Arizona Cardinals: Wilson, Collins shut out of popular outlet's ranking
By Sion Fawkes
Bad football team or not, the Arizona Cardinals have a few players under 25 who have shown a few signs of becoming playmakers in the NFL. And for a team in transition, you can expect quite a few more youngsters to play pivotal roles for this team.
Despite possessing some respectable young talent, PFF shut out the Cardinals in their “Top 25 players under 25” rankings that they released in May. Sure, there are 25 solid names on the list, but two members of the Redbirds should have made the cut.
2 Arizona Cardinals who should have made PFF’s rankings
1 - Marco Wilson
Marco Wilson may not have enjoyed a good rookie season in 2021, but his 2022 campaign was a 180-degree turnaround. Last year, he tallied three interceptions, a pick-six, and 77 return yards to go with 10 pass deflections, a forced fumble, and 58 total tackles.
This year, Wilson could prove to be a legitimate number one corner, and the former fourth-round pick could also hang onto the role for more than the foreseeable future. Wilson showed playmaker potential in 2022, and that could translate to a huge 2023.
2 - Zaven Collins
One of the NFL’s most painfully underrated players, Zaven Collins reached the 100-tackle threshold in 2022. He also logged a pix-six that went for 30 yards, deflected six passes, forced a fumble, and even stopped ball-carriers behind the line 11 times.
Overall, Collins was an effective inside linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals, and he’s now slated to kick outside to play EDGE in 2023. But despite the position swap, it does not indicate Collins failed as an inside linebacker, and you can expect him to put up some relentless numbers at the position in 2023 if he settles in quickly.
Collins and Wilson could also wind up as part of the young nucleus brewing on defense that includes players like Isaiah Simmons, Kyzir White, Cameron Thomas, Myjai Sanders, and B.J. Ojulari. If Budda Baker decides to stay long-term, you can also add him to the list.
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Source: Ranking the top 25 players under 25 entering the 2023 NFL season: Sauce Gardner, Justin Jefferson and more by Trevor Sikkema, PFF.com
(Statistics provided by Pro-Football-Reference)