Why the Cardinals Should Draft for Defense in 2026
By Walter Mitchell
As much as there is to love about Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love, the Arizona Cardinals need to prioritize adding much needed star power to a defense that gave up 32.8 ppp over the last 12 games and 41.8 ppg over the last 4 NFC West games.
Monti Ossenfort bolstered the Cardinals' RB room by re-signing 2-time Pro Bowler James Conner, then signing UFA RB Tyler Allgeier (ATL) to a 2-year $12M contract with $8M guaranteed.
The much-overlooked player here is Trey Benson. Monti was so high on Benson that he drafted him with the #66 pick two years ago. As a rookie he averaged 4.6 ypc and, last season before incurring a knee injury (torn meniscus), Benz averaged 5.5 ypg, even behind an offensive line that was not getting off the ball the way they had been when Klayton Adams was their coach.
When GMs start over-drafting at positions it's an admission of failure and it typically sets the team backward.
Trey Benson is a prodigious talent. At 6-0, 220 he ran a 4.39 40 and 1.52 10-yard split at the 2024 NFL Combine. By comparison, Jeremiyah Love at 6-0, 214, ran a 4.36 40 and 1.55 10-yard split at the 2026 NFL Combine.
What was so much more noticeable about Trey Benson in his 4 games in 2025 was how he ran with much improved decisiveness, speed and power. If this approach continues, he should be a force to be reckoned with. After two seasons, there is no reason to give up on his high level of talent.
Cardinals' RB room:
* James Conner
* Tyler Allgeier
* Trey Benson
* Bam Knight
Cardinals' Yards Per Carry Rankings:
* 2023 --- 5.0 ---2nd
* 2024 --- 5.3 --- 2nd
* 2025 --- 4.3 --- 16th
Cardinals' Defensive Priority #1 Edge Rusher
2025 Stats: QB Hurries and Sacks
* Josh Sweat --- 9 QB hurries, 12 sacks
* Baron Browning --- 2 QB hurries, 2 sacks
* Zaven Collins --- 2 QB hurries, 1.5 sacks
* Jordan Burch --- 7 QB hurries, 1 sack
* B.J. Ojulari --- 1 QB hurry, 1 sack
Cardinals Sacks (NFL Rankings):
* 2023 - 30th
* 2024 - 29th
* 2025 - 30th
Cardinals' Defensive priority #2 CB Pass Coverage
2025 Stats: QB Passer Ratings (best to worst)
* Elijah Jones --- 59.0
* Denzel Burke --- 81.6
* Max Melton --- 93.0
* Will Johnson --- 111.2
* Kei'Trel Clark --- 131.5
* Garrett Williams --- 132.9
* Jaden Davis --- 139.6
* Darren Hall --- 158.3
Cardinals PFF Pass Coverage Rankings:
* 2023 --- 30th
* 2024 --- 17th
* 2025 --- 27th
Cardinals Run Defense Rankings:
* 2023 --- 32nd
* 2024 --- 20th
* 2025 --- 23rd
Cardinals Need Huge Improvement:
* Rush Defense ✅
* Pass Rush ✅
* Pass Defense ✅
The Cardinals should draft heavily for defense this year.
Do you think they will?
Walt:
ReplyDeleteI have little to no faith in predicting what the Cardinals will do with draft, or any personnel moves. Their talent evaluation has to be some of the worst of NFL (assuming GM's follow their talent evaluations and coaches develop that talent). Perfect example, Chiefs move up in draft to select Patrick Mahomes - Cardinals move up in draft to take Josh Rosen. Now national media wants us to move back to take effectively an OG and another QB mistake. Stay and pick the best Edge (Bailey) or LB (Styles) in draft.
If your trading the #3 pick you better hit a home run, the trade back/up for PJJ has been a abject failure (not because PJJ is bad) but for what we lost and didn't gain from the extra #27 pick (D Robinson).
Consequently, I am left with zero confidence in what this owner/staff can or will decide upon.
To your points, the RB position is probably the best room on the team. And with the money given to the LBs,
ReplyDeleteI am afraid Monti is going to trade down and chase Simpson, as that is what Mikey probably wants after listening to those fanboys on phnx. Yogi would say dejavu all over again
100% absolutely fixing the defense this year is mandatory. I truly believe that a top 15 offense can go deep into the playoffs with a top 3 defense and this offense as its stands is closer to a top 10 IMO. The second coming of Kurt Warner - Larry Fitz and Anquan Boldin dragging an average D to the finish line is not going to happen again. That's a once in a Cardinal fandom lifetime scenario. It's the pipe dream of all Cardinal GM pipe dreams. Winning in the NFL is about 1st - stopping your opponents from scoring and 2nd - scoring points. Plus, a solid top 3 defense gives your offense more chances to score. The last time this team had a top 3 defense was 2015. They went 13-3 that season, gained a first round bye(first and only time in franchise history) and lost to 15-1 Panthers. If MO doesn't see this in the upcoming draft(even if he is just kissing MBs ass to keep his job), I will officially get on the "Lost all Respect for MO" train.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking if Bailey is there at #3 and they trade down it will be offense. There's an argument that Nick Rallis has squandered the draft picks we have given him last three years. Why would we allocate him more talent. If LaFleur wants to build out the offense and evaluate Rallis before bringing in his guy I could see that happening.
ReplyDelete"There's an argument that Nick Rallis has squandered the draft picks we have given him last three years"-and it's a damn good one.
DeleteThere’s a clear sense of dysfunction on the defensive coaching side, especially among the position coaches, where the scheme and personnel don’t appear to align in any coherent way under the DC. The result is a continued mismatch between talent and system, leading to what looks like repeated waste of both draft capital and free-agent acquisitions while they try to sort things out.
The bigger question is whether simply adding more talent can overcome fundamentally broken or disjointed coaching. At a certain point, better players can mask issues—but if the scheme and development process remain flawed, even upgraded personnel may not change the underlying results.