In The Athletic’s redraft of the 2024 NFL Draft’s first round, No. 4 overall pick Marvin Harrison Jr. dropped to No. 9.
Ouch.
With a caveat, the Cardinals’ other first-round pick, Missouri defensive lineman Darius Robinson, was dropped out of the first round. Robinson was selected with the 27th overall pick.
Ouch, Part II.
The redraft was done by The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner, as the 2025 draft is a little more than a week away.
Of course, a redraft can be completely unfair to an injured player who barely saw the field, which was Robinson’s status last season. The criteria is a redraft based on 2024 performance and results. It is what it is.
Arizona counted heavily on Robinson to live up to his first-round pedigree. Sharp Football Analysis ranked the Cardinals’ defensive front seven as 32nd after the 2024 season.
But Robinson suffered a preseason calf injury and only played six games. Robinson’s first game wasn’t until Dec. 1, a 23-22 loss at the Vikings.
For the season, Robinson had 10 tackles, one sack, one quarterback hit and one tackle for loss. He didn’t start a game.
Pro Football Focus graded Robinson 48.4 overall, 154th of 219 defensive linemen. His pass rush grade also was 48.4, 216th of 219 defensive linemen. His run defense grade was 53.4, 105th of 219 defensive linemen.
Texas lineman redrafted to Cardinals
The Athletic, in its redraft, selected Texas defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat for the Cardinals at 27. Sweat was drafted by the Titans in the second round (38th overall).
Sweat’s grades: 76.2 overall (15th of 219 defensive linemen); 64.77 pass rush grade (60th of 219 defensive linemen) and 75.0 for run defense (10th of 219 defensive linemen)
Baumgardner wrote this about Sweat: “Despite toiling on a bad team, Sweat was quietly one of the best rookie defenders in the NFL last season — a true interior force against the run who also wound up with 23 pressures and a pair of sacks.”
A bounce-back season from Robinson worthy of a first-round pick could help the Cardinals immensely. To address the defensive line, Arizona signed free-agent edge Josh Sweat and defensive end Dalvin Tomlinson to improve its pass rush. And the Cardinals added veteran defensive end Calais Campbell.
The Cardinals hope Robinson can be a disrupting, run-stopping force, a complement to a newly imagined pass rush.
Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon told team’s website after the season: “I like where D-Rob is at right now, I like where he is trending. There is no doubt he is going to be an impact player for us.”
Which would mean the Cardinals get appropriate value from that first-round draft pick.