Monti Ossenfort’s draft record in Arizona has become one of the biggest reasons his future with the Cardinals looks so shaky. The general manager got another shot from owner Michael Bidwill after the 2026 offseason, but that decision already looks expensive. With each passing day, Ossenfort’s long-term outlook in Arizona feels slimmer.
The draft board is where his mess shows up most clearly. The 2023 class brought mixed results, the 2024 group was flat-out ugly, and the 2025 class is already raising eyebrows. The 2026 crop is too early to judge after five games, though Jeremiyah Love’s slow start has not helped, even if the offensive line has played a role in his struggles.
A few names deserve mention before the worst of the worst. Darius Robinson still has a chance to change the conversation after showing some promise in a part-time role, but the fact remains that he was taken in the first round. If he doesn’t put it all together in year three, his stock on this kind of list will only rise.
Will Johnson doesn’t quite fit the label of bust, but Arizona still took a major gamble. He had been projected as a first-round talent in 2025 before long-term injury concerns surfaced, and while he looked solid as a rookie, he is now on injured reserve with a neck injury and will miss the rest of the season. If those medical worries end up being real, the Cardinals will have swung and missed on a big bet.
Clayton Tune also gets a mention, even if a fifth-round quarterback probably shouldn’t be near a list like this. Still, it was a wasted pick. There were already questions about whether he was NFL-caliber at all, and Ossenfort took the shot anyway.
Elijah Jones has barely registered since arriving, with just ten games played and three assisted tackles. That’s a brutal return for a third-round corner.
Tip Reiman hasn’t offered much more, despite the idea that he could provide versatility as a backup tight end. He has played in 21 career games, missed this year while on the PUP list, and has only nine catches for 55 yards and no touchdowns.
The Cardinals also spent a pick on Max Melton that now looks especially costly because of who was still available. Melton hasn’t been a disaster, but he’s not producing like a difference-maker either, with no interceptions in 32 games and 16 starts and just 14 pass breakups. Arizona passed on Cooper DeJean, Kool-Aid McKinstry, and Kamari Lassiter, all of whom would have been far better fits for the defense.
BJ Ojulari started out looking like a strong answer after Arizona passed on Will Anderson Jr. He delivered 40 tackles and four sacks as a rookie, and the upside was obvious.
Then the knee injury hit, wiping out his 2024 season and limiting him to eight games in 2025, when he posted nine tackles and one sack. The Cardinals released him in the 2026 offseason, and his future in Arizona now looks bleak.
Trey Benson was supposed to be the next back for the Cardinals after James Conner, and the pick drew praise at the time. Instead, it went nowhere. Benson played in just 17 games and made two starts over two seasons, rushing for 451 yards and one touchdown before Arizona moved on after using the third overall pick this year on Jeremiyah Love.
But no selection under Ossenfort cuts deeper than Marvin Harrison Jr. The Ohio State star and legacy pick was billed as a generational prospect and felt like the safest choice on the board.
That made the collapse all the more damaging. His rookie season was underwhelming, then his play slid even further as the Cardinals offense piled up garbage-time production and his drops became a real problem.
Arizona eventually shipped him to the Houston Texans for what looked like strong draft compensation, but there is no easy way to replace a miss this severe.
Harrison Jr. stands as one of the biggest busts in Cardinals history, stretching back to their years in Chicago and St. Louis. Ossenfort can hardly be blamed for taking what many saw as the sure thing, but the failure will follow him anyway.
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Cardinals Tryout Move Could Signal Help At A Position Of Need
The Cardinals took a look at eight players in recent tryouts, a routine but telling move for a roster still getting sorted out in spots. The group covered a few different positions, with quarterbacks, linebackers and a cluster of wide receivers among the names brought in as Arizona continues to update its player database and keep tabs on available depth.
The most notable name in the mix was offensive guard Jamaree Salyer, a position that tends to draw extra attention when a team is shuffling through options. For a Cardinals club still working through areas of need, these kinds of workouts can be more than housekeeping, even if they do not always lead to an immediate signing. [Read more 🡒]
Carson Beck Could Change The Cardinals Conversation Faster Than Expected
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Cardinals QB Plan Puts One Stretch Of The Season Under A Microscope
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For the Cardinals, the next few weeks may be more about survival than evaluation, with Brissett expected to hold the job unless injury or poor play forces a change. The schedule does not make that decision any easier, which is why Week 12 against the Commanders has emerged as the first realistic opening for a move that could define the second half of the season. [Read more 🡒]