The Arizona Cardinals are closely evaluating Derrick Harmon, left, Kenneth Grant, center, and Shemar Stewart at the 2025 NFL Combine as they look to revamp their defensive front. (Graphic by Sean Brennan/Cronkite News)
INDIANAPOLIS – The celebration has long been over, the beer cans that were smashed into one general manager’s faces are but a distant meme. Green and white confetti rained in New Orleans as the Philadelphia Eagles won their second Super Bowl in franchise history, but those visuals from earlier this month have faded into memories.
Now that all 32 NFL teams have entered the offseason, it is vital for front offices across the league to start their version of Christmas shopping to improve rosters.
Free agency begins in a couple weeks, but first, the NFL Combine opened Thursday at Lucas Oil Stadium, where scouts and front offices can window shop as over 300 draft prospects spend time meeting teams and working out to sell the idea of selecting them in April.
Every general manager who submits a pick will have the same end goal for the 2025 NFL season: to get a beer can smashed in their face.
Building through the trenches
“You can never have enough big guys,” Arizona Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort said Tuesday at the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. (Photo by Samuel Nute/Cronkite News)
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman was the lucky soul who had the most recent meeting with an aluminum canister. The two-time champion lived by a simple but efficient philosophy regarding his Super Bowl-winning roster.
“We can never have enough offensive or defensive linemen,” Roseman said. “Always on the lookout for those positions, whether in free agency, in the draft or after, whether it’s on the street; it’s really like an unhealthy obsession.”
A similar thought is in the head of a general manager in the desert.
“I think that you can never have enough big guys,” Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort said Tuesday in Indianapolis. “We’ve always said that whether it’s on the offensive line or the defensive line, those are hard positions. Those are physical, and those are grueling to get through a 17-game season.
“So the depth at those spots is always going to be something that we’re going to look to add to both the depth and talent level.”
Cardinals’ path back to contention
Ossenfort and Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon are entering their third year as a pairing. Last season, the team doubled its win total from the previous year from four to eight. The general manager and head coach tandem is essential to playing meaningful football in January, something the Valley hasn’t seen since 2021.
Before Gannon took over the helm in Arizona, he was the Eagles’ defensive coordinator. A particular philosophy lives in his head.
“You can go to my son’s football game, who’s in third grade, you can go to a local high school, you can watch the National Championship, you can watch the Super Bowl, and it’s very clear, it starts with the offense and defensive line,” Gannon said Tuesday in Indianapolis. “And if you’re that premier, it can end with the offense and defensive line, too. So it’s about blocking and tackling.
“Those two positions impact that before anybody does. It’s not hard to see when you watch football, the team that controls the line of scrimmage has a really good chance to win the game, so we look at trying to get both of those units better for us.”
Gannon incorporates light boxes (six or fewer defenders) into his defense. He utilized that 58.7% of the time last season, which was good for second most in the NFL – just behind the Eagles.
Philadelphia put on a dominant defensive performance in the Super Bowl, generating six sacks without blitzing once. All the pressure came from the base four defensive linemen rushing the passer.
The NFL is a “copycat” league, and the assumption is that many will try to load up on their defensive linemen this offseason to wreak the type of havoc Philadelphia accomplished against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Not many teams are used to a light-box scheme, but the Cardinals are versed in that universe.
As a team, the Cardinals were in the bottom half of total rushing defense and 26th in yards per carry. In a light-box look, they were third worst in the league in rushing yards, and teams ran it on them 36.4% of the time in this front.
A stacked class for defensive linemen
Coach Jonathan Gannon stresses the need for a disruptive pass rush, a key area the Arizona Cardinals aim to address through the 2025 NFL Draft. (Photo by Samuel Nute/Cronkite News)
“I think with anything, it’s finding the right flavor for what your team is looking for,” Ossenfort said. “I think we’re a team that’s going to value versatility, alignment, versatility to play up and down the line. There’s always going to be a premium placed on the defensive front, players that can affect the quarterback, whether that’s from inside or outside.
“I think there’s value in both. And, I think there’s a number of people in the draft that can do that, both from inside and outside the formation.”
Gannon has his own thoughts about what he wants from defensive linemen.
“Can you rush the passer? Can you whoop a guy in the running game? A little bit of drop, kind of the scheme that we play,” he said.
“But I think the first thing that you’re looking for is, can this guy be disruptive in the passing game? And I think that’s one of the things taking the full 365 look at us, that’s a way that we can improve our team, is to disrupt the quarterback a little bit better than we did this last year and two years ago even.”
No one knows what the Cardinals will do until that call is made in April confirming their selection in the draft. Gannon mentioned pass rush is a way to improve the roster, while Ossenfort believes, regardless of taking a defensive lineman last year in Darius Robinson, that a team can never have enough big guys.
Here are six players the Cardinals may consider while on the clock in the first two rounds with the 16th and 47th selections:
Derrick Harmon, Oregon (6-foot-5, 310 pounds): The interior defensive linemen showcased the ability to disrupt the run while lining up from anywhere on the line. He was coached by ASU defensive line coach Diron Reynolds in 2023 at Michigan State.
“Harmon is a tough guy, really strong, like on tape, the primary thing you come away with is, ‘Wow,’ that guy can move people,” NFL Draft analyst EJ Snyder said in a sitdown interview. “He is a tough, physical football player, so I think he’d fit that ethos that Gannon seems to like.”
University of Michigan NFL Draft prospect Kenneth Grant speaks at the 2025 NFL Combine on Feb. 26, 2025. (Photo by Samuel Nute/Cronkite News)
Kenneth Grant, Michigan (6-foot-4, 331 pounds): The interior linemen showcased a rare speed for his size and combined it with power.
“You’re talking about the top seventh percentile all-time for defensive tackles at height, weight, and speed,” Snyder said. “So he doesn’t always show that on tape, but he does sometimes, and it’s kind of terrifying. If you think you have a defensive line coach, and they obviously do (with) Gannon from a defensive background, that can take advantage of those and make that consistency come up. The physical ability is, I don’t say, unmatched but rare.”
Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M. (6-foot-5, 267 pounds): Not much production in college, but has a lot of pro-ready attributes and tools.
“Shemar Stewart is a name that a lot of people are talking about, who might be a better pro than collegian,” Snyder said. “Has some tremendous measurables in terms of length, again, showed some real strength and ability to root guys out.”
Nic Scourton, Texas A&M (6-foot-3, 257 pounds): The true rusher showcased speed and power with Stewart lined up across from him.
“Really good length, not necessarily all the pop that you want, but plenty with his long levers, play a little bit more of a power game,” Snyder said. “He’s going to be available; I’ll say probably the end of the first round is a fair range for him. So he’s sort of right between their picks like you either have to get him early or you might not get him late.”
Donovan Ezeiruaku, Boston College (6-foot-2, 248 pounds): He’s not the lengthiest player, but he has a lot of speed coming off the edge.
“(Ezeiruaku) is a guy that I think is going to turn a lot of edge this week,” Snyder said. “Specifically, his tape already has, but as people get more familiar with him and start looking at that ‘OK, we don’t want to take the swing in the first round, maybe we’re talking about the top (of) the second round’ can we get him again after his performance this week, I think he can test really well.”
Landon Jackson, Arkansas (6-foot-6, 264 pounds): A tall, lengthy prospect who struggled at times last season but can collapse a pocket.
“And then if they want a power guy, Landon Jackson, the edge from Arkansas (would be good),” Snyder said. “Doesn’t necessarily have a ton of bend, but a lot of straight line speed. He reminds me a lot of a guy like Lucas Van Ness.”
What’s next for the Cardinals?
There is always a mountain of possibilities the Cardinals can choose from when draft time comes around. This class features a lot of depth to where a trade-down may be in play, or the Cardinals could wait until the later rounds to address the defensive line.
Gannon said he didn’t “want to put his foot in his mouth” when saying the team would be picking at 16. At the moment, that’s the spot, but that doesn’t mean the Cardinals will keep it. So it’s all a process in the grand scheme of things, but the NFL Combine is just the beginning.
“There’s a lot of talk, a lot of talk this time of year,” Ossenfort said. “And I think there’s just a lot of unknown about who’s going where. And everybody’s got a mock draft, and everybody is speculating.
“And so I don’t think those really get too serious until the days leading up into the draft, and then, ultimately, probably until some teams are on the clock.”
