3 Players Who Could Surprise Arizona Cardinals Defense

It's a new-look defense for the Arizona Cardinals in 2025.

The unit overachieved last season, but the staff knew they needed to add talent and certainly depth to ensure they won games with the defense being a strength and not just "good enough."

It led to heavy spending in free agency and six of the Cardinals' seven draft picks from this year's class being invested on defense. As a result, Arizona brought in plenty of big fish including Calais Campbell and Dalvin Tomlinson on the defensive line and Josh Sweat as an outside linebacker in free agency.

Walter Nolen and Will Johnson were the gems of their 2025 NFL Draft class, too.

These moves will help reform the unit and make them strong by nature and not circumstance, but they still need the guys on the bench and reserve spots to make their own impacts.

I am looking at three players on the defensive side of the football who could be considered sleepers and are destined for big seasons. Fans should be familiar with these players, but maybe not enough to realize how good they can be.

We can start off with my favorite player that I love to champion whenever I have the chance to.

Dante Stills

My Dante Stills agenda will never end, so you might as well get on board. The sixth round pick in 2023 has managed to grab 89 tackles and 8.0 sacks in 31 games, starting in 18 of them. His 4.5 in 2024 were second on the team, and although that's not a massive total it is worth mentioning considering he's a down lineman.

Perhaps that could change in 2025, however. The Cardinals sunk extensive resources into bulking up the front of the defense during the offseason, but the rest of the room has plenty of competition, too. That could force the staff to get creative and find ways to get Stills on the field.

While the Cardinals try to figure out their pass rush rotation, they could experiment and find new ways to get one of their lone consistent sack producers on the field. We could see Stills, who is 6'4, 286 lbs, be teased as a potential edge rusher in the same way the team envisions Darius Robinson.

The bottom line is you want to get this man on the field and we could see this defensive staff get creative with that and place Stills in a position to pop off.

Baron Browning

My Baron Browning agenda is also going strong, thanks for asking!

I understand that Browning didn't deliver his return on investment after the Cardinals traded for him at last season's deadline. To his credit, he showed flashes of what he can become with proper time to adjust to the team's scheme. The Cardinals believe that may be the case, which would explain why they gave him an extension to stay in town.

If there's one thing we know about the Cardinals defense, it's that they love to get creative with the way they rush the quarterback. It's no coincidence that 17 different players recorded at least one sack for the team last season. That gives off the vibe that it's all but guaranteed we will see Browning get his chances.

Placing Browning in situations for him to succeed and win his matchups will be the key for his production to see an uptick. Depending on how that works out, we could see him push to tie his career high in sacks (5.0) with the Denver Broncos in a rotational role with Arizona. That's a huge win if they do, and I've even gone as far as to say he could pace this team if the dominoes fall the right way.

Dadrion Taylor-Demerson

The name's Rabbit, if you must ask, and Rabbit could find quite a niche role for the Cardinals defense in 2025 -- one that could see him post some big-time numbers in year two.

A player like Taylor-Demerson has the ability to fly around the field and make plays all over the place. Last season, we saw him notch 37 tackles, break up five passes, and force a fumble in a limited role through 17 games (two starts). There is plenty of value in having a defensive back that can give you those numbers as a reserve player, and we could see him find more playing time this year.

The Cardinals are transitioning their defense, especially in the front seven, and new opportunities are arriving now. One of those roles is at linebacker, and although Taylor-Demerson isn't a linebacker by trade, perhaps he could fill the shoes of fan-favorite Deone Bucannon once upon a time.

I anticipate seeing Taylor-Demerson on the field much more in 2025, and being able to play multiple spots and wear several hats could be the key to that.