Cardinals’ Draft Preferences Coming Into Focus

One week remains until the Arizona Cardinals begin welcome in their newest wave of rookies.

For as much talent as may inhabit any year’s draft, 2026 carries two pressing questions for the Cardinals: what will the Cardinals do with the No. 3 overall pick, and will 2026 provide Arizona with its potential franchise quarterback?

As GM Monti Ossenfort and head coach Mike LaFleur met with the Phoenix media, Arizona’s course of action started to inch ever closer to clarity.

Cardinals Draft Plans Coming into Focus

Early signs might have pointed to interest in a pass rusher, one of either Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr. or Texas Tech’s David Bailey. The former of the two has fallen somewhat in the league’s eyes due to his physical traits, while the latter appears to be on a collision course with the New York Jets at pick No. 2.

Which leaves the Cardinals in somewhat of a draft purgatory. Come pick No. 3, the most likely best players available will either be Ohio State’s Arvell Reese — a positionless, raw athlete of a defender — or Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love, who plays one of the least premium positions in football. Running back is also arguably the most robustly populated position room in the Cardinals’ organization.

It’s also safe to assume the Cardinals would be on board with a potential trade out of the No. 3 pick. Ossenfort has a history of Draft Day deals, though he said draft conversations have not quite ramped up toward anything concrete. If Arizona does trade down, look for them to target Miami RT Francis Mauigoa — a definitive position of need for the Cardinals.

But it is clear that Ossenfort is not concerned with positional value to an excessive degree. Meaning, he’s not approaching the draft with Arizona’s biggest (or smallest) roster needs in mind.

“I never think it’s a good idea to go into a draft and draft for need,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a good philosophy overall. I think you end up tending to reach at that point.”

“The philosophy that I have that Mike and I have talked about is… we can never go wrong taking who we feel is the best player who fits this team, who is about what we’re about. And when somebody can check those boxes and it’s the guy who’s on the top of the board, like we’re going to be happy with that player, you know, whatever position they’re playing.”

Add a point in the Reese / Love column.

“You just want to draft the best football player that’s going to fit your team and what you’re looking for, regardless of the position,” LaFleur added. “There’s always going to be the ones that you’re going to talk about, the premium positions and all that. What’s been cool about the way I know he’s approaching it and seeing it from afar is, hey, these guys love the game, they’re smart football players, I can tell. If that position’s a punter, and that’s going to help us out, then let’s roll.”

But there is one position the Cardinals can’t afford to totally ignore: quarterback. In a limited QB draft, Arizona’s potential future QB has passed beyond interest — toward inevitability.

Ty Simpson Looks Like Obvious Cardinals QB Choice

With no chance at the gem of 2026’s QB class in Fernando Mendoza, the Cardinals have been linked repeatedly to Alabama QB Ty Simpson. Simpson is not the traditionally eye-popping QB prospect, with a modest 6-foot-1, 211-pound frame. He also has just 15 career starts at the college level.

But in terms of trait and style, Simpson seems like the Cardinals’ obvious pick. Though he did not speak on Simpson specifically, Ossenfort was asked what he looks for in a quarterback. His answer was telling.

“We have different characteristics as it goes for every position. … Accuracy, decision-making, those are always at the forefront,” Ossenfort said. “Every year there’s different flavors of quarterbacks. Different sizes, different styles. The college game looks different than the NFL game does. It’s up to us to really look at those guys and project how they’re gonna translate to our league.

“Every year is different, and we certainly did our share of evaluation on the quarterbacks in this year’s draft.”

It’s not a secret the Cardinals have been vetting Ty Simpson. They spent a top-30 visit with the Alabama prospect. And the very word Ossenfort used — “decisive” — is the first word in ALLCITY draft analyst Fran Duffy’s evaluation of Simpson. The 23-year-old passer does, however, have some inconsistencies in terms of accuracy, though that may be a trait that develops further with reps at the highest level.

And though Simpson is not a seasoned college passer, it’s hard to argue playing for the pinnacle program of college football in an SEC environment is not the closest thing to the NFL level.

“The college game and the pro game are just so different,” LaFleur said. “Where did that college player play, was the competition as high as it was at school A as compared to school B.”

Both LaFleur and Ossenfort did, of course, express confidence in Arizona’s incumbent QB room of Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew. But they did adamantly state that there was no official QB1 at the moment.

“I feel really good about the quarterback position. Why? Because both of those guys have played a lot of football,” LaFleur said. “All we’re trying to do is get a foundational aspect of what this system looks like. I keep telling the guys, you know, we have the foundational aspects of what we want it to look like, but we’re going to fit it to the skill set of what these guys can do.”

LaFleur said that an ideal circumstance might see a veteran passer lead the way ahead of a rookie, but he also did the opposite of rule out starting a newly-drafted signal-caller come September.

“Ultimately, you’re going to play the best player that you think is giving you the best chance to win, period. If all things are equal, then yeah, you would rather have that veteran kind of show that guy,” LaFleur sauid,

“If we all believe as an organization that a young guy is going to give you the best chance during that 60-minute game to win, then you’re gonna throw him out there.”

It looks like Simpson may have a one-way ticket to the desert in the coming week.