What Cardinals Got in Third-Round Pick Jordan Burch

The third pick of the Arizona Cardinals' 2025 NFL Draft - much like the two picks prior - was also spent on the defensive side of the football, and spoiler alert: they won’t pick an offensive player anytime soon. To conclude Day 2 festivities, Arizona added another pass rusher in the form of Oregon’s Jordan Burch.

It wasn’t a selection that was heavily anticipated, but he does fit the mold of what this staff has looked for with five years of college experience against high-level competition and is a former top recruit from his high school class.

When the pick was announced, many had mixed feelings about Burch. One of the biggest questions was, “where is he going to play?”

The nearly 300 lbs defensive lineman feels like a guy the Cardinals would like to move outside into an edge rushing role rather than play him as a down lineman. I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all, but I am curious how quickly that transition will take before he’s entirely comfortable.

Still, Burch has the physical gifts that you can’t teach and plenty of skills that he’s displayed but has not yet perfected. It’s what makes him a fun fit for a team coached by Jonathan Gannon.

Accomplishments

• Five-star recruit in 2020 high school class

• Honorable Mention All-PAC-12

• Third-Team All-Big Ten (2024)

• 16 career sacks (8.5 in 2024)

2025 NFL Draft Profile

• Massive size (6’4 and 279lbs) for edge rusher

• Impressive 40-time at size (4.67)

• Heavy hands with great placement off the snap

• Inconsistent pass rushing sets

• Great upside with some fine-tuning needed

What the tape shows

Burch is the classic defensive linemen with all the traits and God-given athletic gifts that flash occasionally but needs fine-tuning. We saw some potential throughout his three seasons with South Carolina, but his final two seasons in Oregon was when we started seeing things come together.

The program’s head coach in Dan Lanning is a defensive mastermind and the kind of coach defenders gravitate to. He’s worked with so many young and veteran defensive players throughout his time between the Ducks and as the defensive coordinator with Georgia and the results speak for themselves. So it’s not a surprise that Burch really started tapping into that potential with Oregon.

It’s hard to miss Burch on the field given his massive size and his plan off the snap is what is most evident with heavy hands to disrupt the lineman. Of course, he does need his timing to improve. It’s the things that come after that that need polishing including block shedding.

There’s plenty here to work with and more than enough potential to justify investing a little extra time in him.

Role for 2025

Remember what I just said about Lanning? We can apply that same logic with Gannon — especially with his track record working with pass rushers.

The Cardinals definitely see Burch as a long-term prospect for the team that they would like to get snaps for immediately as a rookie. The edge rushing room received a lot of reinforcements prior to the draft, but Burch presents himself as a versatile option in that department.

Obviously, Burch is not a small guy by any stretch of the imagination and may be similar to what the team already has in last year‘s first round pick Darius Robinson. It’s why I would expect the Cardinals to begin working with one of these guys to either make a transition to outside full-time or at least prepare them for a hybrid role.

I have a little doubt that Burch will see the field as a rookie, and I also have a little doubt that he will be a big part of a suddenly deep rotation. I don’t anticipate big numbers this year, however, but that’s not a bad thing at all.

So long as the Cardinals are giving him the time of day to maximize his upside.