The Cardinals Player Whose Stock Has Risen the Most in Training Camp So Far

ARIZONA — The Arizona Cardinals' 2026 training camp session is almost complete with just a handful of practices remaining at State Farm Stadium.

There have been a few players who have really stood out under head coach Mike LaFleur's watch. You have your typical stars making plays like Trey McBride, sure, though some under-the-radar names have begun to climb up the depths of the roster.

Perhaps none more impressive than seventh-round pick Jayden Williams.

Williams, an offensive tackle, had a mountain to climb in terms of making the Cardinals' roster. Late-round picks are considered a coin flip to make the roster, while more specifically a seventh-round player is often viewed as simply a flyer. If the player doesn't impress early, the team can simply rinse their hands and move forward.

Especially after an offseason where the Cardinals added multiple offensive linemen with heavy experience, Williams needed to play at a high level almost immediately to make the team. His tape at Ole Miss displayed he could perform against NFL-level players on a weekly basis, though actually doing so would be a different task.

Not only has Williams climbed the depths of the roster to make the team, he's earning high level backup opportunities. The 217th pick is earning second-team reps with the Cardinals at both left and right tackle towards the end of training camp. During rotation days where some veterans were given rest days, Williams was with the first team.

During the team's Hall of Fame Game tilt against the Carolina Panthers, Williams started at left tackle.

"I mean, there's a lot of things," Cardinals OL coach Justin Frye said a bit earlier in camp when asked how Williams has impressed.

"But I think just back to a young guy, the strain. Like we'll clean up the technique and stuff, but he's not playing as slow as some guys may early on, and just the way that we're working the rotations to try to develop the depth, find out who's the next guy, who can be the rotational guy, who could step in. The competition component to it, where you don't really know what the lights are on. Obviously, not played a game [yet], but it hasn't seemed too big for him right now, the speed of the game. Whereas he's still getting beat. But oh man ... he'll turn around and tell me what the answer is before we have to give it to him after. The growth mindset of all those young guys, and that's what he's been into.

"... I think he's just adapted really well to learning and then playing hard while he's learning, and not slowing down to try to figure it out that way."

Barring injury, we likely won't see Williams in 2026. Paris Johnson Jr. and Elijah Wilkinson anchor the two starting tackle spots while Josh Fryar is likely to be the first swing option available to fill either side.

However, Williams' quick rise from initial afterthought to capable backup just within the early months of his NFL career easily makes him a winner from training camp thus far.

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