With the Arizona Cardinals’ 2026 training camp nearly wrapped up at State Farm Stadium, a few names have separated themselves from the pack under head coach Mike LaFleur. Trey McBride has done what established players do. But the bigger story has been the rise of an unheralded rookie who has turned heads fast.
That player is seventh-round pick Jayden Williams.
For Williams, the road to a roster spot was always going to be steep. Late-round picks live on the edge, and a seventh-rounder is usually treated as a long shot.
The Cardinals also spent the offseason adding multiple offensive linemen with plenty of experience, which meant Williams had little margin for a slow start. He had to show something right away.
He has done more than that.
Williams, the 217th pick, has worked his way into second-team reps at both left and right tackle late in camp. On rotation days when veterans got rest, he was running with the first group. In the Hall of Fame Game against the Carolina Panthers, he opened at left tackle.
Cardinals offensive line coach Justin Frye explained earlier in camp what has stood out about the rookie.
"I mean, there's a lot of things," Cardinals OL coach Justin Frye said a bit earlier in camp when asked how Williams has impressed.
"But I think just back to a young guy, the strain. Like we'll clean up the technique and stuff, but he's not playing as slow as some guys may early on, and just the way that we're working the rotations to try to develop the depth, find out who's the next guy, who can be the rotational guy, who could step in.
The competition component to it, where you don't really know what the lights are on. Obviously, not played a game [yet], but it hasn't seemed too big for him right now, the speed of the game.
Whereas he's still getting beat. But oh man ... he'll turn around and tell me what the answer is before we have to give it to him after.
The growth mindset of all those young guys, and that's what he's been into.
"... I think he's just adapted really well to learning and then playing hard while he's learning, and not slowing down to try to figure it out that way."
At the moment, Williams doesn’t appear set for a major role in 2026. Paris Johnson Jr. and Elijah Wilkinson are in place as the starting tackles, and Josh Fryar looks like the top swing option behind them.
Still, Williams has gone from a likely camp afterthought to a legitimate backup option in a matter of months. That kind of climb makes him one of the clear winners of Cardinals training camp so far.
In Other News...
Cardinals Camp Just Raised A New Question About This QB Battle
The Cardinals wrapped up their final open practice of 2026 with a Red and White scrimmage at State Farm Stadium, giving thousands of fans one more look at a training camp that has already started to sort itself out in a few key areas. Love and Robinson had strong showings, while Beck and Brissett had more uneven stretches, the kind of mixed day that keeps a quarterback competition interesting even when the calendar is moving toward the start of the season.
Arizona also used the session to adjust the defensive side of the roster, with Joey Blount moving to injured reserve and creating more first-team reps for players such as Elijah Jones and Kitan Crawford. And there was a separate concern when Walter Nolen left practice early after appearing to shake his right hand, a development the Cardinals will be watching closely as camp shifts from open work to the more controlled part of August. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Add Two More Camp Names To Watch This Summer
The Cardinals kept building out their 2026 training camp roster with a pair of familiar depth additions, bringing in tight end Shawn Bowman and linebacker Eugene Asante. Bowman arrives after stops with the Orlando Storm and the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad, while Asante comes in with a longer pro trail that includes time with the Houston Gamblers and practice squad stints in Miami, Cleveland and Atlanta.
For a team like Arizona, these kinds of camp moves are less about headlines than about sorting through bodies and finding a player who can stick when the competition ramps up. Both Bowman and Asante will wear No. 48 in camp, and their first task will be simple enough: make enough of an impression to stay in the conversation once the pads come on and the roster starts to narrow. [Read more 🡒]