Cardinals Draft Class Near Bottom in Surprising Category

The Arizona Cardinals' defense will be borderline unrecognizable going into the 2025 season, due in large part to the wealth of talent added in the 2025 NFL Draft. Of the Cardinals' seven draft picks, six went to the defense.

And there's been a notable shift in draft philosophy in the Monti Ossenfort era. Ossenfort has targeted refined prospects with a larger amount of playing experience at big-time college programs like Ohio State, Michigan, Ole Miss and others.

However, despite the general feeling that Ossenfort's selections have been on the more refined, esperienced side, the Cardinals actually sport one of the least-seasoned groups of young rookies.

Pro Football Focus' Thomas Valentine ranked each NFL rookie class based on amount of experience — ranked by total college snaps played. Surprisingly enough, Arizona ranked 22nd in that category, in the bottom-10 of the NFL.

Valentine wrote:

"Six of the Cardinals' seven picks in the 2025 NFL Draft were spent on defense, a clear statement from the front office about where improvement was most needed. At No. 16 overall, they selected Walter Nolen, one of the highest-upside interior defenders in the class.

"Nolen earned an 88.9 grade in 2024 while producing 35 pressures and six sacks. He projects as a natural 3-technique at the next level, having lined up in the B-gap on 783 of his 1,241 college snaps, though he also saw limited action over and outside the tackle.

"If cornerback Will Johnson stays healthy, he could go down as one of the biggest steals of the draft, even as the No. 47 pick. The former Michigan standout was widely projected as a first-rounder before concerns over his top-end speed and medical evaluations caused him to fall.

"Johnson didn’t run the 40-yard dash during the pre-draft process, but on tape, he consistently played like a No. 1 corner. He logged 1,317 career snaps, with 1,147 of those coming on the boundary."

It's not that total snaps necessarily correlates to a successful NFL career. Sometimes, it's quite the opposite. But what this ranking suggests is that the Cardinals, though sporting some seasoned "veteran" prospects, also have youth on their side.

Considering Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon prefer to get their young players significant playing time, those less-experienced players may find themselves quickly gaining that valuable playing time, while the more refined prospects step into a solid role immediately.