In the latest seven-round 2025 NFL Mock Draft at PFN, the Arizona Cardinals strengthen their defense and add weapons alongside Marvin Harrison Jr. and Trey McBride on the offensive side of the ball.
How does their haul look as a whole?
Who Could the Arizona Cardinals Draft in the 2025 NFL Draft?
Note: The draft order for the 2025 NFL Mock Draft was derived from my record and playoff predictions for the 2024 NFL regular season.
1.7) Arizona Cardinals: Abdul Carter, EDGE, Penn State
The Cardinals’ defensive line has improved with the additions of Darius Robinson, Justin Jones, and Bilal Nichols. Now imagine if they had a pass-rush threat like Abdul Carter.
Carter was built to beat tackles to the apex with his speed and bend, and already in a brief sample, he’s shown the necessary multitasking ability to pry past extensions on the attack.
2.39) Arizona Cardinals: Harold Perkins Jr., LB, LSU
While Carter projects as an EDGE full-time for Arizona, Harold Perkins Jr. can be Jonathan Gannon’s wild card at the second level. His run defense is still an unknown, but Perkins’ playmaking range and attack proficiency are nearly unmatched.
3.71) Arizona Cardinals: Barion Brown, WR, Kentucky
In the short term, Barion Brown gives Arizona a truly uncommon talent as a return specialist. And in time, he could grow to become a dynamic WR2.
Rounds 4-7
4.104) Mansoor Delane, CB, Virginia Tech
5.136) Jeffrey Bassa, S, Oregon
6.168) Squirrel White, WR, Tennessee
Cardinals 2025 NFL Mock Draft Analysis
The Cardinals’ 2024 NFL Draft class was a bit heavier on the defensive side of the ball, and in this 2025 NFL Mock Draft, their next class follows suit.
Though Harrison is joined at WR by Brown and White, Arizona’s top two picks — Carter and Perkins — supplement a defensive squad that added Darius Robinson, Max Melton, Elijah Jones, Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, and Xavier Thomas in the 2024 offseason.
For some players, Arizona will have to hedge for turnover, but the front seven certainly took a step up with this mock draft. Bilal Nichols, Justin Jones, and Robinson make up a strong interior rotation, and Robinson has the multiplicity to rotate outside on run downs.
Carter, meanwhile, gives the Cardinals the elite EDGE talent they’ve been seeking for some time. There was hope with B.J. Ojulari, but a torn ACL has placed his outlook in jeopardy. Carter, at 6’3″, 250 pounds, can obliterate angles with his devastating speed and bend.
If Carter wasn’t enough, Perkins is a transcendent pass-rushing threat from the second level, and the upside is there for him to become a complete three-down attacking linebacker — as long as he can add a bit more weight to his frame.
This Cardinals mock draft rounds out the defense, but the weapons core on offense is also strengthened. And with Kyler Murray working behind a relatively strong offensive line, this Cardinals mock draft could be the precursor of a playoff run in 2025.