{"id":852414,"date":"2026-04-04T01:50:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T01:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/852414\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T01:50:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T01:50:16","slug":"arizona-cardinals-draft-needs-prioritizing-each-position-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/852414\/","title":{"rendered":"Arizona Cardinals draft needs: Prioritizing each position group"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NFL draft is later this month, and the Arizona Cardinals<\/a> are scheduled currently to select once each round. With seven selections, they won’t be able to address every position, but they should definitely focus on some positions.<\/p>\n

But what is their need level for the draft at each position?<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

We recently broke down the need level at each position (except for specialists) and where in the draft they should begin to be a priority.<\/p>\n

Is it in Round 1? Is it on Day 2? What about Day 3?<\/p>\n

Each position is listed below.<\/p>\n

Positional priority\/needs for Cardinals in 2026 draft<\/p>\n

Quarterback<\/a>: The Cardinals need a top-10 talent at quarterback, but it doesn’t make sense in 2026<\/p>\n

Running back<\/a>: They don’t need to worry about running back. A priority free agent should be enough, but a Day 3 running back would be fine.<\/p>\n

Wide receiver<\/a>: They could add a receiver. Ideally, they can get someone on Day 3 to add to their depth, as none of their other recent young receivers have developed much. Perhaps Round 3, but probably Day 3.<\/p>\n

Tight end<\/a>: Realistically, Day 3 is a possibility, but they could fill that potential need with an undrafted free agent.<\/p>\n

Offensive tackle<\/a>: Rounds 1-2 would be preferred. They have been projected to take a tackle in many mock drafts with the third overall pick. If they take one third overall or with their second-round selection, fans will feel pretty solid about the position.<\/p>\n

Guard\/Center<\/a>: Round 3 or Day 3. They have other needs for the first or second rounds. Any time after that would make sense.<\/p>\n

Defensive line<\/a>: Ideally, Round 3 or later. They can’t keep throwing assets at the position without a payoff.<\/p>\n

EDGE\/OLB<\/a>: Critical! This is a top-of-the-draft need, especially with the prospects available third overall. It should be a Round 1 priority. Round 2 priority is barely acceptable.<\/p>\n

Inside linebacker<\/a>: Round 3 or later. Inside linebacker isn’t a premium position and they have players they like already.<\/p>\n

Cornerback<\/a>: Low priority, although you can’t have too many guys who can cover, so anywhere from Round 3 and beyond wouldn’t be terrible.<\/p>\n

Safety<\/a>: Low priority, probably Day 3, although the right guy could be in Round 3.<\/p>\n

Get more Cardinals<\/a> and NFL coverage from Cards<\/a> Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify<\/a>,\u00a0YouTube<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Apple podcasts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Arizona Cardinals draft needs: Prioritizing each position group<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NFL draft is later this month, and the Arizona Cardinals are scheduled currently to select once each…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":852415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2078],"tags":[375,390,2604,1327,7,6,3675],"class_list":{"0":"post-852414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arizona-cardinals","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-arizona-cardinals","10":"tag-arizonacardinals","11":"tag-cardinals","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-position"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116343933690102787","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=852414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/852415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}