Cardinals Defend Struggling First-Round Pick

The Arizona Cardinals are being patient with their young defensive lineman.

Dec 28, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals defensive end Darius Robinson (56) reacts against the Los Angeles Rams in the second half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

First-round pick Darius Robinson has yet to live up to his billing as a premium selection for the Arizona Cardinals, as the second-year player battled injuries in 2024 and is off to a slow start in 2025.

Robinson played in just six games during his rookie campaign after battling a calf injury while also dealing with personal battles as well. This season has consistently been billed as "Year 1.5" for the Mizzou product - though the early returns haven't been great.

Pro Football Focus has Robinson graded as the second-worst defensive lineman in the league through two weeks of football.

Darius Robinson has a PFF grade of 38.1, which is 134th out of 145 defensive linemen.

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Robinson has received plenty of flack and criticism online with the slow start - though Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon believes the defensive lineman is doing just fine.

Cardinals Coach Defends Darius Robinson

Aug 2, 2025; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Darius Robinson (56) during the Red and White practice in training camp at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

"He's doing well, we're him moving around. He's playing excellent in the run game. Again, not always with defensive linemen, especially as many times as we put five on the front - they can play winning football and impact the game without showing up on the stat sheet a ton," said Gannon.

"Now, do I want them to win one on ones and their point of attack then make a bunch of plays? Absolutely but sometimes the ball doesn't come to you, but you can be doing your job that's helping somebody else make some plays too. So you can ask Budda [Baker] about that. He'll be the first one to tell you, a lot of his tackles come because the front's playing the right way. Or Mack [Wilson], talk to Mack or somebody like that.

"It takes all 11 to play good defense, and just because you're not showing up on a stat sheet doesn't mean you're not playing well."

Aug 9, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Darius Robinson (56) against the Kansas City Chiefs during a preseason NFL game at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Robinson has recorded one tackle and one quarterback pressure on 54% of defensive snaps thus far - which is the most amount of snaps for any Cardinals defensive lineman to this point.

With names such as Walter Nolen, Bilal Nichols and Justin Jones on injured lists to begin the season, Arizona fans were hoping to see a sophomore surge from Robinson. That hope was extended even further this week when L.J. Collier was lost to injured reserve.

Robinson has flashed his potential on more than one occasion - so there's optimism it's only a matter of time before he puts the pieces to the puzzle together.