# List of Arizona Cardinals first-round draft picks

The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference West Division. The team was established in Chicago in 1898 as the Morgan Athletic Club and is the oldest continuously run professional football franchise. They joined the NFL as a charter member on September 17, 1920, as the Chicago Cardinals. In 1960, the team moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where it became the St. Louis Cardinals. Before the 1988 season, the team moved to Tempe, Arizona, and played home games for the next 18 seasons at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University. In 1994, after being known as the Phoenix Cardinals from 1988 to 1993, they became the Arizona Cardinals. In 2006, the team moved their home games to State Farm Stadium (then known as University of Phoenix Stadium), where they have played their home games since. The team was purchased by Charles Bidwill in 1932 and has been owned by a member of the Bidwill family since, with Charles' grandson Michael Bidwill being the current owner.
The NFL draft, officially known as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting", is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings; the teams with the worst win–loss records receive the earliest picks. Teams that qualified for the NFL playoffs select after non-qualifiers, and their order depends on how far they advanced, using their regular season record as a tie-breaker. The final two selections in the first round are reserved for the Super Bowl runner-up and champion. Draft picks are tradable and players or other picks can be acquired with them.
In 1936, the league introduced the NFL draft after team owners voted on it in 1935. The intention of the draft is to make the NFL more competitive, as some teams had an advantage in signing players. From 1947 through 1958, the NFL designated the first overall selection as a "bonus" or "lottery pick". The pick was awarded by a random draw and the winner who received the "bonus pick" forfeited its selection in the final round of the draft and became ineligible for future draws. The system was abolished prior to the 1959 NFL draft, as all twelve teams in the league at the time had received a bonus choice.
Since the first draft, the Cardinals have selected 93 players in the first round. The team's first-round pick in the inaugural NFL draft was Jimmy Lawrence, a back from Texas Christian University; he was the 5th overall selection. The Cardinals have selected first overall five times and selected Ki Aldrich in 1939, George Cafego in 1940, Charley Trippi in 1945, King Hill in 1958, and Kyler Murray in 2019. In the most recent draft, held in 2024, the Cardinals selected Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. and Missouri defensive lineman Darius Robinson.
The Cardinals did not draft a player in the first round on five occasions. Four of the team's first-round picks—Ollie Matson, Joe Namath, Charley Trippi, and Roger Wehrli—have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Cardinals have used seven first-round picks on players—Glenn Dobbs, Dub Jones, John Kimbrough, Carl McAdams, Joe Namath, Ken Rice, Jim Spavital—who chose to sign with competing leagues instead.

## Player selections

Key :
| Symbol | Meaning |
| † | Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame |
| * | Selected number one overall |
| ‡ | Selected number one overall and inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame |
Position abbreviations :
| B | Back |
| C | Center |
| DB | Defensive back |
| DE | Defensive end |
| DT | Defensive tackle |
| E | End |
| FB | Fullback |
| G | Guard |
| HB | Halfback |
| K | Placekicker |
| LB | Linebacker |
| QB | Quarterback |
| RB | Running back |
| T | Tackle |
| TB | Tailback |
| TE | Tight end |
| WB | Wingback |
| WR | Wide receiver |
Arizona Cardinals first-round draft picks :
| Season | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1936 | 5 | Jimmy Lawrence | B | TCU | |
| 1937 | 3 | Ray Buivid | B | Marquette | Never played for the team |
| 1938 | 5 | Jack Robbins | TB | Arkansas | |
| 1939 | 1 | Ki Aldrich* | C | TCU | |
| 1940 | 1 | George Cafego* | FB | Tennessee | Never played for team |
| 1941 | 2 | John Kimbrough | FB | Texas A&M | Signed for the New York Yankees of the AFL III instead |
| 1942 | 4 | Steve Lach | WB | Duke | |
| 1943 | 3 | Glenn Dobbs | TB | Tulsa | Signed for the AAFC's Brooklyn Dodgers instead |
| 1944 | 2 | Pat Harder | FB | Wisconsin | |
| 1945 | 1 | Charley Trippi‡ | HB | Georgia | |
| 1946 | 2 | Dub Jones | HB | LSU | Signed for the AAFC's Brooklyn Dodgers instead |
| 1947 | 7 | Tex Coulter | T | Army | |
| 1948 | 11 | Jim Spavital | FB | Oklahoma | Signed for the AAFC's Los Angeles Dons instead |
| 1949 | 10 | Bill Fischer | T | Notre Dame | |
| 1950 | No pick | No pick | No pick | No pick | Pick traded to Los Angeles Rams |
| 1951 | 6 | Jerry Groom | G | Notre Dame | |
| 1952 | 3 | Ollie Matson† | RB | San Francisco | |
| 1953 | 4 | Johnny Olszewski | FB | California | |
| 1954 | 2 | Lamar McHan | QB | Arkansas | |
| 1955 | 2 | Max Boydston | E | Oklahoma | |
| 1956 | 7 | Joe Childress | HB | Auburn | |
| 1957 | 10 | Jerry Tubbs | LB | Oklahoma | |
| 1958 | 1 | King Hill* | QB | Rice | Lottery bonus pick |
| 1958 | 2 | John David Crow | HB | Texas A&M | |
| 1959 | 3 | Billy Stacy | DB | Mississippi State | |
| 1960 | 2 | George Izo | QB | Notre Dame | |
| 1961 | 8 | Ken Rice | T | Auburn | Signed for the AFL's Buffalo Bills instead |
| 1962 | 6 | Fate Echols | T | Northwestern | |
| 1962 | 12 | Irv Goode | C | Kentucky | Pick received from Philadelphia Eagles |
| 1963 | 2 | Jerry Stovall | DB | LSU | |
| 1963 | 13 | Don Brumm | DE | Purdue | Pick received from New York Giants |
| 1964 | 9 | Ken Kortas | DT | Louisville | |
| 1965 | 12 | Joe Namath† | QB | Alabama | Signed for the AFL's New York Jets instead |
| 1966 | 8 | Carl McAdams | LB | Oklahoma | Signed for the AFL's New York Jets instead |
| 1967 | 16 | Dave Williams | WR | Washington | |
| 1968 | 13 | MacArthur Lane | RB | Utah State | |
| 1969 | 19 | Roger Wehrli† | DB | Missouri | |
| 1970 | 8 | Larry Stegent | RB | Texas A&M | |
| 1971 | 17 | Norm Thompson | DB | Utah | |
| 1972 | 4 | Ahmad Rashad | RB | Oregon | |
| 1973 | 5 | Dave Butz | DT | Purdue | |
| 1974 | 7 | J. V. Cain | TE | Colorado | |
| 1975 | 21 | Tim Gray | DB | Texas A&M | |
| 1976 | 22 | Mike Dawson | DT | Arizona | |
| 1977 | 19 | Steve Pisarkiewicz | QB | Missouri | Original pick traded to Atlanta Falcons. Pick received from Washington Redskins. |
| 1978 | 15 | Steve Little | K | Arkansas | |
| 1978 | 19 | Ken Greene | DB | Washington State | Pick received from Washington Redskins |
| 1979 | 8 | Ottis Anderson | RB | Miami (FL) | |
| 1980 | 6 | Curtis Greer | DE | Michigan | |
| 1981 | 5 | E. J. Junior | LB | Alabama | |
| 1982 | 16 | Luis Sharpe | T | UCLA | Moved down draft order in trade with Kansas City Chiefs |
| 1983 | 17 | Leonard Smith | DB | McNeese State | |
| 1984 | 17 | Clyde Duncan | WR | Tennessee | |
| 1985 | 18 | Freddie Joe Nunn | LB | Ole Miss | |
| 1986 | 5 | Anthony Bell | LB | Michigan State | |
| 1987 | 6 | Kelly Stouffer | QB | Colorado State | |
| 1988 | 12 | Ken Harvey | LB | California | |
| 1989 | 10 | Eric Hill | LB | LSU | |
| 1989 | 17 | Joe Wolf | G | Boston College | Pick received from Seattle Seahawks |
| 1990 | No pick | No pick | No pick | No pick | Pick used in 1989 supplemental draft |
| 1991 | 6 | Eric Swann | DE | None | |
| 1992 | No pick | No pick | No pick | No pick | Pick traded to Miami Dolphins |
| 1993 | 3 | Garrison Hearst | RB | Georgia | Moved up draft order in trade with New York Jets |
| 1993 | 18 | Ernest Dye | T | South Carolina | Pick received from NFL. Moved up draft order in trade with San Francisco 49ers. |
| 1994 | 10 | Jamir Miller | LB | UCLA | |
| 1995 | No pick | No pick | No pick | No pick | Pick traded to New York Jets |
| 1996 | 3 | Simeon Rice | DE | Illinois | |
| 1997 | 9 | Tom Knight | DB | Iowa | |
| 1998 | 3 | Andre Wadsworth | DE | Florida State | Moved down draft order in trade with San Diego Chargers |
| 1999 | 8 | David Boston | WR | Ohio State | Pick received from San Diego Chargers |
| 1999 | 21 | L. J. Shelton | T | Eastern Michigan | |
| 2000 | 7 | Thomas Jones | RB | Virginia | |
| 2001 | 2 | Leonard Davis | T | Texas | |
| 2002 | 12 | Wendell Bryant | DT | Wisconsin | |
| 2003 | 17 | Bryant Johnson | WR | Penn State | Moved down draft order in trade with New Orleans Saints |
| 2003 | 18 | Calvin Pace | DE | Wake Forest | Pick received from New Orleans Saints |
| 2004 | 3 | Larry Fitzgerald | WR | Pittsburgh | |
| 2005 | 8 | Antrel Rolle | DB | Miami (FL) | |
| 2006 | 10 | Matt Leinart | QB | USC | |
| 2007 | 5 | Levi Brown | T | Penn State | |
| 2008 | 16 | Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie | DB | Tennessee State | |
| 2009 | 31 | Beanie Wells | RB | Ohio State | |
| 2010 | 26 | Dan Williams | DT | Tennessee | |
| 2011 | 5 | Patrick Peterson | DB | LSU | |
| 2012 | 13 | Michael Floyd | WR | Notre Dame | |
| 2013 | 7 | Jonathan Cooper | G | North Carolina | |
| 2014 | 27 | Deone Bucannon | DB | Washington State | |
| 2015 | 24 | D. J. Humphries | T | Florida | |
| 2016 | 29 | Robert Nkemdiche | DT | Ole Miss | |
| 2017 | 13 | Haason Reddick | LB | Temple | |
| 2018 | 10 | Josh Rosen | QB | UCLA | Moved up draft order in trade with Oakland Raiders |
| 2019 | 1 | Kyler Murray* | QB | Oklahoma | |
| 2020 | 8 | Isaiah Simmons | LB | Clemson | |
| 2021 | 16 | Zaven Collins | LB | Tulsa | |
| 2022 | No pick | No pick | No pick | No pick | Pick traded to Baltimore Ravens |
| 2023 | 6 | Paris Johnson Jr. | T | Ohio State | Moved down draft order in trade with Houston Texans. Moved up draft order in trade with Detroit Lions. |
| 2024 | 4 | Marvin Harrison Jr. | WR | Ohio State | |
| 2024 | 27 | Darius Robinson | DE | Missouri | Pick received from Houston Texans |