Cardinals bring in freakishly athletic small-school pass rusher for official visit

Daniel Hardy had 16.5 sacks in 2021 and 24.5 tackles for loss for Montana State.

It is the time of official top-30 visits for NFL teams and NFL draft prospects. The Arizona Cardinals are using one of their 30 official visits to host an extremely athletic pass-rushing prospect.

According to The Draft Network’s Justin Melo, the Cardinals will bring in Montana State defensive end Daniel Hardy.

Hardy had eye-popping production last season and his athletic testing will catch your attention.

He had 16.5 sacks and 24.5 tackles for loss.

He is undersized when it comes to traditional edge defenders in the NFL.

However, he matches up similarly with Haason Reddick, whom the Cardinals drafted and who has developed into one of the more productive pass rushers in the league.

Hardy’s size and school likely mean he will not be a Day 1 or even a Day 2 pick. The Cardinals have eight selections in the final two rounds of the draft.

Arizona often uses top-30 visits on late-round picks or guys they would like to sign as undrafted rookies to have a relationship already established.

The Cardinals missed on Reddick early in his career. Perhaps they will see what this kid can do as a pass rusher in the league.

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