Cardinals Core Disrespected in ESPN Rankings

The Arizona Cardinals have seen a quick change in just two seasons under Jonathan Gannon and head into year three with eyes set on a winning season and a potential playoff appearance.

The Cardinals have found success under Gannon and GM Monti Ossenfort thanks to a variety of moves to blend young players with "seen it all, done it all" veterans. It culminated in a great makeup for this team and is providing some major hype in the desert.

ESPN's Aaron Schatz took a look at all 32 teams and ranked them according to their best talent under 25-years-old; remember to keep that in mind as we dive into this ranking.

Arizona Cardinals' Young Corps Disrespected

The Cardinals were ranked in the bottom half of the league at 19th, certainly to my surprise and likely many, many others.

It's obviously notable that many of last year's players essentially "aged-out" of the group after turning 26, but last year's group earned a sixth-place ranking in 2024 according to Schatz.

Those players included Trey McBride, Dante Stills, Michael Wilson, and Isaiah Adams. Big blows to this kind of list, especially McBride.

For this year's ranking, Schatz labeled Marvin Harrison Jr. and Paris Johnson Jr. as the team's "blue-chip" players:

"We'll start with Harrison, 23, who still has a ton of potential despite a somewhat disappointing first season. Harrison caught 62 passes for a 33rd-ranked 885 yards. The offense also features Johnson, who turned 24 in early July, plus talented young running back Trey Benson (23)."

I appreciate the usage of the word "somewhat" in the way he described Harrison's rookie season. Hopefully that's the operative word here considering he had a fine year, but not up to the lofty expectations unfairly thrown on him.

Johnson is a star in the making at left tackle after starting his first season on the right side. He'll be looking for a hefty contract extension next summer if he continues ascending.

I appreciate the mention of Benson, considering I'm an advocate for him to earn/play a larger role this season after being a background player to start his career.

Flipping to the defensive side of the ball, everyone's favorite cornerback got some much-deserved love:

"There's even more young talent on the defensive side of the ball, including nearly all of the cornerbacks. Garrett Williams, now 24, was one of the top slot corners in the league last season."

Williams is a growing legend with Cardinals fans and is primed to breaking out onto the national stage this year. He's been developing as great as anyone under this regime.

Schatz throws a shout out to the rest of the crew, as well:

"The outside starting cornerbacks will likely be 22-year-old rookie Will Johnson and 23-year-old Max Melton, and the fourth corner is 24-year-old Kei'Trel Clark."

Rounding things out, Schatz looked at the front-seven and had this to say:

"Up front, we don't know if the Cardinals will start 21-year-old first-round rookie tackle Walter Nolen III or 23-year-old Darius Robinson, who was taken in the first round in 2024. One other player to watch is edge rusher BJ Ojulari, who is in his third NFL season at 23 years old but missed all of last season with a torn ACL."

I'm a huge fan of Nolen and a believer in a strong comeback for Robinson. I believe the jury is out on Ojulari only because of the nature of his injury. As long as he's confident and 100% healthy, I trust him to stay a critical component to the group.

All in all, I think Schatz did a good job identifying the best young players on the team, and I'm not sure if anyone is missing, 24-years-old or younger, from the list. My gripe is the ranking, as I think that group is at least in the top-half of the league...

No matter what any ranking may say, however, we do know that the Cardinals' young core is special, and many could become cornerstones for the future of this franchise.