Five Highest PFF Graded Cardinals From Preseason Week 2

Who were the five best players from the Arizona Cardinals this past week? PFF grades them here.

The Arizona Cardinals were outdone by the Kansas City Chiefs in 38-10 fashion in their second of three preseason games in what was mostly a forgettable performance from start to finish. 

The Chiefs amassed over 500 net yards while their average yards of gain (8.7) was nearly double of Arizona's (4.4). 

Some notable starters returned to action including Trey McBride, Budda Baker, Marquise Brown, James Conner and Kyzir White while the likes of BJ Ojulari, Cameron Thomas, Myjai Sanders and Jeff Driskel did not play. 

Despite the poor overall team performance, Arizona still saw a handful of strong performances - here's Pro Football Focus' top five Cardinals from Saturday night:

1. Will Hernandez

Overall Grade: 89.3
Pass Block Grade: 65.9
Run Block Grade: 87.7

Hernandez played just 15 snaps on the night but managed to make his impact felt in just a short amount of time. The Cardinals stalled while the first unit was on the field, though Hernandez continues to prove himself as one of the more underrated players at right guard.

2. Josh Woods

Overall Grade: 88.2
Run Defense Grade: 90
Tackling Grade: 79.1
Coverage Grade: 74.3

Josh Woods has been battling with Krys Barnes for the second inside linebacker spot next to Kyzir White, and Saturday night's performance might have just put him over the top heading into the final week of the preseason. 

Woods has gotten a larger chunk of first-team reps and that continued with 32 snaps vs. KC, as only CB Kei'Trel Clark (35) played more. He led the Cardinals with seven combined tackles and forced one fumble. 

3. Kyle Soelle

Overall Grade: 82.9
Run Defense Grade: 79.7
Tackling Grade: 77.6
Coverage Grade: 65

Another linebacker competing for playing time, Kyle Soelle is looking to turn himself from the local ASU fan-favorite to a legitimate contributor for the Cardinals, and a strong outing against Kansas City certainly helped push him in that direction. 

Soelle registered four tackles on 13 snaps. 

4. Jesse Luketa

Overall Grade: 81.6
Run Defense Grade: 73.2
Tackling Grade: 73.9
Pass Rush Grade: 71.5
Coverage Grade: 60

With a handful of prominent edge players out of commission and Zaven Collins only playing a handful of snaps with the starters, somebody was bound to take advantage of the open opportunity - and that was Jesse Luketa with the most snaps (26) for any outside linebacker.  

The Cardinals didn't register a QB hit or sack on the day, though Luketa was a nice bright spot in PFF's grading. He had three tackles on defense and one assist on special teams. He also had the highest pass-rush grade on the team. 

5. Jacob Slade

Overall Grade: 78.9
Run Defense Grade: 72
Tackling Grade: 67.3
Pass Rush Grade: 67

Defensive lineman Jacob Slade rounds out this list with the top performance for any player in Arizona's defensive interior, though he only played 14 snaps with just one tackle.