Cardinals’ Dadrion Taylor-Demerson wants to dance in the endzone
Arizona Cardinals safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson spoke during a news conference at the Cardinals’ training center in Tempe on June 24, 2025.
Dadrion Taylor-Demerson emphasizes the importance of mentorship from veteran players like Budda Baker, Jalen Thompson and Garrett Williams.Despite limited playing time due to the talented safety group, Taylor-Demerson remains focused on team success and contributing in any way possible.
When Dadrion Taylor-Demerson began his NFL journey a year ago, he kept hearing that famous stat — that the average career in the league lasts just 3.3 seasons.
As he went through his first minicamp, his first OTAs and his first training camp, that number stayed in Taylor-Demerson’s mind. He knew that, as a fourth-round pick, his job security was minimal.
“You hear all these stories, the cuts and everything like that,” Taylor-Demerson said. “You just don’t want to be a part of that.”
A year later, Taylor-Demerson looks back on his stress with amusement. He feels that he was naïve to worry about such things — as true as those numbers are.
“It’s like, no, you can overcome that if you do the right things,” Taylor-Demerson said.
That’s a lesson he’s learned from his mentors inside the Arizona Cardinals’ safety corps.
Budda Baker, an early second-round pick, was the only highly touted player of the group entering the NFL. Jalen Thompson was picked in the fifth round of the supplemental draft after he was unexpectedly ruled ineligible for his final collegiate season. He has since molded himself into a star at strong safety. And Cardinals nickel Garrett Williams fell to the third round due to a torn ACL. After just two seasons, he already looks like a star himself.
From all three of those players, Taylor-Demerson has learned the keys to NFL longevity.
“You can always learn more Xs and Os and how the game works,” Taylor-Demerson said. “But more just how to get the brain trained to go through a whole game or go through a whole entire season.
“The guys that are really high in it, in our building, you can see how they live their life and you can see that (translate) to when they come in the building.”
Taylor-Demerson sits next to Williams during offseason meetings. That way, he can see the game through a nickel corner’s lens. That helps him if he ever needs to play at nickel, but also so that he understands how to communicate with Williams pre-snap.
Then, once the season starts, Taylor-Demerson sits next to Baker and Thompson. From those two players, he can learn the nuances of free safety and strong safety, where he gets the majority of his snaps.
“When we watch the tape, there’s so many corrections,” Taylor-Demerson said. “Everyone’s done something bad. Everyone’s had a mess up in a time. So just being able to learn from it. Everyone in our room, based off how the older guys act, have turned everyone in our room into teachers.”
As a rookie, those lessons helped Taylor-Demerson hit the ground running. Per Pro Football Focus, he finished the season with a 75.5 overall grade, the third-best mark on the Cardinals’ defense. Whenever he had opportunities, he made plays. In Weeks 10 and 12 — when Thompson was out with injury — he made 12 total tackles, had a pass breakup and forced another pair of incomplete passes.
But there’s a flip side here, too. With those stalwarts ahead of him on the roster, Taylor-Demerson’s path to playing time is muddled. Even if he continues to force the coaching staff’s hand, there are only so many snaps on offer.
None of that, though, seems to bother Taylor-Demerson.
“Nah man, I love playing with good players,” Taylor-Demerson said. “… However we can find a way to win the game, whatever my role is, whatever my snap count is or my special team count is, it doesn’t really matter to me. I’m already here living my dream.”
After all, those teammates help Taylor-Demerson with his ultimate goal.
“I like dancing,” Taylor-Demerson said. “So we gotta get in the end zone a little bit.”