Next Man Up: Can the Cardinals Young Cornerbacks Step Up Amid Injuries in the Room?

As training camp continues on for the Arizona Cardinals, position groups begin to solidify as the team prepares for the 2025 season. However, one position group has struggled to find consistency with the preseason approaching, as the cornerbacks have been hit big by injuries. To start, veteran cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting was placed on the non-football injury list on May 22nd, after he sustained a knee injury. This injury required Murphy-Bunting to have surgery and will result in him missing the entire 2025 season. Then, Arizona was hit with two more injuries to the cornerback room, as Jaden Davis and Starling Thomas V both sustained knee injuries during practice and landed on the injured reserve. Thomas V tore his ACL and will miss the entirety of the 2025 season, while Davis will be out for an extended period.

While Davis hasn’t had any NFL action yet, the absence of Murphy-Bunting and Thomas V will be felt, as they both provided key contributions to the Cardinals’ defense in 2024. Murphy-Bunting led the team with three interceptions and two forced fumbles, while also contributing 52 total tackles, 30 solo tackles, three tackles for a loss, and five passes defended in 15 games played. Thomas V also played a big part in Arizona’s defense, as he played in all 17 games last season and started 15 of those. In those 17 games, Thomas V contributed 47 total tackles, 31 solo tackles, six passes defended, one tackle for loss, and one forced fumble.

Now, this doesn’t mean that Arizona’s cornerback room is left in shambles. Returning cornerbacks Garrett Williams and Max Melton come into the 2025 season after strong 2024 seasons, looking to help lead this young, inexperienced cornerback room. On top of Williams and Melton, Kei’Trel Clark, Darren Hall, and Jaylon Jones will also look to help add to the group coming into this year as well. When talking about the inexperience coming in, there will be a few players looking to make their names known this upcoming season. Will Johnson, Denzel Burke, and Elijah Jones will all be looking to make their NFL debuts in the 2025 season.

Johnson headlines this group, as he is currently slated to be one of the starting cornerbacks for the Cardinals this season. Drafted 47th overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, Johnson was considered one of the top cornerbacks available and, at one point, the best available of the class, but injury concerns forced his slide into the second round. Now, Johnson looks to become the steal of the draft and play an integral part in Arizona’s defense going forward. Burke also had the pleasure of being drafted by the Cardinals this past draft, as he went 147th overall in the fifth round. While Burke wasn’t speculated as highly as Johnson, he still flashed potential to be a productive cornerback in the NFL, which led to his being drafted to his hometown team. Jones, however, ended up being a different story, as he was part of Arizona’s 2024 draft class, as he went 90th overall in the third round. Jones wasn’t able to see any regular season action for the Cardinals, as he hurt his ankle in the preseason finale against the Denver Broncos last season, forcing him to spend his entire rookie season on injured reserve. With the preseason quickly approaching, the cornerback room should start to take form on who can potentially help lead this group going into the regular season.