Nearly three weeks removed from another disappointing Arizona Cardinals season ending, a couple weeks from Super Bowl LIX, and almost exactly three months from the 2025 NFL Draft, countless experts have been weighing in on who the Cardinals will take with the No. 16 pick.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Arizona has options and decisions to make ahead of the draft. Will it try and bolster its front-seven that was 26th in the league in pressure rate? Will they make a trade if a desired prospect falls to their position?
The experts have weighed in, and here is a summary of who is saying what:
ESPN – Mel Kiper
Tyler Booker, G, Alamaba
I’d love for Arizona to land a pass rusher here after it finished 26th in pressure rate (28.6%), but the board isn’t cooperating. It’d be a reach to Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr., Marshall’s Mike Green or Texas A&M’s Nic Scourton. General manager Monti Ossenfort is known to trade around in the first round, so maybe he’ll get an offer for the No. 16 pick — someone interested in Ashton Jeanty? — and be able to move back, get an edge rusher and add more picks. But if the Cardinals stay home and things play out like this, I’m eyeing another position.
Arizona might not return guards Will Hernandez or Evan Brown (both free agents), and it has to keep the interior offensive line strong for its run game. Booker might be the best pure guard in the class. He’s strong at the point of attack, and no one gets past him. And he’s rugged in the run game, getting to the second level to clear lanes.
USA Today
Josh Conerly Jr., OT, Oregon
Two years after making offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. his first draft pick, Monti Ossenfort could again be drawn to fortifying the Cardinals’ front. Conerly is an ascendant prospect who could flip to the right side to give Kyler Murray a pair of fleet-footed protectors.
Sporting News
Mykel Williams, DT, Georgia
The Cardinals need to get more inside disruption for defensive-minded coach Jonathan ‘Gannon. If both Graham and Grant are off the board, the pure power of Williams should be plenty appealing.
CBS Sports
Derrick Harmon, DL, Oregon
A year after adding four defensive players among the first 104 picks, Arizona continues stockpiling talent on that side of the ball with the addition of Derrick Harmon, who has been a steady riser throughout the process.
The Draft Network
Mike Green, EDGE, Marshall
Arizona adds one of the most tantalizing edge prospects in this draft. A defense that, similarly to the Falcons, has lacked juice in their pass rush for quite some time, finally finds its guy in Mike Green. Green not only has one of the highest ceilings in this class, but he was wildly productive this season, racking up 17 sacks in 2024. Green’s length, twitch, and pass-rush prowess make him a highly sought-after prospect with the ability to be a franchise cornerstone.
Pro Football Network
Nic Scourton, EDGE, Texas A&M
Scourton is one of the youngest players in the 2025 NFL Draft class, but don’t let that fool you into thinking he’s raw. The young pass rusher put on some unnecessary weight at Texas A&M (Mike Elko seems to like them thick) and in turn was less explosive, and dominant, in 2024.
However, the young rusher has an arsenal of pass-rush moves that could make many NFL veterans blush, and losing 10-15 pounds to play around 265 should unleash a truly devastating exterior rusher who also just so happens to be a consistent run defender to boot.
FOX Sports
Nic Scourton, EDGE, Texas A&M
They don’t really have needs on the offensive line but they ranked 27th in pressure rate and the defense gave up 30 or more points five times.
Fantasy Pros
Nic Scourton, EDGE, Texas A&M
Last year, the Cardinals used a first-round pick on Darius Robinson. However, they need to make several more additions to their front seven. Arizona has multiple defensive linemen and edge rushers set to hit the open market in March, opening up significant playing time for Scourton as a rookie.
The Athletic
Derrick Harmon, DT, Oregon
The Cardinals will continue to build up in the trenches this draft. No interior lineman in the FBS created more pressures than Harmon did this season. He has the strength, quickness and play violence to win in different ways, and from different alignments.
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Reporter Connor Moreno covers the Phoenix Suns for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @cmorenosports, and on Bluesky, @cloading.bsky.social
