Full list of Cardinals 2022 NFL draft capital, needs, dream pick

The Arizona Cardinals were the hottest team in the NFL early on as the only team with an unblemished record through the first seven weeks of the season.

But then a quick collapse came on for the Cards, losing six of their last 10 regular-season games. After buzz of a potential Super Bowl trip, the Cardinals bowed out of the NFL Playoffs during the Wild Card round against their division rival, the Los Angeles Rams. They finished the season with a record of 11-6 in the regular season and 0-1 in the postseason.

Because of that hot start, the team’s draft order isn’t great for a team that had so many issues down the stretch. They pick 23rd overall in the first round and have a total of eight draft picks, with five of them coming in the final two rounds of the draft. They do have draft capital for sure and can potentially package a good amount of those later-round picks to jump back up into the earlier rounds, or they could stay put and load their roster up on late-round guys that they hope to develop into star players.

Here’s a full list of the Cardinals' 2022 NFL Draft picks.

2022 Draft Picks

1st round: 23rd overall
2nd round: 55th overall
3rd round: 87th overall
6th round: 201th and 215th overall
7th round: 242nd, 256th, and 257th overall

Team needs

With a 4-7 finish to the season, they obviously have a ton of needs. Arizona struggled with injuries, keeping star players like JJ Watt and DeAndre Hopkins out for large portions of the year. Still, they’re probably set up better on offense than they are on defense moving forward, with depth issues along the defensive front and backfield.

Offense

Pretty much every tight end who played a major role on the roster is a free agent, so they need bodies at that position, really. I would expect them to re-sign at least one of the tight ends from last season, though. It’s also an area they can attack later on in the draft. The group also needs a guard along the offensive line, with both tackle spots and the center pretty much solidified.

Defense

They have Watt and Zach Allen on the line already, so the group has talent on the edge, but they’d probably like some depth there given Watt’s injury issues recently. They need interior defensive line help as well, to help go along with the elite play on the outside by the pass-rushers. On the defensive backfield, they need at least one new starting cornerback. Byron Murphy and Marco Wilson will return and be Sharpied into the starting lineup, but they need another body out there to play the game. If any of them get hurt, they need a quality depth piece as well.

Dream first pick

Devonte Wyatt, DT — Georgia

He’s a massive (6-foot-3, 304 lb.) man that can clog up the middle of the field and stop all rushers that try and exploit the middle of the field. To pair his run-stopping ability with JJ Watt on the outside could create an extremely effective defensive front in the desert.