Cody Simon
Arizona CardinalsModel Score
How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →
Season Stats · 16 games
Draft & College
He went earlier than consensus.
Covers the college seasons in our data, which does not always reach back to a player's first year.
Comps
STM Take
Rookie tier 8 (#71) for a 115th overall 4th-round pick is on the year-one band for Day 3 LB prospects. The Ohio State 2024 CFP National Championship pedigree plus the structural Cardinals linebacker reps give him basic college foundation. The 2026 question is whether Simon crosses into tier 6-7 territory in his year-two jump or whether the role compresses to swing depth.
Simon came out of Ohio State as the Arizona Cardinals' 4th-round pick (115th overall) in 2025 after starting for the Buckeyes' 2024 CFP National Championship roster. The Cardinals used him in the linebacker rotation as a rookie. His first STTM appearance comes in 2025 at tier 8 (#71), the year-one band for 4th-round LB prospects.
Strengths
- Ohio State 2024 CFP National Championship pedigree plus the 115th overall draft slot gives him real championship-pedigree college foundation.
- Year-one rotational reps for the Cardinals at age 22 plus the structural anchor reps gives him the developmental runway.
Concerns
- Single tier 8 finish without prior STTM history caps the long-term projection certainty.
- Arizona's broader defensive identity around the multi-year rebuild compresses the structural support around Simon.
What to watch: Whether Simon crosses into tier 7 (top 55) in 2026, the standard year-two threshold for 4th-round LB picks on stable-starter trajectories.