Three Cardinals NFL Draft Narratives to Watch

The NFL Draft has arrived.

On Thursday, 32 of college football's highest-touted prospects will hear their name called.

Just who will be donning Arizona Cardinals red on Thursday has yet to be revealed.

The Cardinals have a beneficial draft outlook. GM Monti Ossenfort likely can't go wrong in his decision, with a wealth of depth at multiple positions — including many of Arizona's positions of need.

But there are a few things to watch out for in the coming days. Here are three narratives to watch as the Cardinals welcome their new rookie class to the desert:

1: Medical Concerns

The Cardinals have taken top 30 visits with a variety of players, as all teams do. However, it does seem like a good portion of the players Ossenfort has visited with have had injury concerns surface in recent days.

To name a pair, DL Derrick Harmon and CB Will Johnson — two legitimate first-round options for the Cardinals — were flagged with future concerns.

Ossenfort has taken injured players before, and players with injury concern surrounding them. Garrett Williams was rehabbing from a torn ACL before emerging as Arizona's top corner. Darius Robinson, however, spent most of 2024 down with a calf injury.

So while it's obvious that Arizona won't entirely shy away from guys with medical concerns, there will be an interesting balance in the 2025 draft. Who's worth the risk, and who isn't? What the Cardinals do in the first round could provide some insight into that philosophy.

2: Potential Trade?

Ossenfort would very likely not be opposed trading down to gather more assets, but there is also a balance between gathering the best available players now, and building future depth.

The Cardinals have added relatively "old" players along the defensive line, and while much of their roster is young, it will be interesting to see if Ossenfort will prioritize the future or the present. The Cardinals don't exactly have a pick that teams would bang down their door to acquire, but could see smaller trades land some later round picks.

It seems as if the Cardinals are leaning towards sticking at 16, but a trade cannot be ruled out.

3: The Offense

Regardless of who the Cardinals pick with their first-round selection, there's an interesting narrative surrounding their outlook on 2025's offense. No significant additions have been made, though they have re-signed certain key members and extended others.

All signs have generally pointed to Arizona going with a defensive player in the first round, but a potential OL pick is very much a possibility, and they absolutely need to add a WR at some stage to provide more of a downfield speed threat.

The first few rounds will likely say a lot about Ossenfort's outlook on the offense. If he and Jonathan Gannon have a high level of confidence in Marvin Harrison Jr., James Conner, Trey McBride and Kyler Murray, they will likely look for defense early and a mid-round OL rather than spending draft capital on playmakers outside of day three.