quote
Joanna Cards Fan
@cardsfanjoanna
Replying to @WBJMItch
I can’t help but wonder how much of it is on our staff. Some of these guys are on the brink and you can see the potential, but something isn’t unlocking it. I think we have a LOT of problems on our coaching staff right now
810
Views

Walter B J Mitchell
@WBJMItch
Here's the coaching staff Monti hired to compete in NFC West: Years of NFL experience at their roles coming in: HC Gannon: 0 OC Petzing: 0 DC: Rallis: 0 QBC Woolfork: 0 OLC Frye: 0 RBC Denson: 0 TEC Steele: 3 DLC Deebo: 0 LB Garcia: 0 OLBC Feeney: 0 DBC: Toney: 0 CBC Smith: 0 STC Rodgers: 14 (carry over)  

Senior Advisors: 0 

Conclusion:

The subpar coaching from Jonathan Gannon and his inexperienced staff and the unusual number of injuries incurred by Monti Ossenfort's draft picks, some of whom came into the NFL with medical red flags, has led to what Brett Kollmann so accurately has been describing as "the slowest 3-year slow burn of a rebuild."

As a buddy of mine once said to a waitress who appeared to be neglecting us ---

"Honey, I've got summer in my hair and I've got winter in my teeth but if you don't get some spring in your tail, we'll be here 'til the eff'n fall!"






Comments

  1. TMAttyNovember 12, 2025 at 7:17 AM

    Very good breakdown, Walter. I’ve felt since this season went off the rails that MO would get a second chance while the coaches are likely out. Looking at this, I don’t see how you can justify that. These aren’t Keim drafts, but we had so much capital and so very little to show for it.

    It’s ironic that our best player, McBride, was chosen by Keim on the way out the door, and that pick was blasted at the time since we needed essentially every position and had Ertz at the time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Walter MitchellNovember 12, 2025 at 8:09 AM

      Keim drafted a lot of good players, TMatty. Like the one who is the namesake of your user name, correct?

      Delete
    2. TMAttyNovember 12, 2025 at 8:58 AM

      He definitely did draft some great guys, Budda Baker being my favorite. I'm a newer fan, so just speaking from my experience following since 2020. I'd love to see some kind of comparison on draft returns for Keim vs. MO as part of my Cardinals education.

      Funny thing, my username isn't actually a Cardinals reference. I'm a trademark (TM) attorney (Atty), but since the shoutout on the podcast I've lovingly adopted the T-Matty nickname!

      Delete
    3. Walter MitchellNovember 12, 2025 at 12:38 PM

      That's so cool, TMatty! 61 and I could use a good attorney! We'll stay in touch! yeah, I thought it was short for Tyrann Mathieu. Either way, you win!

      Delete
    4. NSCardNovember 15, 2025 at 6:56 AM

      That's an impressive list above there. Every single draft pick is a contributor to the team with the exception of Tune (who I bet is regretting his decision to leave now since he would have been the 1st string backup). Keim wouldn't have that many contributors in 6 draft classes let alone 3.

      I don't get the competing narratives. There is clearly a lot of talent on this roster. If we are saying that the coaching staff can't coach the players to their ceiling, than they are even more talented than we see game in and out. Wouldn't that mean the front office is doing a great job?

      Delete
  2. Since 61November 12, 2025 at 8:39 AM

    Recipe for failure across the board. No one should mourn the firing of this staff and FO and everyone should be prepared to endure at least another season of this regime.
    The Owner has NEVER made the right smart aggressive football call. NEVER.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Since 61November 12, 2025 at 8:41 AM

    Anyone suggesting our defensive HC can coach a football team should rewatch this team's tackling in the second half of last week's failure against the Seahawks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. RedrunNovember 12, 2025 at 10:07 AM

    This article highlights the lack of coaching development of our draft picks. Which has been case what seems like forever, no recent coach has been good at player development (Even BA preferred pre-developed vets over rookies putting rookies in doghouse e.g. DJ Humphries)

    Some of Monti's draft selections have also been head-scratchers (e.g. Melton over Dejean & McKinstry; PJJ over W Anderson) in addition to risk of adding injured players. As for our injured players, I've felt for a little while that this staff has been putting guys on IR just to protect them so they can work with improving them without taking roster position (e.g. Robinson, E. Jones), some are frustrating to injury prone player (e.g. Ojulari).

    It is frustrating to watch every other team in NFC West have better development of lower round picks (e.g. P Nakua over MHJ).

    As we've been discussing the lack of experienced coaches is a definite problem - the lack of development is not the only problem of this coaching staff where this shows up. If their not coaching for their jobs THIS season then when will they? Every other team that was in rebuild mode has done a better job than the Cardinals. It is not all on Kyler, the coaches and GM have to answer for their lack of development and poor performances.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Walter MitchellNovember 12, 2025 at 12:40 PM

      Redrun Recaps are worth the price of admission here at Red Rain! Bravo, RR!

      Delete

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