Arizona Cardinals
- (3) Jeremiyah Love RB Notre Dame
- (34) Chase Bisontis OG Texas A&M
- (65) Carson Beck QB Miami
- (104) Kaleb Proctor DT Southeast Louisiana
- (143) Reggie Virgil WR Texas Tech
- (183) Karson Sharar LB Iowa
- (217) Jayden Williams OT Ole Miss
Immediate Impact: RB Jeremiyah Love, OG Chase Bisontis, QB Carson Beck
While I wholeheartedly disagree with the Cardinals picking Jeremiyah Love third overall, he’s going to make a major impact. They may have an abundance of RBs, but he’s the best one. He will still share the load but he’s the most talented back on the roster and can be one of the best RBs in the league. Bisontis should easily slide in at RG where Isaiah Adams was the expected starter. Adams is fine but Bisontis has real upside. He can help the line block for Love. He would also improve the blocking for Carson Beck when he takes over the starting job. The Cardinals didn’t draft Beck in round three to sit behind Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew. He may not have the highest ceiling as a starter from this draft, but he has the highest ceiling of the QBs on this roster.
Best Value: DT Kaleb Proctor
The Cardinals signed Roy Lopez and Andrew Billings to be the NT, but they are counting heavily on Walter Nolen III to come back strong after his injury issues. They may not be able to use him too heavily and that’s why Proctor was a nice pickup in round four. He may be a small DT from a small school, but he plays with aggression and can be disruptive. He’s like a smaller version of Nolen. He’s going to give them some quality snaps on the d-line.
Sleeper: LB Karson Sharar
Sharar was drafted in the sixth round and most see him as a guy who will only be a core special teamer, I think he has more to him. The Cardinals have a bunch of smaller LBs like Sharar, but he has a level of athleticism you don’t expect. He flies around the field and can be used in a number of different ways. He was only a one-year starter at Iowa because of the guys ahead of him were so good but he stuck it out instead of transferring. With a little more playing time to develop his skills, I think he can become at least a rotational LB in the league.
Overall Analysis
Jeremiah Love was arguably the best prospect in the entire draft and in a vacuum, he easily should have been a top three pick. However, a RB of his caliber on a team like the Cardinals is like a platinum hood ornament on a 1993 Toyota Corolla. Unless Carson Beck is way better than anyone expects, they just don’t have a QB to make this offense really work and the defense isn’t very good. Chase Bisontis will be a starter very quickly and he was a great pick.
QB Carson Beck was a surprise pick to lead off the third round. Clearly, the Cardinals feel like Beck gives them someone who could start for this year at least. I do think he can be better than Brissett or Minshew, but he still seems limited by his previous elbow injury. If he can’t throw the ball downfield, having Michael Wilson and Marvin Harrison Jr. isn’t going to do him much good. He doesn’t prevent them from taking a QB next year though, so that’s a good thing.
DL Kaleb Proctor was a value pick in round four, he can play for this team. WR Reggie Virgil is a big WR, but the Cardinals seem to have that covered with Wilson, Harrison, and Kendrick Bourne on the roster. A smaller, speedy WR might have made more sense; Kendrick Law, Cyrus Allen, or Kevin Coleman Jr. could have given them a different skill set. I really like Karson Sharar and Jayden Williams who could give them some o-line depth.
Los Angeles Rams
- (13) Ty Simpson QB Alabama
- (61) Max Klare TE Ohio St.
- (93) Keagan Trost OL Missouri
- (197) CJ Daniels WR Miami
- (232) Tim Keenan III DT Alabama
Immediate Impact: ?????
This is the problem everyone seems to have with this draft. Ty Simpson is going to sit until Matt Stafford decides to retire or his back falls apart. TE Max Klare is a good player but he’s fifth on the depth chart with some guys ahead of him who do exactly what he does. There is no immediate impact from this draft.
Best Value: TE Max Klare
Klare was one of the better TEs in this class and somehow, he was the fifth TE off the board and went late in round two, he’s better than that. He may not play much this year but it’s not because he’s not good, it’s because he’s buried on a deep depth chart.
Sleeper: DT Tim Keenan III
I have no earthly idea how Keenan fell to the seventh round, he’s a good football player. He’s not the tallest DT but he has great size and he’ll be a good NT for them. They have Poona Ford, but Keenan will be an excellent backup to him now and could replace him in the near future.
Overall Analysis
For a team that was very close to the Super Bowl and that had the 13th pick in the draft, they didn’t act like it. QB Ty Simpson might be good someday, but they aren’t replacing Matthew Stafford with a rookie any time soon. Even if he’s a good backup, if Stafford goes down, this team isn’t going to the Super Bowl with Simpson next season. Then taking another TE with their second-round pick didn’t make much sense either. Yes, they use a ton of three TE looks, but Klare is a rookie behind four good veterans, he’s not going to make the offense better. Strange draft behavior for a team that was very close to beating the eventual Super Bowl Champion Seahawks in the playoffs.
OL Keagan Trost should be able to back up multiple positions, but he isn’t replacing any starter any time soon. I actually really like the CJ Daniels pick in round six, he could be their fourth WR this year. DT Tim Keenan III might be the guy who gives them the most help this season just being a rotational defensive lineman.
San Francisco 49ers
- (33) De’Zhaun Stribling WR Ole Miss
- (70) Romello Height Edge Texas Tech
- (90) Kaelon Black RB Indiana
- (107) Gracen Halton DT Oklahoma
- (127) Carver Willis OT Washington
- (139) Ephesians Prysock CB Washington
- (154) Jaden Dugger LB Louisiana
- (179) Enrique Cruz Jr. OT Kansas
Immediate Impact: Edge Romello Height, DT Gracen Halton
The 49ers defense was decimated by injury last year and they’re getting many guys back healthy and adding these two guys to the front four. Height isn’t going to be a starter, he’s just not big enough to hold up as a full-time player. He is going to be their top pass rush specialist now that Bryce Huff retired. Height is perfect for that job. Halton was a fourth-round pick but he’s going to get some play at DT. They traded for Oda Odighizuwa to be the penetrating tackle on defense, but Halton gives them another guy for the rotation.
Best Value: Halton
I wasn’t the biggest Halton fan, he’s a bit undersized, but he went to the exact right situation. The 49ers have Alfred Collins and CJ West who they drafted last year as the big, power DTs. They also have Odighizuwa to be the starting in front of Halton. He should be used in situations where he can excel and not in situations where he might struggle.
Sleepers: OL Carver Willis, OT Enrique Cruz Jr.
The 49ers love to draft offensive linemen later in the draft who fit into the Shanahan zone scheme, they did it again, twice. Willis and Cruz are big men who are athletic and move well and both should project to the scheme perfectly. Willis has some versatility to move to guard and be an emergency tackle pretty quickly while Cruz may need a little more development. With their interior linemen unsettled a bit and Trent Williams aging, these two are solid choices to develop into future players for the team.
Overall Analysis
The 49ers march to their own drummer when it comes to the draft. While WR De’Zhaun Stribling has his fans, he wasn’t expected to be the first pick of the second round. The 49ers took him and while it may have been a tad early, it’s a good situation for him. He can learn behind Mike Evans and won’t have to play if Ricky Pearsall and Christian Kirk can stay healthy. He’s a nice investment in the future of the position given Evans’ and Kirk’s ages.
Height came off the board about where you would expect him to, in the third round. He also went to a great situation for him. Being used as a subpackage player should benefit him. Shanahan took his obligatory third-round RB again, this time it was Kaelon Black. Black wasn’t exactly thought of as the third RB in the draft type of player but that’s where he went. He’s a tough runner who should fit the scheme but so were the other four RBs Kyle Shanahan has tried to make work from the middle rounds. Halton came next, solid addition even if he’s a very specific role player.
The two offensive linemen were then taken in rounds four and five sandwiched around a CB and a LB who have the traits you look for in those positions. CB Ephesians Prysock is a big CB who should fit into the defense well. If you’re going to bet on a fourth-round CB, you should take the guy who’s 6’1 210 lbs. who has long arms and can run. Taking a 6’5 250 lbs. LB, Jaden Dugger, is also a good idea when most of your LB corps is made up of small fast guys who either have health issues (Dre Greenlaw) or haven’t proven they can play (Nick Martin).
Seattle Seahawks
- (32) Jadarian Price RB Notre Dame
- (64) Bud Clark S TCU
- (99) Julian Neal CB Arkansas
- (148) Beau Stephens OG Iowa
- (199) Emmanuel Henderson Jr. WR Kansas
- (236) Andre Fuller CB Toledo
- (242) Deven Eastern DL Minnesota
- (255) Michael Dansby CB Arizona
Immediate Impact: RB Jadarian Price, S Bud Clark, OG Beau Stephens
The Seahawks wanted desperately to trade out of pick 32 but the six picks right before them all changed hands and they ended up having to pick. They took Price, the guy they would have targeted early in round two if they could have traded back. He’s an excellent fit for their scheme and he was the second-best RB in this class. S Bud Clark isn’t the biggest guy, and he isn’t great in the run game but he’s a great deep cover safety. They have the guys to make up for his shortfalls so he will do just fine. I’m calling my shot on Stephens, the Seahawks traded a 2027 fourth round pick to move into round five to take Stephens. He’s going to have every chance to replace RG Anthony Bradford, and my money is on Stephens.
Best Value: Stephens (kind of)
Stephens has a chance to be a starter for this team, and they got him in round five, good value. The “kind of” comes from the fact that the team had to trade next year’s pick to get into the round to take Stephens. They obviously thought he was too good to pass up and so he’s very valuable to them.
Sleeper: CB Andre Fuller
The Seahawks took Julian Neal in round three and then doubled up at CB with Fuller in round seven. He’s got good size at 6’1 200 lbs. and after the way Toledo has been developing defensive backs lately, Fuller is worth betting on.
Overall Analysis
When you’re the Super Bowl champions it’s hard for a lot of draft picks to make your team. The Seahawks didn’t have many picks going into the draft, but they made some deals and ended up with some more picks. Price was a need pick and that’s tough, you never want to be painted into a corner with a pick, but they lost Kenneth Walker III, Zach Charbonnet is out with a knee injury, and they couldn’t trade down so they took Price. He’s going to be good for them but the 32nd pick was a little rich.
The next two picks were S Bud Clark and CB Julian Neal. Clark fills a need as a free safety and Neal gives them another big body at CB. Both of these guys will at least be in the rotation at their positions, and I think Clark ends up starting at FS. They thought enough of Stephens to give up draft capital in 2027 for him, that’s saying something considering how people are talking about next year’s draft.
The last four picks are going to have to fight to make the roster. WR Emmanuel Henderson Jr. is supposed to be an excellent gunner on special teams so that’s his path to a roster spot. Fuller has a chance to be a depth CB. DL Deven Eastern and CB Michael Dansby are practice squad guys most likely.
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