Cardinals "No OL" ranked 15th by ESPN's Mike Clay
Jeremy Chen/Arizona Cardinals
By Walter MitchellWe heard it for three long days at the 2026 NFL Draft --- "why are the Cardinals taking a running back at #3 when they have no quarterback and no offensive line?"
Heading into free agency the Cardinals depth chart for the offensive line:
* LT Paris Johnson Jr., Demontrey Jacobs, Valentin Senn
* LG Jon Gaines II
* C Hjalte Froholdt, Hayden Conner
* RG Isaiah Adams
* RT Josh Fryar, Christian Jones
During free agency, the Cardinals added:
* G Isaac Seumalo --- 3 years, $31.5M
* T Elijah Wilkinson --- 2 years, $6.2M
* G/T Matt Pryor --- 1 year, $1.49M
* T Oli Udoh --- 1 year $1.4M
Draft Picks and CFA:
* G Chase Bisontis, Texas A&M --- pick #35
* T Jayden Williams, Mississippi --- pick #217
* C Ka'ena Decambra, Arizona
"No OL," eh?
At least ESPN's Mike Clay believes otherwise:
Current 2026 NFL Offensive Line projected starters:
ARZ - 15th ranked OL, per ESPN's Mike Clay
LT Paris Johnson Jr. - 16th in NFL
LG Isaac Seumalo - 3rd
C Hjalte Froholdt - 4th
RG Chase Bisontis - 25th
RT Elijah Wilkinson - 28th
Imo, Cardinals have top 10 potential
Why the Cardinals' OL could emerge as a top 10 unit:
1. Mike LaFleur's diverse system (11, 12 and 13 personnel) is OL friendly.
2. Justin Frye is in his second year and did fairly well down the stretch last season, all things considered, with a makeshift line.
3. The RT position in Mike LaFleur's offense gets plenty of help.
4. The quartet of Chase Bisontis, Jon Gaines II, Isaiah Adams and Matt Pryor at RG is more talented than people think.
According to Mike Clay's rankings heading into the 2026 season:
* LAR --- 5th
* SFO --- 7th
* SEA --- 10th
* ARZ --- 15th
LTs
* SFO - Williams --- 8.2
* LAR - Jackson --- 7.9
* SEA - Cross --- 7.5
* ARZ - Johnson Jr. --- 6.2
LGs
* ARZ - Seumalo --- 7.6
* SEA - Zabel --- 5.6
* LAR - Avila --- 5.5
* SF) - Toth --- 2.6
Cs
* ARZ - Froholdt --- 7.3
* LAR - Shelton --- 6.8
* SFO - Brendel --- 6.5
* SEA - Sundell --- 3.8
RGs
* LAR - Dotson Jr. --- 7.4
* SFO - Puni --- 6.6
* ARZ - Bisontis --- 4.5
* SEA - Bradford --- 3.8
RTs
* SEA - Lucas --- 7.6
* SFO - McKivitz --- 6.4
* LAR - McClendon --- 5.7
* ARZ - Wilkinson - 4.5
Total Points of the 5 Players' Grades:
* LAR --- 33.3
* SFO --- 30.3
* ARZ --- 30.2
* SEA --- 28.3
Why then does Mike Clay have SEA ranked 10th and ARZ ranked 15th?
In fact, having gone back and added the total points of each of the top 20 teams, here's where the Cardinals actually rank:
1. DEN --- 37.9
2. PHI --- 35.3
3. CHI --- 34.3
4. LAR --- 33.3
5. DAL --- 32.3
6. ATL --- 31.8
7. BUF --- 31.7
8. CAR --- 31.1
9. SFO --- 30.3
10. ARZ --- 30.2
11. TB --- 30.0
12. LAC --- 29.6
13. LV --- 29.4
14. NYJ --- 29.1
14. NE --- 29.1
16. MIN --- 28.4
17. SEA --- 28.3
18. WAS --- 27.7
19. NYG --- 27.0
19. DET --- 27.0
Why didn't Mike Clay stick to the numbers? Maybe he was dreading some of the potential backlash for rating teams like the Cardinals, Raiders and Jets as top 10-14 OLs, when his own grades indicate they are?
Can the Cardinals OL leapfrog some of the NFC West OLs?
I believe, that if healthy, they can, especially if the Cardinals restore the prowess of their running game.
What do you believe?
Why didn't Mike Clay stick to the numbers?
ReplyDelete--You forgot to include the Cardinals "Team Handicap" in your numbers, Clay forgot to include the Handicap #s in his table. But it looks like +2/-2 range (Good Org/Team -- Bad Org/Team)
I agree, the National Media (& Fans) think our OL is crap after having to defend Murray all those years. We saw OL improve under Brissett (pocket passer) -vs- results of OL under Murray (Mobile -sceared wabbit passer). We finally have some depth and backup options on the team not named Beachum.
RT: The Jonah Williams experiment (will he or wont he be injured) is done. Wilkenson is an improvement over J Williams.
RG: Bisontis comes in as the #2 rated OG of the draft, his play is that of a mauler (e.g. Hernandez before injury) - if he can seal the RG position it would be improvement over last two years Hernandez was injured.
C: Froholdt top ten in league
LG - Seumalo top ten in league (1st year with Cardinals)
LT - PJJ, if he can stay healthy he might be considered a top ten player
--Depth pieces: Frye (LT), Gaines (LG/C); Adams (RG); and Udoh (RT) should help out in-case of inevitable injury of the 17-game season...
--The biggest concern is our OL coach (J Frye) saw regression of his players on-field results, will we see improvement in his schemes and deployments of OL to be more successful? As in other areas of the Cardinals, it all comes down to having competent coaching staff, and the verdict is still not in on J Frye being able to improve the players & talent he has. Maybe this year we will see some improvement. It all comes down to the Jimmys and Joes the saying goes, that holds true for the coaching staff as well.
Clearly, our OL is a work in progress and we must remember that an O lineman's improvement from college to the NFL is a slow one. Another season, another blocking, running scheme, and maybe big improvement. My hope is that will be the case across the entire squad.
ReplyDeleteMaybe someday we will watch a game, a few games, maybe a playoff season where we fans can say "we fixed the trenches."
LaFluer just needs to run a system that gets the ball out quicker than it did with KM. That's why Warner was so successful in AZ. Passing and handing off faster should equate to a healthier OL.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting that they slid Bisontis into the starting RG position already. Will be interesting to see if he is the Week 1 starter or more of a developmental project
ReplyDeletePowerful player with quick feet and short arms...started at RT as true freshman, moved to Guard (due to short arms) for Texas A&M (SEC competition).
DeleteOur RG play last year (Adams/Hernandez) was sub-par to say least.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pDykhcRwH4