Why the Cardinals offensive line is way under-rated

After reading the Cardinals’ post-draft grades from various pundits that Seth Cox manifested, one of the common questions posed by the graders was —-> why Monti Ossenfort didn’t do more to address the needs on the offensive line?

In ESPN’s Mike Clay’s post-draft position evals/rankings, his grade for the Cardinals’ offensive line, as it currently stands, is a 5 out of 10. He has the Rams and 49ers at 7 and the Seahawks at 4.

In fact, while we are perusing Mike Clay’s chart of unit and team grades, here is how he assesses the NFC West teams:

Team Ranking —- Offense Ranking —- Defense Ranking

• LAR —- 12 —- 9 —- 19
• ARI —- 19 —- 18 —- 14
• SF —- 20 —- 15 —- 32
• SEA —- 22 —- 26 —- 8

What’s amazing is that in light of the impressive moves that Monti has made in bolstering the Cardinals’ talent on defense, Mike Clay feels the Cardinals’ defense is more talented than the offense, even to the point of ranking the Cardinals’ defense 5 spots ahead of the Rams’.

Now, back to the offensive line, it seems every year that NFL pundits feel “meh” about the Cardinals offensive line talent. Yet, the numbers defy such a yearly OL stigma. Let’s just talk about how the Cardinals’ OL played in 2024.

Returning Starters:

• LT Paris Johnson Jr. —- 80.8
• LG Evan Brown —- 65.9
• C Hjalte Froholdt —- 76.1
• RG Isaiah Adams —- 58.4
• RT Jonah Williams —- 70.7

Returning Backups:

• T Kelvin Beachum —- 64.1
• T Christian Jones —- 53.5
• G Jon Gaines II —- 63.0

Note: only the Cardinals’ 2024 rookies graded below 60. However, one would expect Isaiah Adams and Christian Jones to make the 2nd season jump this year.

2024 Arizona Cardinals’ Offensive Rankings:

• Overall: 7
• Rushing: 9
• Run Blocking: 14
• Passing: 8
• Pass Blocking: 4

The Cardinals had the best run offense and the best pass blocking grade in the NFC West.

I have been saying this for a while during the pre-draft process, and I would like to keep reiterating it —-

Drew Petzing said it best last season —- the offense does not lack talent or a competent enough passing scheme, the execution of the offense needs to be more consistent.

2024 Offensive Situational Rankings:

• 3rd Down Conversion %: 8
• 4th Down Conversion %: 29
• Yards Per Play: 7
• 1st Downs per Game: 9
• Red Zone %: 7

Note: Cardinals were NFL Top 10 last season in Rushing, Passing, Pass Blocking, Yards Per Play, 3rd Down Conversion Percentage, 1st Downs Per Game and Red Zone Percentage.

Starters Returning:

The Cardinals have every one of their offensive starters returning this season, save for Will Hernandez (who is still an unrestricted free agent). Three of their primary backups are returning in Kelvin Beachum, Christian Jones and Jon Gaines II.

Key Point: the most important aspect of good, strong offensive line play is the chemistry and coordination that come with continuity. If Justin Frye picks up where Klayton Adams left off and continues to build the chemistry of the group, then it is feasible that the Cardinals this season will be able to boast having the best, most cohesive offensive line in the NFC West. This is a reasonable goal.

Newcomers:

In addition to the other current depth players on the offensive line in G Nick Leverett, C Sincere Haynesworth, G Matthew Jones (Ohio St.) and T Curtis McClendon, for added depth this off-season Monti signed veterans Jake Curhan (G/T) and Royce Newman (G).

And now they have acquired through the 2025 NFL Draft and the undrafted college player pool:

• G Hayden Conner, 6-6, 327, Texas —- R6

• T Josh Fryar, 6-6, 320, Ohio St. (OSU’s starting RT last two seasons) 2024: gave up 1 sack, 20 pressures for a 97.7 efficiency rating.

Note: interesting that Josh Fryar, who the Cardinals paid top 3 bonus money to acquire, is the only Buckeye addition to the offensive line. As much as the Cardinals may have wanted to try to trade up from the 2nd round for G Donovan Jackson, they were never going to be able to jump up to pick #24 where the Vikings made the pick.

It was good to see Josh Simmons get drafted at the end of the 1st round by the Chiefs, not only because of him being able to play for Andy Reid and with Patrick Mahomes, but for the fact that he will be playing LT where he belongs. For him to try to assimilate into the NFL following such a grueling and extensive rehab and also have to switch over to RT as a rookie would have been extra challenging and perhaps even daunting.

After going undrafted, C Seth McLaughlin signed with the Bengals as a priority college free agent. The fact that the Cardinals did not elect to draft him in Round 7 likely meant that Justin Frye is as or more comfortable with his current backup center options —- one being Jon Gaines II whom Frye coached at UCLA, another being Sincere Haynesworth, the two-time 1st team All-AAC standout at Tulane and the third being an ace up the sleeve in Evan Brown, who started at center for the Seahawks in 2023.

• T Jeremiah Byers, 6-4, 323, Florida St. (3,322 college snaps at RT between UTEP and FSU)

Byers is a solid, well-sized and highly experienced bookend who was well regarded as a steady player and vocal leader at Florida St.

• LT Valentin Senn, 6-7, 305, Connecticut

Valentin Senn Signs with Arizona Cardinals Story (uconn.edu)

Sun, Apr 27, 2025

STORRS, Conn. – UConn offensive lineman Valentin Senn (Volders, Austria) has signed an NFL contract as an undrafted free agent with the Arizona Cardinals at the conclusion of the 2025 NFL Draft on Saturday night,

Senn wrapped up a stellar career for UConn in 2024. Coming to Storrs as a transfer from Colorado in 2020, Senn finished his Husky career with 41 games played while starting 38-straight games at left tackle over the last three seasons. This past fall, he helped lead the Huskies to a 9-4 mark and the team’s second bowl appearances in the last three years.

Senn and the UConn offensive line led a rushing attack that piled up 2,590 yards, the second highest total in school history and ranked 23rd in the nation in yards per game at 192.7 yards per game. In the passing game, the Huskies protected the quarterback to the tune of allowing just 1.07 sacks per game, ranked 13th among the nation’s leaders.

He joins his line mate Chase Lundt (Arlington, TX), drafted in the sixth round by the Buffalo Bills, and teammate Malik Dixon-Williams (Orlando, FL), signed with the Los Angeles Rams, in realizing their NFL dreams this offseason.

But why not draft a WR?

As for the fans and pundit who were anxious for the Cardinals to add another WR in the draft, Kyler Murray has been adamant that he loves the current WR starters and depth. He simply needs to more time and reps with Marvin Harrison Jr., Michael Wilson, Greg Dortch and Zay Jones. This year Kyler does not have the burden of adding yet another talented WR to try to sync up with while he’s still trying to sync up with MHJ, in particular. Having too many mouths to feed, especially in a run heavy offensive scheme, can overwhelm a QB who aims to please, not only his own players, but the fans.

Top Priorities

Monti Ossenfort and Jonathan Gannon have understood this off-season how important it is to the team’s success to build a strong defense. They have managed to do such an impressive job rebuilding †he defense that pundits like Mike Clay already have the defense ranked higher than an offense that, quite frankly, he is sleeping on. Particularly in assessing the Cardinals’ offensive line.

A couple of years ago, Mike Clay’s grade for the Cardinals’ safeties was a 5. I wrote him to request that he look a little closer that the Cardinals’ talent at safety. To Mike Clay’s credit, he did, and he’s been raining the grade for them ever since. This year he gave the Cardinals safeties a 9 out of 10. Yeah baby!

This year, I am going to send him a request that he take a closer look at the Cardinals’ offensive line talent. Hopefully a warranted grade hike for our offensive line stalwarts will be, in the tongue-in-cheek words of Yogi Berra, “deja vu all over again.”