Denzel Burke
Arizona CardinalsUNDERPAIDModel 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 · 17 games
Draft & College
He lasted longer 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 4 (#28) for a 147th overall 5th-round pick with the Ohio State 2024 CFP National Championship pedigree is on the upper end of the year-one band for Day 3 CB prospects. The 2024 championship pedigree plus the structural Cardinals anchor role gives him real college foundation. The 2026 question is whether Burke crosses into tier 3 territory in his year-two jump or whether the structural rookie tier 4 finish becomes the stable baseline.
Burke came out of Ohio State as the Arizona Cardinals' 5th-round pick (147th overall) in 2025 after starting for the Buckeyes' 2024 CFP National Championship roster. The Cardinals installed him in the CB rotation as a rookie. His first STTM appearance comes in 2025 at tier 4 (#28), a strong year-one finish for a 5th-round Day 3 pick.
Strengths
- Ohio State 2024 CFP National Championship pedigree plus rookie tier 4 (#28) STTM finish as a 147th overall 5th-round pick puts him in the outlier-positive class.
- Year-one starter snaps for the Cardinals at age 22 gives him the developmental runway.
Concerns
- Single tier 4 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 Burke.
What to watch: Whether Burke crosses into tier 3 (top 25) in 2026, the standard year-two threshold for Day 3 CB picks on stable-starter trajectories.