NFC West · 2026 Draft Class

Arizona Cardinals 2026 NFL Draft Class

Every Cardinals selection in the 2026 NFL Draft, the needs they entered the weekend with, and the trades that reshaped their board.

Compiled by the NFL Mock Draft Simulator research desk · Front office at the time: Monti Ossenfort (GM), Mike LaFleur (HC)

The class

Arizona Cardinals made 7 selections in the 2026 draft, opening with Jeremiyah Love, a running back out of Notre Dame, at No. 3 overall.

The class skewed toward running back. In total they drafted 7 different positions.

Going into the weekend our board had their priority needs listed as Offensive Tackle, Quarterback, Linebacker, Safety, Edge Rusher, Defensive Tackle. They addressed 4 of their 6 pre-draft needs directly: Offensive Tackle, Quarterback, Linebacker, Defensive Tackle. Left unaddressed: Safety, Edge Rusher.

Draft capital

Cardinals draft capital broke down as 1 Day 1 pick, 2 on Day 2 and 4 on Day 3.

Pick by pick

Every Cardinals selection, with where it landed against our consensus board and against their own pre-draft needs list.

• Round 1, No. 3: Cardinals took Jeremiyah Love, within 0 slots of his board ranking of 3. Running Back was not on their priority needs list, a best-player-available call.
• Round 2, No. 34: Cardinals took Chase Bisontis on Day 2, within 9 slots of his board ranking of 43. Interior Offensive Line was not on their priority needs list, a best-player-available call.
• Round 3, No. 65: Cardinals moved on Carson Beck on Day 2, 77 slots early, which is what a team does when it has decided the board is wrong. Quarterback was their No. 2 listed need.
• Round 4, No. 104: Cardinals moved on Kaleb Proctor on Day 3, 56 slots ahead of his board ranking, which is conviction rather than value.
• Round 5, No. 143: Cardinals took Reggie Virgil on Day 3, within 18 slots of his board ranking of 161. Wide Receiver was not on their priority needs list, a best-player-available call.
• Round 6, No. 183: Cardinals took Karson Sharar at board rank 423, a late lottery ticket rather than a statement. Linebacker was their No. 3 listed need.
• Round 7, No. 217: Cardinals spent a late-round flier on Jayden Williams, a board-rank 416 player. It was their single highest-priority need going in.

Pre-draft needs

Our needs assessment for the Cardinals going into the 2026 draft, ordered by priority. This is the list the class above is measured against.

Draft-day trades

This team did not complete a trade during the draft.

Related

• Round 1 results: every other pick made around the Cardinals' first selection.
• Position rankings for the groups they drafted: Running Back, Interior Offensive Line, Quarterback, Defensive Tackle, Wide Receiver, Linebacker, Offensive Tackle.
• The 2026 consensus big board: where every one of these players ranked before the draft.
• Steals and reaches: which picks diverged most from the board, and what that gap means.
• The draft by the numbers: positional supply, school production and how draft capital was distributed.

More on the Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals franchise hub carries the current front office and needs, plus every other class we cover.