The Arizona Cardinals will need to give the defense some new blood. They draft high in every round, so it’s expected that several blue-chip players will arrive shortly after April’s draft.
The linebacker room is a good group.
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LB Mack Wilson was the leading tackler before he became injured with a rib issue in Week 9. The rest of the room includes Baron Browning, Zaven Collins, Jordan Burch, and Cody Simon. One of the pound-for-pound most athletic linebackers in the class
is Pittsburgh’s Kyle Louis.
Louis has all the tools necessary to be a playmaking WILL at the NFL level, despite having a slight frame. Today’s WILL linebackers need to have enough athleticism to be effective in coverage and the type of mentality to be effective against the run. Louis clearly has both of these qualities.
He’s not going to stack and shed blockers in the run game, but he has elite-level quickness to dip and slip around them at the point of attack. He’s also incredibly effective in coverage and can run with running backs and tight ends all day long.
There are only a few linebackers in this class that have the type of athleticism that Arizona could be looking for, and Louis is undoubtedly one of them.
LB Kyle Louis
Draft projection: Round 3
Cardinals pick: #65
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Specifics:
Career Tackles for Loss: 25.5
Career Pass Defenses: 6
Accolades: First Team All-American, First Team All-ACC, Second Team All-ACC (2025), College Football Network ACC Linebacker of the Year
Positives:
- Explosive closer
- Jumps routes like a defensive back
- Fluid hips
- Able to find the ball in traffic
- Wraps up on tackles
- Good timing on shooting gaps
- Very good in coverage
- Good timing on blitzes
- Explosive when finishing tackles
Negatives:
- Hard to shed blockers
- Light frame allows him to get pushed around
- Can turn tackles into drag-downs
- Inconsistency with reads
- Needs more girth
- Struggles against RPO
Expert Draft Site Analysis
Played the hybrid “Star” position for Pitt’s defense as a 2-year starter, aligning in the box as a true linebacker for only about half of his snaps. The other half were split between the defensive line, usually as an overhang or a long-and-late-downs standup interior blitzer, or playing in the slot. Instincts in the run game are lacking. Nailed to the ground at the second level, and can’t handle blockers once they descend upon him. Lack of size and processing speed shows up in the box in debilitating ways. Doesn’t trigger downhill quickly against the run, leading to questions about how good his processing and key-reading are. Will get caught up reading backfield action and struggle to sort out where the ball is.
