Jordan Burch arrived in Arizona with the kind of profile that gets attention fast: a 6-4, 280-pound edge rusher coming off a strong final season at Oregon, where he posted 8.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss and six passes defensed in 10 games. That production, paired with his size and athletic tools, made him a third-round pick for the Cardinals at No. 78 overall last year.
The first NFL season was quieter. Burch played all 17 games in 2025, but finished with just one sack, three passes defensed and one tackle for loss across 504 defensive snaps, which accounted for 44 percent of the defense’s work. Even so, the Cardinals sound convinced the second-year jump could be coming.
That belief starts with what Burch has shown in camp. He’s been working with the first team early, and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis said last week that the young pass rusher is handling his responsibilities cleanly.
“He's executing his assignments at a high level. So there's never really a discussion of like, ‘Gosh, Burch, you keep messing this up, correct this.’
Like he's on it and he puts a lot of time into study. So he's playing fast.
“I think he's a guy that really shows up when we put pads on after this first block when we're allowed to. But it's different parts of his game. The three things are set the edge in the run game, rush the passer, be able to cover, and he's making strides in all those.”
Head coach Mike LaFleur had a similar read on Tuesday, framing Burch’s development as something the player largely controls. LaFleur pointed to the traits, the size and the work Burch has already been putting in, then made it clear what he wants next.
“I wouldn't even say just as a pass rusher. I think he just needs to continue improving in all aspects of it.
I think you guys recognize the traits and the size and all that. I've really enjoyed getting to know him.
I think he's an extremely deliberate person in terms of his approach. There's that fine line between obsessing over stuff and now you're kind of caught up; you're not just letting it loose.
“But also just putting in a little extra work, and every day he's out there, he gets in an extra 5-10 minutes before practice. Working on just little things, hands, footwork, stuff like that.
I've told him, ‘I think you can be as good as you want to be.’ He's an extremely gifted individual, and I know he loves this game, and what I want to see from him is continue like he is doing, put in the work, and then when it's time to go, just cut it loose, dude.
Just cut it loose.”
LaFleur said part of that confidence came from preparing for Burch as an opponent a year ago.
“Having to game-plan him against him a year ago. So you you know, like you felt like you kind of knew these guys, right?
You've played against some of these guys six times over three years, four times over two years, and obviously him. You could see it on tape.
And sometimes it takes getting to actually know a guy to see what's going on inside. And I see a guy that really cares about this game and wants to be great.
He attacks it.”
For LaFleur, the message is simple: Burch has the tools, the habits and the mentality. Now it’s about trusting them.
“Once he feels comfortable that he can just go cut it loose, now just go cut it loose and go do what you've been gifted to do.”
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