MadCards 2025 Cardinal Mock Draft V1.0

MadCardDisease

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With the Combine and major moves in FA in the books it's time to start getting serious about the draft. Having addressed Edge in FA frees the Cardinals to draft the BPA at 16 instead of forcing an Edge rusher.



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#16 - Kenneth Grant - NT/DT - Mich
6'4" 331 lbs

With the Cardinals signing Dalvin Tomlinson in FA they have a solid Veteran at the NT position for the next couple of years. However Gannon and Rallis like to rotate their players along the DL to keep them fresh. Grant would be able to come in right away and contribute as a rotational guy with Tomlinson. He would also provide an immovable front with Tomlinson in Goal Line situations. He would eventually be the man when Tomlinson moves on in a couple years. In two years the Cardinals will have completely rebuilt their DL finally giving Rallis something real to work with.


******************
TRADE: LA Chargers Trade (#55, #125, #209 and a 2026 5th) in exchange for the Cardinals #47
The Cardinals came into the 2025 NFL Draft light on picks. This move gives them an additional 2025 4th and 6th round pick. It also provides a future 5th in 2026.
******************



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#55 - Jonah Savaiinaea - RG - UofA
6'4" 324 lbs

The Cardinals continue to build from the inside out adding another big boy up front and another Jonah on the right side for that matter. Savaiinaea is a versatile offensive lineman who projects best at RG. The Cardinals coaches will have to work on improving his footwork some but Savaiinaea could potentially be a fixture inside for years to come.


********************
TRADE: Cardinals Trade (#78, #125(from Chargers), #225) in exchange for the Patriots #69
Monti gets aggressive and uses one of the picks from the Chargers trade earlier to move up in the 3rd round.
********************



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#69(From NE Trade) - Josaiah Stewart - Edge - Mich
6'1" 249 lbs

The Cardinals move up to snag another Wolverine who drops due to a crazy deep defensive draft class. This time it is for the relentless pass rusher Josaiah Stewart. The Cardinals continue to improve the defensive front and finally give Rallis some actual weapons to work with. Gannon loves the violence that Stewart brings to the football field.


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#115 - Jeffrey Bassa - ILB - Oregon
6'1" 232 lbs

The Cardinals can't have enough strong leaders and Bassa exudes leadership. He is a vocal general on the field directing his troops. The Cardinals add this savvy LB to come in and compete at ILB.


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#152 - Ollie Gordon III - RB - Okla St
6'1" 226 lbs

Ollie is a very large punishing RB. I really enjoyed watching him run over everyone last season. Except for the Sun Devils of course who did a great job bottling him up. He is far better that DeMercado and could push Benson for the #2 RB spot. He drops to the 5th due to a super deep RB class this year.


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#209(from Chargers trade) - Dominick Lovett - WR - Georgia
5'10" 185 lbs

Smaller of stature but fearless, Lovett will compete for the slot position. Solid speed and route running. He will help immediately on special teams.
 
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PDXChris

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The only pick will about is the RB, but I wouldn't be mad. Otherwise, sign me up for this!
 
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MadCardDisease

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Facts! He kept Trey Benson on the bench all year!

DeMercado was used primarily as a 3rd down back in 2024. Mostly because I don't think the Cardinals trusted the rookie Benson in pass protection.

Benson was essentially on the bench behind Conner as a more traditional RB. Benson had 63 rushing attempts in 2024. While DeMercado had only 24 rushing attempts but he had far more receptions than Benson. I don't see Benson in competition with DeMercado. Benson was in competition with Conner.

Gordon, while a bigger back, is much better catching the ball out of the backfield than one would expect for a guy his size. Gordon is also a much better pass blocker than Benson. I see Gordon as an upgrade/competition to DeMercado. Gordon can block in the passing game, he can catch the ball out of the backfield and all the while he can still be a force as a downhill runner.

I'm not hating on DeMercado. I think he would be a great guy to stash on the Practice Squad to fill in for injuries. However I think the Cardinals can upgrade and add more competition to the position.
 

kerouac9

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DeMercado was used primarily as a 3rd down back in 2024. Mostly because I don't think the Cardinals trusted the rookie Benson in pass protection.

Benson was essentially on the bench behind Conner as a more traditional RB. Benson had 63 rushing attempts in 2024. While DeMercado had only 24 rushing attempts but he had far more receptions than Benson. I don't see Benson in competition with DeMercado. Benson was in competition with Conner.

I'm not hating on DeMercado. I think he would be a great guy to stash on the Practice Squad to fill in for injuries. However I think the Cardinals can upgrade and add more competition to the position.
Conner - 619 offensive snaps, 291 opportunities (targets plus rushes)
Benson - 127 offensive snaps, 83 opportunities
Demercado - 164 offensive snaps, 44 opportunities

If Benson were the better back, there's no reason why he shouldn't have gotten more opportunities.
 
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MadCardDisease

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Conner - 619 offensive snaps, 291 opportunities (targets plus rushes)
Benson - 127 offensive snaps, 83 opportunities
Demercado - 164 offensive snaps, 44 opportunities

If Benson were the better back, there's no reason why he shouldn't have gotten more opportunities.

Again it comes down to the Cardinals not being comfortable with Benson in pass protection. Hence why DeMercado got most of the 3rd down reps.
 

kerouac9

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Again it comes down to the Cardinals not being comfortable with Benson in pass protection. Hence why DeMercado got most of the 3rd down reps.
That's an assumption without evidence tho. Doesn't really explain why Benson couldn't help share Conner's load.
 

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Conner - 619 offensive snaps, 291 opportunities (targets plus rushes)
Benson - 127 offensive snaps, 83 opportunities
Demercado - 164 offensive snaps, 44 opportunities

If Benson were the better back, there's no reason why he shouldn't have gotten more opportunities.
Benson - 65% opportunity rate
Conner - 47% opportunity rate
Demercado - 27% opportunity rate

When in the field, Benson had by far the highest opportunity rate, so they saw something last year. Hopefully he gets on the field more with that same rate, but time with tell! I'd love to see a more 50/50 early to save Conners legs for a playoff run!
 
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MadCardDisease

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With the Combine and major moves in FA in the books it's time to start getting serious about the draft. Having addressed Edge in FA frees the Cardinals to draft the BPA at 16 instead of forcing an Edge rusher.



You must be registered for see images attach

#16 - Kenneth Grant - NT/DT - Mich
6'4" 331 lbs

With the Cardinals signing Dalvin Tomlinson in FA they have a solid Veteran at the NT position for the next couple of years. However Gannon and Rallis like to rotate their players along the DL to keep them fresh. Grant would be able to come in right away and contribute as a rotational guy with Tomlinson. He would also provide an immovable front with Tomlinson in Goal Line situations. He would eventually be the man when Tomlinson moves on in a couple years. In two years the Cardinals will have completely rebuilt their DL finally giving Rallis something real to work with.


******************
TRADE: LA Chargers Trade (#55, #125, #209 and a 2026 5th) in exchange for the Cardinals #47
The Cardinals came into the 2025 NFL Draft light on picks. This move gives them an additional 2025 4th and 6th round pick. It also provides a future 5th in 2026.
******************



You must be registered for see images attach

#55 - Jonah Savaiinaea - RG - UofA
6'4" 324 lbs

The Cardinals continue to build from the inside out adding another big boy up front and another Jonah on the right side for that matter. Savaiinaea is a versatile offensive lineman who projects best at RG. The Cardinals coaches will have to work on improving his footwork some but Savaiinaea could potentially be a fixture inside for years to come.


********************
TRADE: Cardinals Trade (#78, #125(from Chargers), #225) in exchange for the Patriots #69
Monti gets aggressive and uses one of the picks from the Chargers trade earlier to move up in the 3rd round.
********************



You must be registered for see images attach

#69(From NE Trade) - Josaiah Stewart - Edge - Mich
6'1" 249 lbs

The Cardinals move up to snag another Wolverine who drops due to a crazy deep defensive draft class. This time it is for the relentless pass rusher Josaiah Stewart. The Cardinals continue to improve the defensive front and finally give Rallis some actual weapons to work with. Gannon loves the violence that Stewart brings to the football field.


You must be registered for see images attach

#115 - Jeffrey Bassa - ILB - Oregon
6'1" 232 lbs

The Cardinals can't have enough strong leaders and Bassa exudes leadership. He is a vocal general on the field directing his troops. The Cardinals add this savvy LB to come in and compete at ILB.


You must be registered for see images attach

#152 - Ollie Gordon III - RB - Okla St
6'1" 226 lbs

Ollie is a very large punishing RB. I really enjoyed watching him run over everyone last season. Except for the Sun Devils of course who did a great job bottling him up. He is far better that DeMercado and could push Benson for the #2 RB spot. He drops to the 5th due to a super deep RB class this year.


You must be registered for see images attach

#209(from Chargers trade) - Dominick Lovett - WR - Georgia
5'10" 185 lbs

Smaller of stature but fearless, Lovett will compete for the slot position. Solid speed and route running. He will help immediately on special teams.
I would be doing cartwheels down the main interstate here in western Kentucky if this was our draft….2 physical lineman plus a pass rusher and inside backer…
 

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