![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776085126_527_weinfuss_josh.png&h=80&w=80&scale=crop.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Josh WeinfussApr 13, 2026, 03:30 PM<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>Josh Weinfuss is a staff writer who covers the Arizona Cardinals and the NFL at ESPN. Josh has covered the Cardinals since 2012, joining ESPN in 2013. He is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and a graduate of Indiana University.<\/p>\n Multiple Authors<\/p>\n TEMPE, Ariz. — The 2026 NFL draft<\/a> (8 p.m. ET on ESPN, ABC, ESPN App) will start on April 23 in Pittsburgh. The Arizona Cardinals<\/a> are scheduled to make seven of the draft’s 257 picks<\/a>, beginning with the No. 3 overall selection in the first round Thursday night<\/a>.<\/p>\n During the three-day event (Rounds 2-3 on April 24 and Rounds 4-7 on April 25), we will update this page with analysis on every pick.<\/p>\n A full list of Cardinals’ selections are below, in addition to positional needs.<\/p>\n NFL draft coverage: Round 1: No. 3 overall<\/p>\n Round 2: No. 34<\/p>\n Round 3: No. 65<\/p>\n Round 4: No. 104<\/p>\n Round 5: No. 143<\/p>\n Round 6: No. 183<\/p>\n Round 7: No. 217<\/p>\n Top three needs<\/a>: OL, QB, S.<\/p>\n Get ready for the 2026 NFL draft \u2022 Mocks: Kiper<\/a> | Miller<\/a> | Reid<\/a> | Yates<\/a> The Cardinals didn’t address their most important need during free agency: right tackle. Now that’s left for them to take care of during the draft, which could happen as soon as pick No. 3.<\/p>\n After releasing Kyler Murray<\/a> and signing Gardner Minshew<\/a>, drafting a quarterback seems likely. This year’s quarterback class isn’t nearly as deep as next year’s is expected to be, so could they trade back into Round 1 for one? Lastly, with Jalen Thompson<\/a> leaving in free agency and Budda Baker<\/a> turning 30, Arizona also needs to start planning for the future in its deep secondary alongside Dadrion Taylor-Demerson<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arizona trading back into Round 1 for Ty Simpson has been kicked around. Could the Cardinals go that route?<\/p>\n It’s not out of the realm of possibility, though it’ll come down to how much it’ll cost Arizona to get back into the first round. But while GM Monti Ossenfort might need to win to save his job and could be willing to try to win at all costs, the decision will come down to owner Michael Bidwill. Arizona has liked Simpson for a while, a source told ESPN in the fall. Adding to the intrigue will be whether the Cardinals believe Simpson is worth trading away a high draft pick instead waiting until next season, when a better crop of quarterbacks will be coming out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Josh WeinfussApr 13, 2026, 03:30 PM CloseJosh Weinfuss is a staff writer who covers the Arizona Cardinals and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":865474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2078],"tags":[375,390,2604,1327,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-865526","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"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116397522093065866","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865526","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=865526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Latest expert mock drafts<\/a>
Kiper’s Big Board<\/a> | Team needs<\/a>
Consensus rankings<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/_end_rule.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776085127_452_ari.png\")
<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/nfl_jordan-reid-mock-draft_5x2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u2022 Rankings: Kiper<\/a> | Miller<\/a> | Reid<\/a> | Yates<\/a>
\u2022 Intel on 32 teams<\/a> | Best at everything<\/a>
\u2022 Team needs<\/a> | Best by position<\/a> | Comps<\/a>
\u2022 Latest buzz<\/a> | Full draft order<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n