Monti's Draft Grades 2026

[Cardiac]

Where does this come from? Isn’t he autistic and a guy who plays video games and watches anime? He’s described himself as an introvert.

He’s more like Kyler and MHJ.

He may be on the spectrum but he's incredibly high functioning. I listened to him speak and was impressed with his delivery and thoughts. If nothing else he will lead by example. Nothing like KM imo.

 

[Cardiac]

I think the payoff for Reese was greater than the payoff for Love based on on contract and scarcity even if he was riskier. IN some ways I feel the same about Mauigoa at 3. I have a hard time evaluating a trade back scenario when we won't probably ever know what the offers were.

How are the Cardinals going to improve at EDGE if they aren't using premium resources on EDGE players? Same question at RT though that is easier than EDGE IMO. I can give the Mauigoa thing a bit of a pass because some teams don't put as much value on RT. That said, it better work or they will continue to look like donkeys.

Well the Browns got a 3rd and a 5th to move down 3 spots (IIRC). Not that much of a haul. Francis lasted until pick 10 and the Giants plan to play him at OG. Giants drafted Reese and plan to play him at off linebacker.
I think there is enough evidence to gleen that this was a crappy draft to have the number 3 pick.
I can't blame Monti for taking Love, several analysts had him ranked as the #1 or 2 player in this draft.
Typical Cards luck.

 

[Dayman]

I'll go with a C. I like some of the players, but I question the value of a lot of the picks.

- Giving Love the most guaranteed money ever for a RB seems wild with this Oline and QB situation. I think Reese was the better value.

- I see Beck as an older developmental player with the ceiling of a backup, which is fine if he was taken in the late 4th or 5th round and the team already had a starter. As it is, taking him at 65 seems questionable at best.

- I wish Monti would spend more Day 1 and 2 picks on Olinemen. He has only used 3 of his 17 round 1-3 picks on Olinemen so far, and one was Isaiah Adams. I also thought he could have used the 5th round pick on a possible starting center in Hecht rather than a tall/skinny WR with questionable speed. There is a reason why this Oline isn't great, and Monti has a lot to do with it.

- Even taking Reese out of the equation, Monti did very little to improve last year's anemic pass rush this offseason aside from drafting a small school interior lineman in the 4th, whom I actually like quite a lot. Still, it seems like a lot of expectations are being put on Nolen to turn around the pass rush, especially with CC gone. I'm done waiting on BJ or Browning to actually contribute.

- It's weird that Monti has alternated defensive and offensive drafts these last two years. I don't know if it's bad yet. Just weird.

Overall, I just don't really get Monti's team building methods. And judging by the results of the past few years, it's tough to trust them to produce any meaningful results.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

- I wish Monti would spend more Day 1 and 2 picks on Olinemen. He has only used 3 of his 17 round 1-3 picks on Olinemen so far, and one was Isaiah Adams. I also thought he could have used the 5th round pick on a possible starting center in Hecht rather than a tall/skinny WR with questionable speed. There is a reason why this Oline isn't great, and Monti has a lot to do with it.

There were a few of us wanting him to pick Hecht so we had a young C to develop behind Frojo

I agree that was a miss there

 

[CardNots]

Was Monti’s best pick this year not draft related?

Mike LaFleur, Cardinals are assembling a team to attack Rams' weaknesses

 

[Cardiac]

There were a few of us wanting him to pick Hecht so we had a young C to develop behind Frojo

I agree that was a miss there

Isn't Gaines our backup OC and he looked okay at OG this past year. Maybe if Monti had 12 picks we could entertain using the "miss" verbiage.

 

[daves]

Oof... and now, Austin Mock of The Athletic has posted his 2026 NFL Draft Grades. The only consolation for the Cardinals is that he rated the other NFC West teams' drafts poorly also.

I may have a slightly different take than you are used to seeing on draft grades, as I’m trying to find the teams that are going to gain the most surplus value — the actual on-field value a prospect has relative to their rookie contract salary — out of their draft picks. Team fit matters, of course, but at the end of the day, premium positions don’t hit free agency very often, so teams need to find those cornerstone pieces in the draft.

To expand on surplus value, take the difference between the NFL’s five highest-paid edge rushers (average $44.5 million per year) and its five highest-paid running backs ($16.6 million per year). When you factor in those costs against a rookie contract, using high picks on premium positions not only saves money against the cap, but it also provides a ton of roster flexibility.

For my draft grades, I’ve used our Consensus Big Board to provide an idea of where players should have been selected, then factored in their position to get an expected value of each draft pick. We have assigned a dollar value to each draft slot, which roughly follows the rookie wage scale.

Team	Grade
Browns	A+
Jets	A+
Giants	A
Panthers	A
...
Rams	D
49ers	D
...
Bears	F
Jaguars	F
Seahawks	F
Cardinals	F
Texans	F

Arizona Cardinals
If you have followed me at all over the years, you're likely not shocked to see the Cardinals here (unless you actually expected them to have the worst grade).

I have little doubt that Jeremiyah Love will be a good running back, but the Cardinals are in no position to get the most out of a back given the current state of their roster — they have issues on the offensive line and at wide receiver, and that's before we get into the conversation over who's starting at quarterback. I'm not saying this is going to be identical when the Giants selected Saquon Barkley at No. 2, but that's where my mind keeps going.

 

[Chopper0080]

Oof... and now, Austin Mock of The Athletic has posted his 2026 NFL Draft Grades. The only consolation for the Cardinals is that he rated the other NFC West teams' drafts poorly also.

Definitely what happens when you take a RB and OG with your first two picks based on this type of draft evaluation.

 

[daves]

More from The Athletic today: "Execs unfiltered on NFL Draft for every NFC team", featuring NFL executives' "insights into all 16 teams in the conference. The Los Angeles Rams had the league buzzing when they used the 13th pick on quarterback Ty Simpson, while the division-rival San Francisco 49ers focused attention on perceived reaches."

Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals were interesting for reasons pitting philosophical ideals against real-world considerations when drafting running back Jeremiyah Love with the No. 3 pick and quarterback Carson Beck to open the third round.

“They’re not one piece away, and they put money into (running back) Tyler Allgeier — like, I get why people push back on the Love pick,” one exec said. “But at the same time, ownership is trying to sell tickets, they don’t have a face of the franchise and this guy can fit that bill.”

Fourth-year GM Monti Ossenfort has a 15-36 (.294) record, including 3-14 last season. His job could ride on whether the team is exciting.

“Is the roster ready for a running back? Probably not, but there was no real flashing light to pick other than Love,” another exec said. “If the owner wanted the back, like everybody said, that is not a hill you are going to die on as a GM. Love is special.”

Asked what the team planned for Beck, Ossenfort joked that the immediate focus was on helping the former Georgia and Miami quarterback find the cafeteria at team headquarters.

“They are trying to give themselves hope and take a swing,” a different exec said. “Beck looks the part. He can make the throws. He is just going to short-circuit at the worst time. I’d sit him half the year like New Orleans did with (Tyler) Shough and then play him the rest of the way.”

Here’s an idea: Trade veteran QB Jacoby Brissett. Go young. Be fun.

“If you play Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew the whole year, you have wasted the pick on Beck,” a fourth exec said. “The Beck pick makes sense if he is your starter. It’s like, ‘We know we suck, we roll the dice and maybe we hit on a QB,’ because if you can pick in the top 10 next year and not need a QB, you are in good shape.”

 

[kerouac9]

More from The Athletic today: "Execs unfiltered on NFL Draft for every NFC team", featuring NFL executives' "insights into all 16 teams in the conference. The Los Angeles Rams had the league buzzing when they used the 13th pick on quarterback Ty Simpson, while the division-rival San Francisco 49ers focused attention on perceived reaches."

Last week I learned that most “NFL Execs” quoted in these types of articles are actually former execs looking to stay relevant in the league.

So, good to know what Steve Keim and Adrian Wilson thought about our draft.

 

[PDXChris]

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