ESPN ranked all 32 NFL teams' under-25 talent, and has the Arizona Cardinals at No. 19, the same ranking as last year.
Being in the bottom half of the NFL is nothing for the Cardinals to smile about, especially
when they are in the bottom half of the NFL for the second year in a row. Arizona must have needed a higher influx of young talent this offseason if they wanted to improve in these rankings, after the likes of starting left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. and starting cornerback Garrett Williams turned 25 years old this offseason.
Something for the Cardinals to smile about, however, is where the team stacks up within their division. Other than the Cardinals, every NFC West team won at least one playoff game last season, and both teams in the NFC Championship Game were NFC West teams (Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams). The Seahawks even won the Super Bowl.
The Seahawks are the only NFC West team ahead of the Cardinals on this list, though, coming in at No. 8. The Cardinals are ahead of both the NFC West's San Francisco 49ers (who rank 27th) and the Rams (who rank last). Now, Aaron Schatz — the ESPN writer who wrote the piece that ranked the teams — made it clear that "you don't need to have young talent to be a Super Bowl contender."
"Who needs the long term when you have so much veteran talent in the short term?" Schatz asked when referring to the Rams as the current Super Bowl favorites.
The plus for the Cardinals, though, is some of the first- and second-round picks under the age of 25 who are set to come back from injury this year. 2024 No. 4 overall NFL draft selection and wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. is one of them, and Schatz labeled him a "blue chip." "Blue chips" in this context "are the top 60 cornerstone assets around the league from whom teams will likely derive their biggest future value."
Second-round draft pick from 2024 Trey Benson is expected to be back from injury as the season approaches, and the running back has averaged 4.9 yards per carry in his NFL career. Cardinals' first-round defensive lineman Walter Nolen has been working to get back from injury this offseason, and he had five tackles for loss in his six games played in his rookie 2025 season.
Another plus is the under-25 talent in the cornerback room, with 23-year-old cornerbacks Denzel Burke and Will Johnson posting at least 10 PD's each for the Cardinals in 2025.
Lastly, the Cardinals have another "blue chip" in No. 3 overall 2026 NFL Draft selection Jeremiyah Love. The running back is coming off a season in which he was a Heisman Finalist at Notre Dame and a Consensus All-American.
The Cardinals barely crack ESPN's top 20 in terms of under-25 talent league-wide, and haven't improved their ranking from last year. They do rank favorably vs. two of three divisional opponents, however, and rank in the top half of their conference.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ESPN weighs in on positives, negatives of the Cardinals' young talent
