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The Arizona Cardinals may be in a state of dire need after 2025, heading into the 2026 season.
No, it won't be the same need that plagued their 2023 and 2024 seasons — the need that GM Monti Ossenfort dedicated immense effort into flipping entirely on its head this offseason.
The Cardinals' defensive front seven is now unrecognizable, and likely won't be the focus of next year's draft. It's quite early to be speculating on this, but what will they need to address in the 2026 NFL draft?
According to one outlet, that need is crystal-clear.
PFF: Arizona Cardinals Need Interior OL in 2026 NFL Draft
Pro Football Focus' prolific analyst Trevor Sikkema is what one might call a "sicko," just like other unnamed writers on this very website.
Sikkema put together some way-too-early 2026 NFL draft projections in a recent article, discussing not specific player names, but rather what area each NFL team will most likely need to address come next April.
For the Cardinals, the need was relatively unsurprising: Arizona needs a deeper, more talent-filled interior OL.
"The Cardinals did not address their interior offensive line with any premium assets this offseason, despite the unit finishing 2024 with sub-70.0 PFF pass-blocking and run-blocking grades," Sikkema wrote.
"Isaiah Adams and Evan Brown must play better at the guard spots in 2025, or Arizona will look for upgrades in the 2026 NFL Draft."
Arizona Cardinals Need More out of Isaiah Adams and Evan Brown
In no way is it completely out of the question that the Cardinals could see a large second-year jump out of young OL Isaiah Adams. Meanwhile, Evan Brown has been about as sturdy of a mid-tier veteran as one could have hoped.
But, lacking the dominant Will Hernandez, Arizona will not have that true brick wall of an interior OL in 2025, and may be in dire need of one come 2026.
If Adams is able to make strides in pass protection, he may be a reliable-enough starter to justify simply adding more depth. But he wasn't exactly dominant in 2024, and appeared to be somewhat scheme-limited as a rookie.
Unless the Cardinals opt to go the veteran free agent route (which feels unlikely given the recent inflation of the guard market), Ossenfort will very likely look for his next franchise big man in the NFL draft come 2026.
But even if those strides are made by Adams, and Brown continues to deliver in his consistent manner, the Cardinals would be wise to continue bolstering a group that has become a critical part of a powerful run-first offense.
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