Ticking off the needs for a pass rusher and an interior defensive lineman in free agency might have shifted the Arizona Cardinals’ priorities looking toward the NFL Draft.
Should it, though?
PFF’s Max Chadwick listed the Cardinals’ defensive line as its most improved unit but also said Arizona’s biggest need remains at interior defender.
They fielded the third-lowest-graded group of defensive tackles last season, and while they added a capable starter in Dalvin Tomlinson in free agency, the other two spots are unknowns. The Cardinals will hope 2024 first-round pick Darius Robinson can emerge in Year 2, but they may need to spend their first-round pick this year on a player like Kenneth Grant or Walter Nolen.
The Cardinals arguably feel differently about Robinson, who entered last season looking like a sure starter.
A calf injury derailed his season before Week 1, and even when he came back, the 10 tackles and sack in six games showed that there was room to improve and possibly room to get healthier.
Even if Arizona does believe in Robinson, does that scratch off any defensive lineman from being considered with the team’s first-round pick?
The roster doesn’t need bodies, but it does have too many questions to feel settled about the position group.
Free-agent signing Dalvin Tomlinson joins Dante Stills and Robinson, while the Cardinals already have sunk costs in 2024 free-agent additions Justin Jones and Bilal Nichols. Jones and Nichols each had a history of health leading into 2024 but both ended the year on injured reserve. And neither was necessarily the most productive before that.
So the need isn’t necessarily there.
It comes down to how the Cardinals are grading the defensive lineman who might be sitting there at 16th.
Michigan’s Grant, Ole Miss’ Nolen, Oregon’s Derrick Harmon and Toledo’s Darius Alexander are ranked from 17th to 25th on PFF’s 2025 NFL Draft big board. That group of prospects finds themselves in a bunched-up tier after Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham, who is widely regarded as a top-five pick.
Arizona is right in the range of having plenty of options if its evaluations are similar.
Grant is the bulldozer of the prospects at 339 pounds, while Nolen has the best athletic profile that translated last year to 6.5 sacks.
For the Cardinals, drafting a defensive tackle would either be insurance if Robinson doesn’t become the clear No. 1 option or a nice bonus if he does make a leap. In other words, it’s not a priority, but it sure would double down on making sure that unit looks a whole bunch improved from last season.