How Cardinals Added Elite Versatility with Draft LB

The off-ball linebacker position is one that comes with plenty of past trauma for Arizona Cardinals fans, particularly with regard to the NFL Draft. But in 2025, Arizona added Ohio State LB Cody Simon with their fourth-round pick.

It comes as little surprise to see GM Monti Ossenfort dip back into the Ohio State well. But Simon truly did just about everything for the Buckeyes in his five-year college career, including winning a National Championship in his final season.

Simon grew in production each year, and capped off his college tenure with a monstrous 112-tackle season. Perhaps even more impressive, he racked up seven sacks as an inside linebacker — a feat that is not often seen.

On top of that, he defended seven passes and registered 13 TFLs. Simon is an all-around player who flies about the middle of the field, while also displaying enough juice to get into the backfield and disrupt the QB if called upon.

Unless Jonathan Gannon and Nick Rallis are high on Akeem Davis-Gaither and Mykal Walker, it seems that Simon might be a refined-enough prospect to immediately slot into some significant playing time in a LB group that has thinned out exceptionally with the departure of both Kyzir White and Krys Barnes.

Simon has the physical skills and mental attributes to develop into a true field general LB. He's versatile, high-motor, and from a reliable college program. Unlike some prospects in this year's draft, he also has recent production to back up his tape.

PFF awarded him an elite 87.7 overall grade for his workhorse production on defense, playing 802 snaps in 2025. He graded out at 90.6 (a beyond-elite number) in run defense, an area the Cardinals needed improvement in, but still posted an 80.6 pass rush grade.

Knowing Gannon and Nick Rallis' defensive philosophy, expect Simon to get into plenty of game action as a rotational player — but he has everything he needs to turn into an undeniable every-down LB, and could form a deadly one-two punch with Wilson in the middle of the field.

Full list of Cardinals draft activity