Why Cardinals Made Puzzling Day Three Draft Pick

What this late-round pick could bring to Arizona, if given the chance.

Feb 28, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Nevada defensive back Kitan Crawford (DB39) runs in the 40 yard dash during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

In a 2025 NFL Draft class filled to the brim with defensive players for the Arizona Cardinals, the seventh round loomed large as a place to take a flier on a day-three wideout, or perhaps even a quarterback or other developmental offensive player.

That was not the case, as GM Monti Ossenfort tripled down on a defensive back — a position group he'd taken twice already with Will Johnson in the first round and Denzel Burke in the fifth round.

So it came as a bit of a surprise to see the Cardinals select safety Kitan Crawford out of Nevada (after four years at Texas).

Safety is anything but a true position of need for Arizona, with Budda Baker, Jalen Thompson and a rising young stud in Dadrion Taylor-Demerson manning the deep secondary.

Why Cardinals Made Puzzling Draft Pick

But something to keep in mind when evaluating day three picks: these players aren't expected to start, and will likely be special teamers right away. If anything, Crawford can be depth down the line, or develop into a rotational piece defensively.

But that's not to diminish the player that Crawford is. He played a lot of football over five college seasons, and spent time in a tough SEC conference at Texas. But in his senior season, he enjoyed a breakout year with Nevada, picking up 76 tackles.

But he's not just a field presence — Crawford graded out well in coverage, with an 88.5 grade over 410 coverage snaps.

So while at first glance, this pick might not be what some were expecting, it's reasonable to say that Crawford has some raw skills, and has enough experience to bring some savvy coverage ability to Arizona's secondary — at some point in his career.

Crawford Could Make Early Impact

As a seventh-rounder, there's never a guarantee that a prospect will find their way to any significant playing time, but Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon does work wonders with defensive backs.

Despite the heavy dose of DBs in the past pair of drafts, there's a chance Gannon's rotational philosophy could see plenty of these young prospects and second-year players get some snaps in the coming seasons.