From a competitive standpoint, last year’s Arizona Cardinals were the equivalent of an eighth-grade football superstar who finds himself trying to play on the high school senior varsity team. You’re somehow good enough to exist at this level, but anything more than existence will be swatted down by the behemoths all around you.
That reality sank in for the Cards pretty quickly. They didn’t have such an opportunity to impress before things fell apart. They started off 2-0 with wins over the New Orleans
Saints and Carolina Panthers, and had close losses to the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, but then, attrition started to hit.
Hard.
I mean, holy crap.
The 2025 Cardinals dealt with 179.8 Adjusted Games Lost, the FTN metric which measures games lost by starters and major contributors. That is the second-highest in the metric’s 25-year history, behind only the 2021 Baltimore Ravens. That’s how the 2021 Baltimore Ravens compiled records of 5-1 and 8-3 before crashing into a ditch and losing their last six games.
Kyler Murray’s foot injury, which cost him the last 12 games of the season, was the headline malady, but those dings showed up everywhere in every part of the roster.
This was no way to go about winning in the NFC West. Arizona’s 3-14 record was brought about to a great extent by the fact that they were playing in Autobahn traffic against the aforementioned 49ers and Seahawks, as well as the Los Angeles Rams. Seattle and L.A. were the NFL’s two best teams last season, and the 49ers still managed a 12-5 record despite their own fairly epic injury issues (they ranked fifth in AGL).
The Seahawks are where they were last season. The Rams have loaded up to a ridiculous degree. The 49ers should still be very good, even if they can’t figure out the whole substation thing. Meanwhile, the Cardinals have hired Mike LaFleur to be their head coach, they’ve already caused a “Did we overwork Jeremiyah Love in the preseason?” debate, and nobody really knows who the quarterback is going to be.
So, it could be a tough slog for this team. For anything else to be the case, everyone on the roster will need to exceed expectations — not just the stars on the roster, but the lesser-known guys whose on-field exploits currently exceed their national name recognition.
To that end, I’ve sought out three Hidden Gems for these 2026 Cardinals — one underrated veteran, one underrated free agent, and one underrated draft pick.
Underrated veteran: EDGE Josh Sweat
One more thing about last season’s injury bug.
Let’s put this as simply as possible — if the Cardinals are to accomplish anything of note on defense this season, they’ll need as much of Josh Sweat as they can possibly get. It’s not just that the eight-year veteran compiled 12 sacks and 47 total pressures in just 355 pass-rushing snaps in his first year with the team after signing a four-year, $76.4 million contract with $41 million guaranteed. It was just as much what Arizona’s pass rush did whenever he wasn’t on the field.
Which wasn’t much at all. And the defense changed completely when he was unavailable due to any nagging injuries. When Sweat was there, he was good enough to merit Top 100 consideration, whatever you may think of the NFL’s evaluative process with this particular idea.
When Sweat was off the field, the pass rush got itself smushed.
Former head coach Jonathan Gannon put it quite simply last October when asked why and how Sweat opens things up for other quarterback disruptors.
“Well, they have to pay attention to Josh, and when they’re paying attention to Josh, that’s typically going to create some one-on-ones. Just kind of a numbers game with that. If you’ve got a win rusher, depending how they choose to negate that it’s going to open up some things for other guys.”
Anybody who knows anything about football understands that. That’s the easy part. Getting a guy who creates those opportunities at such a high level is the tougher assignment.
For the Cardinals, who didn’t do much in the offseason to put more pass rush around Sweat, keeping him on the field should be Job 1. He’s estimated to come off the active/PUP list (knee) and be ready for the start of the regular season, which is obviously big (and good) news.
“Everyone is on the same page the entire time,” LaFleur said in July of Sweat’s status. “You guys can believe me or not, but I am not worried about Josh Sweat at all in terms of his health. He’s logged a lot of miles in this league, and I think not only for Josh to peak on Sept. 13 [for the regular-season opener against the Las Vegas Raiders], but for Josh to also get through the rigors of a 17-game season the way that he plays, and the motor he plays with, this is best for him and the Cardinals.”
LaFleur had better hope so. Things will be better with a healthy Walter Nolen in 2026, but it’s clear that Sweat leads Arizona’s pass-rush plan — and he’ll continue to do so.
Underrated free agent: QB Gardner Minshew
Gardner Minshew has seen a lot of things, man.
The 2019 sixth-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars has been a starter with the Jags in 2019 and 2020, with the Indianapolis Colts in 2023 (he made the Pro Bowl that year), and with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2024. He’s also been a backup with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021 and 2022, and with the Kansas City Chiefs last season.
Now, Minshew’s winding NFL path has taken him to the Valley of the Sun after the Cardinals signed him to a one-year, $5.75 million contract to help clarify a quarterback situation that remains undefined between what veteran Jacoby Brissett can do, and what rookie Carson Beck needs to prove.
Could Minshew take the starting job? Perhaps, but LaFleur sees a different point of entry for him. And Minshew is okay with that.
“[I’ve had] maybe a little bit of a perspective shift, but not in the way you think,” Minshew recently said. “What do we really have? Each day we have the opportunity to get better. You can just do that over and over. And that’s it. Looking around and wondering what’s around you or who is around you doesn’t serve you at all, and it doesn’t serve the team. All you can do is show up and work.”
LaFleur has made it clear what he wants from Minshew this season — be ready at any time to take over, and let the preparation take care of itself. Because starter’s snaps may not be a thing in practice.
“We want him to be the best backup quarterback of all time,” LaFleur said. “What is a backup quarterback? You are one snap away at any given time, and you have to be always ready to go. You’re not always going to get the necessary reps.”
With all his experience, and with his YOLO playing personality, Minshew can see things going both ways at any time. Against the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night as the starter, he completed 19 of 23 passes for 177 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 80.6.
Minshew’s best and worst moments both involved receiver Simi Fehoko. His interception with 7:31 left in the first quarter happened primarily because Fehoko fell down on the play, and he had a banger of a throw on a 37-yard completion to Fehoko with 1:04 left in the first quarter.
“He kept the ball in play,” LaFleur said of Minshew postgame. “I thought he did a good job. The interception was unfortunate because it wasn’t a ‘PI’ [pass interference], either—it was a zoning ‘backer with incidental contact on Simi. Simi almost kept his balance as he was taking a hitch to rip it to an open spot in the soft zone; I thought that would’ve been a first down on third-and-12. Even to get ourselves in that situation on third-and-17, use the hard count to get the five [yards] there. I said, ‘Hey, you’re going to use that hard count. I’ll give you a shot to get the first down here.’ That was one of his favorite plays going into it. I like where he ripped it, [but] it was just unfortunate that he obviously fell there.”
Good enough to elevate himself in an iffy overall quarterback situation, at least for now? Perhaps. If not, there are worst fates than turning oneself into the best backup quarterback of all time.
Underrated draft pick: LB Karson Sharar
Right now, the Cardinals are estimated to start Cody Simon and Mack Wilson Sr. at linebacker, which means that there are spots open for business for any enterprising interloper who wants to get in there and prove something. One guy to watch is Iowa’s Karson Sharar, selected with the 183rd overall pick in the sixth round.
2025 marked Sharar’s first season as a starter for the Hawkeyes, and he took advantage of it, totaling 67 solo tackles, 42 stops, 12 tackles for loss, four sacks, and 15 total pressures in just 78 pass-rushing snaps. And in coverage, he allowed 32 catches on 40 targets for 190 yards, 124 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, no interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 86.5.
Sharar also lined up all over the defense, showing a positional versatility that is mandatory for modern linebackers. At 6′ 1⅝” and 235 pounds, he can blow up a run fit for a TFL as well as he can handle a blitz, or motion out to the slot to snuff out a screen pass.
Given his draft position, Sharar has already embraced the special teams aspect of his opportunity to make the final 53 — and it’s already shows up on tape.
“[Special teams] is blue-collar,” Sharar said after signing his rookie contract. “You’ve got to come in every day and work. Nothing is ever given to you. You have to take advantage of the opportunity. You have to really take advantage off the field in your preparation, be able to watch the film, see what your opponents are doing, and then be able to go out there and execute your job.”
We’ll see how far this all takes Sharar, but guys like these tend to stick and stay in the NFL. With their first teams, or other teams down the line.
