When the 2025 NFL draft begins Thursday night in Green Bay, Wisconsin, that is when the actual picks start to happen. After months of projections, mock drafts and hopes and dreams by fans, actual players are selected by NFl franchises.
There will be surprises. There will be excitement. There will be disappointment.
But before it all happens, there are ideal scenarios that fans build in their mind.
In my mind, for the Arizona Cardinals, the following scenarios for the first three rounds of the draft would be ideal.
Ideal draft scenario No. 1 for Arizona Cardinals (Rounds 1-3)
- Round 1: Georgia EDGE Mykel Williams
- Round 2: Ohio State OL Donovan Jackson
- Round 3: South Carolina DT T.J. Sanders/Texas DT Alfred Collins/Tennessee DT Omar Norman-Lott
In the third round, a number of the quality defensive tackles would work.
Jackson is trending to be drafted before the Cardinals make their second-round pick, but he would be the perfect second-round pick if they go with a pass rusher to kick things off.
Ideal draft scenario No. 2 for Arizona Cardinals (Rounds 1-3)
- Round 1: Oregon DT Derrick Harmon/Ole Miss DT Walter Nolen
- Round 2: Ohio State EDGE JT Tuimoloau
- Round 3: Georgia OL Tate Ratledge
In this scenario, the Cardinals get a high-end defensive tackle early, an elite talent at a deep position in the draft. But if they don’t get an edge rusher in Round 1, they need to address it Round 2, and Tuimoloau and his size and production (12.5 sacks in 2024 to lead Big Ten) is perfect.
Then, in Round 3, they could get Ratledge, an extremely athletic guard who could start immediately.
Ideal draft scenario No. 3 for Arizona Cardinals (Rounds 1-3)
- Round 1 (after trade down): Ohio State OT Josh Simmons
- Round 2: Ohio State EDGE JT Tuimoloau
- Round 3: TCU WR Jack Bech
- Round 3 (from trade): South Carolina DT T.J. Sanders/Texas DT Alfred Collins/Tennessee DT Omar Norman-Lott
The Cardinals are always a candidate to trade down, as they have done so five times in the last two drafts. They could hit the right mix of talent and needs like this.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: NFL draft: 3 ideal scenarios for Arizona Cardinals