Four players the Cardinals could pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft
By Rhys Knott
The Cardinals pick 16th in the 2025 draft. Jonathan Gannon needs to find a star who can help save his job.
If you believe everything you read then plans are already afoot to keep Gannon employed beyond the 2025 season. Kyler Murray recently said he’s interested in the idea of running more and adding Semi Fehoko will help that. The arrival of a run-blocking wideout is also good news for James Conner.
Most teams aim to keep their quarterback healthy. But for Arizona, keeping Conner in one piece is vital for the success of their offense.
Conner has carried the ball 18 times or more 26 times in his NFL career, and when he’s done that, the 29-year-old has only been on the losing side five times!
Most people would expect an offense with a dominant running back and mobile quarterback to be successful, it worked out fine in Philadelphia. But since Murray arrived in the NFL he has a 36-45-1! And Gannon has a 12-22 record as a head coach (although Murray only started eight games in Gannon’s first year in Arizona).
The Cardinals’ failure to invest the necessary draft capital to add pieces around Murray is an obvious failing. Since they drafted the diminutive quarterback in 2019, they have only used one first-round pick on an offensive lineman.
They drafted Paris Johnson Jr. with the sixth overall pick in 2023. He ranked 12th in the league last season with an 80.8 PFF score, so it seems prudent to bolster the offensive line more this year.
With Trey McBride becoming the highest-paid tight end in the league, it would also make sense to bring in another superstar tight end. Adding another tight end with outstanding talent would allow the Cardinals to line up in 12 personnel more often. McBride is a very good blocker, but nobody else can make the plays he does.
Tyler Warren. TE, Penn State
If Trey McBride is a unique talent (and he is), Warren is a more traditional tight end, although Penn State occasionally used him as a wildcat quarterback.
Warren’s pass-catching threat at the tight-end position would afford McBride more space. Or will allow Warren to find space in zone coverage.
Drew Petzing’s offense should line up with 12, or even 13 personnel, on the majority of their snaps. One back and two tight ends (12 personnel) prevents defenses from lining up in a base formation. Needing extra linebackers to stop the run and tackle big-bodied tight ends will give Murray favourable running matchups.
The Cardinals already have five tight ends on the roster, but cutting either Elijah Higgins or Travis Vokolek will cost the Cardinals nothing in dead money.
Warren lining up at TE2 would be an upgrade on Tip Reiman. However, having all three players on the field should allow Murray to repeat his dominant performance against the Rams in Week 2.
On that occasion, the Cards put 41 points on a slightly depleted Rams defense. Murray threw three touchdowns and recorded a 99.8 QBR in 13 personnel! More importantly, the Rams lining up with just four defensive backs prevented them from bracketing Marvin Harrison Jr. The rookie receiver racked up 130 yards on just four catches!
Warren lined up in the slot and at inline tight end in 2024. The Virginia native caught 104 of his 135 targets and averaged 11.8 yards per reception! And received a PFF grade of 91.3! McBride ranked as the second-best tight end in the NFL last year with an 86.8 grade.
The 22-year-old is expected to be drafted at the top of the first round. Several mock drafts have him landing in Indianapolis as the 14th overall pick. But if he falls to 16 the Cardinals definitely need to give some serious consideration to taking him.
Tyler Warren (#44) blocking from attached alignments (in-line and off)
— Nate Tice (@natetice.bsky.social) April 2, 2025 at 10:14 PM
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Kelvin Banks Jr. OT, Texas
I've been absent from here, and I don't know why. The vibes are so much better. Gotta break the habit, so here's a clip of Texas LT Kelvin Banks Jr stuffing Landon Jackson
— Daniel Harms (@inharmsway19.bsky.social) December 30, 2024 at 7:36 PM
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If you believe Will Campbell is going to become an NFL guard then Banks Jr. is one of the best two offensive tackles in this class. The 21-year-old won both the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award in 2024 as a Longhorn.
The unanimous All-American allowed just four sacks on 1,500 pass-blocking snaps in college! And after Texas transitioned from a Big 10 program to the SEC for the 2024 season, Banks Jr. achieved the rare feat of being named All-Big 10 and All-SEC in back-to-back seasons.
Standing 6-foot-5 and weighing 315 pounds, the Texas native is one of the smaller tackles in this class. He is in the 35th percentile for height and the 49th for weight. Unsurprisingly, he moves more like a tight end than a tackle.
Banks Jr. clocked a 5.16-second 40-yard dash, ranking him in the 71st percentile, and his 4.66-second shuttle run time ranks the former five-star recruit in the 69th percentile. But his 32-inch vertical jump is in the 90th percentile!
The Texas native projects as a first-round pick but could go anywhere between the 9th and 25th overall pick. If he’s still available at 16, the Cardinals shouldn’t hesitate to take him.
Josh Simmons. OT, Ohio State
Josh Simmons (LT #71) will be a cool piece for any run game. He’s a natural in the open field
— Theo (@theoash.bsky.social) March 19, 2025 at 5:02 PM
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What’s better than having one former Buckeye offensive tackle on your offensive line? Having two former Buckeye offensive tackles on your offensive line.
The former San Diego State Aztec only allowed two sacks in the two years after he transferred to Ohio State.
Simmons suffered a season-ending knee injury in October, which has impacted his draft stock. But anyone who has seen a healthy Simmons play will want him on their team.
A California native, Simmons dominates defenders at all levels. His 5.15 40-yard time ranks in the 73rd percentile of the class, but he plays much faster than he tests. His 34 bench press reps rank in the 97th percentile and illustrate just how powerful his blocking is.
Unsurprisingly, Simmons comes from athletic stock. His father, Nelson, switch-hit in major league baseball for three seasons. He’s also the nephew of former Jaguars and Steelers full-back Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala.
Some experts project the 2024 national champion as a late first-round pick. Several see him becoming a Chief. But he would make a great bookend for the Cardinals offensive line opposite Johnson Jr.
Grey Zabel. OL, North Dakota State
Zabel’s outstanding versatility is as valuable as his outstanding talent. The 23-year-old played 2,418 snaps in three years at North Dakota State. 974 of those snaps were at left tackle, and 1,064 were at right tackle. But that’s not all. Zabel also lined up at left guard 363 times, and he even played 14 snaps at centre and the final three at right guard!
Few players can line up at every single position, and even fewer can perform well at every position. PFF awarded Zabel a 90.4 score for his 2024 season in the FCS. But that’s where confusion arises when it comes to analysing Zabel.
Zabel’s Bisons team played at the lower level of college football but only lost two games all season. The South Dakota native was named an FCS All-American, and during Zabel’s career in Fargo, the team won two FCS national titles!
The Agribusiness graduate stands 6 feet 6 inches tall, ranking him in the 56th percentile of the class. He weighs 312 pounds, which is only in the 40th percentile of this class of giant linemen.
His 32-inch arms rank Zabel in the sixth percentile! And his 77 and 5/8 inch span is the smallest of the entire class!
The former high school defensive AND offensive lineman recorded the best vertical jump in the class! His 40-yard dash is less impressive, clocking 5.30 seconds means he only ranked in the 42nd percentile. But his impressive 111-inch broad jump landed him in the 89th percentile.
Zabel is expected to be drafted anywhere between the 10th overall pick and the 31st if the Cardinals are looking to add more depth at every position on the offensive line they should pick him.
watching NDSU's Grey Zabel today: one of the more efficient movers in this OL class. gonna be an awesome center in the NFL. this was my first "Oh!" moment with him. LT74 gains ground with his first step, gets his backside leg in the ground upfield and RUNS the DL off the ball.
— Mike Golic Jr (@mikegolicjr.bsky.social) March 6, 2025 at 10:53 PM
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RHYS KNOTT
NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST
Rhys has been watching the NFL for 30 something years and still hasn’t managed to pick a team to support. When he’s not fixatED on pass rushers you can find him blithering on about most sports on Twitter @wrhys_writes