The Arizona Cardinals have been a bad defense for a long time.
The Arizona Cardinals have not had a good defense in a while.
Well, at least according to PFF, who have their own grades and the last seven seasons have ranked in the bottom 10 in defense.
So, when PFF talked about the takeaways from the 2025 NFL Draft, they thought one of the biggest takeaways was seeing Jonathan Gannon put his stamp on the defense, finally.
From PFF:
Jonathan Gannon put his stamp on the roster
The Cardinals have ranked in the bottom 10 in team defense grade in each of the past seven seasons — a streak head coach Jonathan Gannon is determined to end. Arizona invested heavily in defensive reinforcements this offseason, both in free agency and the draft. The most notable upgrades came along the defensive line, where the team added veterans Josh Sweat, Dalvin Tomlinson and Calais Campbell before drafting Walter Nolen in the first round.
Campbell led all interior defenders with an 85.9 run-defense grade last season, while Nolen finished second in the FBS with a 91.6 run-defense grade at Ole Miss. With that infusion of talent, the Cardinals should be much more formidable up front in 2025.
The Cardinals last had a top ten NFL defense in 2015.
Since then they have fielded the 31st or 32nd ranked defense three times.
So, for the Cardinals to finally put an emphasis on the defensive side of the ball is nice to see.
We will see how that goes with the on field product, but finally investing on the defensive side of the ball is something that has been missing for years.