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USA Today
30-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Arizona Cardinals rookie G Hayden Conner not projected to make All-Rookie Team
Arizona Cardinals rookie G Hayden Conner not projected to make All-Rookie Team Draft Wire projects the NFL All-Rookie Team on offense. As expected, Cardinals G Hayden Conner isn't among the projections. The Arizona Cardinals only selected one offensive player in the 2025 NFL with their seven selections. That was sixth-round pick Hayden Conner, a guard out of Texans. As a sixth-round pick, he is not expected to play much or at all in 2025 and there isn't a guarantee that he will make the roster. So it should be no surprise that he was not among the players that Draft Wire's Curt Popejoy predicted would make the All-Rookie team. Who is predicted to make the All-Rookie Team? Predictions for 2025 NFL All-Rookie Team QB Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans RB Kaleb Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers WR Travis Hunter, Jacksonville Jaguars WR Tet McMillan, Carolina Panthers WR Jack Bech, Las Vegas Raiders TE Mason Taylor, New York Jets OT Armand Membou, New York Jets OT Will Campbell, New England Patriots G Donovan Jackson, Minnesota Vikings G Grey Zabel, Seattle Seahawks G Jonah Savaiinaea, Miami Dolphins Analysis Johnson over Jeanty is a bold pick and it might be harder than you think for Hunter to make this team after Brian Thomas had the season he had in 2025. So the Jags will need to feed Thomas. Also Taylor over Tyler Warren, who landed in a perfect spot in Indianapolis is a surprise as well. If Conner somehow were to end up being one of the best rookies, that would be such a surprise. And it would have meant that one of the starters got hurt and he was a pleasant surprise. Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
USA Today
29-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Cowboys 1st-round replacement for Hall of Famer snubbed in All-Rookie Team projections
Cowboys 1st-round replacement for Hall of Famer snubbed in All-Rookie Team projections Despite being the top guard selected, Booker was overlooked while 3 other interior players made the cut. The Dallas Cowboys had what, in currently available context, many would consider a successful 2025 draft. Draft analysts near and far lauded their nine-player haul from late April, as they eschewed glaring needs and instead did what annually-competitive organizations do and drafted the best talent available, regardless of whether or not it met their most pressing needs. That all started with their first-round selection. After future Hall of Famer Zack Martin retired this offseason, the club spent a large chunk of their free-agency efforts in an effort to shore up the right guard position, beginning with re-signing RFA Brock Hoffmann who acquitted himself well in several games of relief for an injured Martin in 2024. They also went out and signed Robert Jones, a 16-game starter for the Miami Dolphins, as well as Saahdiq Charles and Hakeem Adeniji. But they were all put on backup status when the club used the No. 12 overall pick to select Tyler Booker out of Alabama. But despite being the first guard taken in the draft, Booker was not among the three guards projected to be on the All-Rookie Team by Draft Wire. Instead, somewhat surprise first-round selection Grey Zabel, along with Donovan Jackson, were the two guards projected to make the end-of-year team. To make matters worse, without a projected starting center from this year's class, a third guard was selected for the team as an "interior offensive lineman". That guy also wasn't Booker, but instead the honor went to second-round pick Jonah Savaiinaea. Zabel, taken by Seattle at No. 18, and Jackson, selected by Minnesota at No. 24, are going to teams projected to finish better than the Cowboys in 2025. However Savaiinaea went to the Miami Dolphins, who finished below the Cowboys in ESPN's recently released FPI ratings. Here's what Draft Wire thought of the prospects taken after Booker. Offensive guard - Donovan Jackson, Minnesota Vikings Getting Jackson at No. 24 was a huge bargain for the Vikings. He's such a powerful, athletic interior offensive lineman and plays with such a head about himself for the game, he just can't fail. Offensive guard - Grey Zabel, Seattle Seahawks There are so many good guards in this draft, it was tough making this second pick but we love the fit of Zabel at left guard with the Seahawks scheme. He's going to be the guy Kenneth Walker wants to run behind. IOL - Jonah Savaiinaea, Miami Dolphins We don't have any rookie centers projected to start right now so instead we opt for Jonah Savaiinaea who is already the best interior offensive lineman on the Dolphins. Booker isn't currently the best interior offensive lineman for the Cowboys, that honor goes to All-Pro Tyler Smith. He is, however, going to start for a team that made a concerted effort to maximize their offensive line, with new OC Klayton Adams a former line coach, and the addition of Kansas State OL guru Connor Riley to coach up that unit in Dallas. Time will tell whether or not Draft Wire got it wrong, or whether the Cowboys' front office did, as they've identified Booker's premiere leadership qualities as the mitigating factor to why he was picked over other interior options.
USA Today
13-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
How accurate are 'too-early' mock drafts at projecting prospects? A look back at 2017.
How accurate are 'too-early' mock drafts at projecting prospects? A look back at 2017. Many players projected to go early wound up being high picks, but others proved to be way too early projections for various reasons. year when initial mock draft projections come out for the 2026 NFL Draft. Heck, we've already got our initial Draft Wire mock first round for 2026 out (thanks Curt Popejoy!). At this point in the process, it's about identifying potential candidates for future draft prominence. It's usually a melange of players who unexpectedly return to college after draft dalliances, All-Americans from big-time programs, returning athletes who show good athletic potential or upside, and often some pet projects for draft analysts who are seen as potential risers in the coming college season. This isn't a new phenomenon. Too-early mock drafts have been around for a long time. Just because they're deep-rooted doesn't necessarily mean they're all that accurate, however. I went back and took a look at some of the initial mock projections for the 2017 NFL Draft. The sampling includes several mock drafts written in the aftermath of the 2016 draft took place in Chicago. I included my own (from RealGM) as well as very early projections from Pro Football Focus (Steve Palazzolo), Sports Illustrated (Chris Burke), ESPN (Todd McShay) and FanSided (Brad Rowland). I also looked at Bleacher Report's initial top 50 big board (Matt Miller) and preseason magazine projections from Athlon Sports, ESPN The Mag, Ourlads Scouting and Pro Football Weekly. Looking back in time, there was a pretty firm consensus on 10 players who were projected as high picks in those mock drafts: Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson Jonathan Allen, DL, Alabama Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU Cam Robinson, OT, Alabama Brad Kaaya, QB, Miami FL Jalen Tabor, CB, Florida Carl Lawson, EDGE, Auburn Tim Williams, EDGE, Alabama Derek Barnett, EDGE, Tennessee If you made a consensus board out of the drafts, that would be the top 10 (not in order). Guys like Christian McCaffrey, Malik McDowell, Charles Harris, Jarrad Davis, Roderick Johnson, Mike Williams, Raekwon McMillan and Jabrill Peppers would be next in line. Let's jump to the 2017 NFL Draft and see the actual top 10 picks... 1. Cleveland Browns - EDGE Myles Garrett 2. Chicago Bears - QB Mitchell Trubisky 3. San Francisco 49ers - DE Solomon Thomas 4. Jacksonville Jaguars - RB Leonard Fournette 5. Tennessee Titans - WR Corey Davis 6. New York Jets - S Jamal Adams 7. Los Angeles Chargers - WR Mike Williams 8. Carolina Panthers - RB Christian McCaffrey 9. Cincinnati Bengals - WR John Ross 10. Kansas City Chiefs - QB Patrick Mahomes The too-early projections were spot-on with Garrett, Fournette, Allen, McCaffrey and Williams. Corey Davis, playing in relative anonymity at Western Michigan, was included in some projections. The jump to being the fifth pick was still quite a leap--and fate proved that was a leap too far. Watson wound up being the No. 12 pick, which should count as a hit for the premature prognostications, too. Barnett came off the board at No. 14, while Charles Harris went 22nd overall to Miami. Peppers was selected by the Browns at No. 25 overall. Cam Robinson turned out to be the second pick of the second round despite eschewing pre-draft workouts. Some came from nowhere, notably the second and third picks. Trubisky didn't start for North Carolina until the 2016 season, so his meteoric rise was rightfully unexpected. Thomas more than doubled his first-year production at Stanford and declared early from well off the preseason radar. Ross had missed the 2015 college season with a knee injury, keeping his potential draft profile quite low. Patrick Mahomes It's hard to remember that Mahomes was a stunning pick at No. 10 even in real-time of the 2017 NFL Draft. Projections largely ignored him as a first-rounder well into the 2016 college season. His funky delivery in a gimmicky Texas Tech offense repelled draft analysts, who touted Minnesota's Mitch Leidner and Luke Falk from Washington State in the preseason projections. Falk wound up being drafted in the sixth round of the 2018 draft, while Leidner is but a footnote in the textbook of too-high expectations. Mahomes is a future Hall of Famer. Injuries Health always plays a factor. McShay helpfully included a note about injuries from the 2016 draft in his too-early mock, noting that he correctly identified 15 of the 32 players selected in the first round. Last year, 15 players who were featured in my way-too-early mock draft ended up going in the 2016 first round. As we saw with Myles Jack and Jaylon Smith, injuries are impossible to predict and certainly impact a player's draft stock. Injuries certainly impacted the draft fate of Lawson and Michigan TE Jake Butt, a frequent early projection near the end of the first round. The Bengals drafted Lawson at No. 116 overall, while Butt went to the Broncos a round later as the first pick of the fifth round, 145th overall. The too-early swings and misses Brad Kaaya is one of the poster children for why too-early mock drafts are indeed premature shots in the relative dark. He was a top-10 projection in nearly every mock from that May. Despite rewriting the Hurricanes' passing record book, Kaaya's lacking arm strength and athleticism sank his draft stock to the sixth round. As the 215th overall pick, Kaaya couldn't make Detroit's roster as a draft pick. He never played a down in the NFL. Poor athletic testing for his smallish (for his position) size also doomed Tim Williams to the third round, No. 78 overall to the Baltimore Ravens. To a lesser extent, Jalen Tabor (better known as Teez) also fell due to a terrible workout. The Lions took Tabor No. 55 overall, one spot ahead of Raekwon McMillan and one slot after QB DeShone Kizer, who was also mentioned in a few of the first-round projections. Similar to Williams, Louisville EDGE Devonte Fields fell from being a fringe first-round consensus early projection to being undrafted. It's tough to be a 6-foot-1, 236-pound pass-rush specialist with below-average speed. It didn't inhibit Williams or Fields much in college, but it proved to be a deal-breaker for the NFL. That's harder to project early, especially when college programs routinely (more so then than now) inflate player sizes in their listings. Overall The too-early mocks did a pretty decent job of landing the players at the top, most of whom ended up as top-40 overall picks. The high projections that turned out to be reaches primarily proved to be quarterbacks, athletically limited players or unforeseen injuries. The cases of off-the-radar risers like Trubisky, Thomas and Mahomes are why it's important to keep watching and not invest too much stock in the mock draft projections that come out right after the last draft. They're entertaining and good for identifying players to know and watch in the coming college season, but they're also subtitled "too early" mock drafts for good reason.
USA Today
12-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
None of Arizona Cardinals' rookie free agents projected to earn roster spot
None of Arizona Cardinals' rookie free agents projected to earn roster spot The Cardinals signed six rookie free agents. Draft Wire does not project any of them to make the 53-man roster. The Arizona Cardinals have had success with rookie free agents coming in and making the team. Last year, receiver Xaver Weaver made the team. In 2023, it was running back Emari Demercado. In other seasons, guys like Tony Jefferson, Trent Sherfield, Zeke Turner and Dennis Gardeck have started successful NFL careers as undrafted rookies. The Cardinals signed six rookie free agents this year after the draft. Could any of them make the 53-man roster? Draft Wire's Curt Popejoy projected which rookie free agents around the league could make their teams' rosters. Of the 11 players listed, none were on the Cardinals. This year's undrafted rookies for the Cardinals will have a tough time cracking the roster. They signed three offensive linemen, a defensive lineman, a receiver and a tight end. The defensive line room is already loaded and they will likely have to trade or cut a player who could start somewhere. The offensive linemen they signed will have a tough time making the roster, especially since they ar tackles. The Cardinals already have two backup tackles in Kelvin Beachum and Christian Jones, although perhaps one of them could beat out Jones potentially. Could Bryson Green crack the receiver room or Oscar Cardenas earn the fourth tight end role? Possibly, but we will have to see. Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
USA Today
30-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
PFF gives Broncos an ‘Elite' grade for drafting Jahdae Barron
PFF gives Broncos an 'Elite' grade for drafting Jahdae Barron The Denver Broncos' first-round selection from the 2025 NFL draft is making some experts very excited about this season's defensive unit. The Broncos selected Texas Longhorn cornerback Jahdae Barron with the 20th overall pick last Thursday. Pro Football Focus gave the Broncos high praise for picking Barron. "Barron was the highest rated cornerback in college football last year with a 91.1 coverage grade," said the video put out by PFF, with a compilation of "elite" picks from Round 1 of the NFL draft. Barron was linked with the Jacksonville Jaguars' Travis Hunter (2nd overall), the New York Giants' Abdul Carter (3rd overall), the Arizona Cardinals' Walter Nolen (16th overall) and the Baltimore Ravens' Malaki Starks (30th overall). Barron's pick was surprising to many across the NFL, as many mock drafts projected Denver to pick an offensive playmaker. This was a case of picking the best player available, as Barron was rated the eighth-best player onJeff Ridson's 250-player big board for Draft Wire. The Broncos' defensive breakdown against the Cleveland Browns during the 2024 season may have prompted a look at the cornerback position. In that Monday Night Football game, then-Browns quarterback Jameis Winston threw for 497 yards and four touchdowns. Barron looks to add his Jim Thorpe award-winning talent with those of reigning Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain, as well as the rest of the Broncos' defensive unit. Related: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
