Analyst: Cardinals Coach Put 'Stamp' on Roster

One thing stood out from the Cardinals' offseason approach.

Arizona Cardinals head coach, Jonathan Gannon, discusses the upcoming NFL Draft during a press conference at Dignity Health Arizona Cardinals Training Center in Tempe on April 16, 2025. | Cheryl Evans/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Arizona Cardinals completed an offseason full of notable moves, adding a major influx of talent to the defensive side of the football over the course of both free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft.

Much has been written and said already about just how well GM Monti Ossenfort catered to the most pressing needs on Arizona's roster, and how his free agency and draft approaches signified considerable faith in both his head coach and defensive coordinator.

Pro Football Focus' Dalton Wasserman put out one major takeaway from all 32 NFL teams. For the Cardinals, Wasserman said that Jonathan Gannon "put his stamp" on Arizona's roster.

Wasserman writes:

"The Cardinals have ranked in the bottom 10 in team defense grade in each of the past seven seasons — a streak head coach Jonathan Gannon is determined to end. Arizona invested heavily in defensive reinforcements this offseason, both in free agency and the draft. The most notable upgrades came along the defensive line, where the team added veterans Josh Sweat, Dalvin Tomlinson and Calais Campbell before drafting Walter Nolen in the first round.

"Campbell led all interior defenders with an 85.9 run-defense grade last season, while Nolen finished second in the FBS with a 91.6 run-defense grade at Ole Miss. With that infusion of talent, the Cardinals should be much more formidable up front in 2025."

The Cardinals certainly did everything possible to try and turn their struggling defense into a team strength heading into the 2025 season. Not only did Ossenfort go to great lengths to bolster the defensive front — he also invested in the secondary, a group that was able to string together some solid performance despite the poor DL play.

With a defense-first head coach in Gannon and a rising star of a defensive coordinator in Nick Rallis, the Cardinals needed to re-shift their identity into a defensive team.

With the consistency issues present in the offense, adding exceptional defensive talent to a unit that already overperformed based on their talent level can create a much larger margin for error for Kyler Murray and co., and if the defensive talent added truly plays up to their potential, the Cardinals could easily slide into the NFL's top 10 defenses.