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The Cardinals surprised a ton of people in 2023. Going into last season, they were projected to part ways with Kyler Murray in favor of Caleb Williams, and many had them putting up a 1 or 2-win season. Fast forward a full year, and this front office is all-in on K1 - adding beef up front and giving him weapons all around.
But will that be enough to get them into the playoffs? Let's see how this season will play out for my 20th overall team.
Photo: Matt Slocum/Associated Press
Strengths
Rushing Attack
Deep Offensive Line
Versatile Receiving Core
When Kyler Murray returned to action, this rushing attack was one of the best in the league. From Week 10 onward, they had 5.44 yards per rush, a 23.77% broken tackle rate, and 4.34 yards after contact, all of which led the NFL in that span. To boot, five of their eight opponents were ranked in the top 10 for run defense. Pair that with an improved offensive line and a fully healthy Kyler heading into 2024, this should be one of the best units throughout the year.
Pigging backing off that, this offensive line is deep. Three starters and two backups have played over 2,500 career snaps, while Paris Johnson Jr and Hjalte Froholdt both played 1,000+ snaps last season. Add in two rookies in Christian Jones and Isaiah Adams, there are about nine guys that could see playing time this year without losing too much experience up front.
On paper, this receiving core doesn't seem too exciting. When you look at the tape, Greg Dortch and Michael Wilson were solid when they got significant playing time, and Trey McBride broke out in his sophomore season. James Conner continues to be a threat out of the backfield, and the addition of rookies Marvin Harrison Jr, Trey Benson, and free agent Zay Jones will give defenses plenty of fits.
Weaknesses
Interior Defensive Line
Liabilities in CB Room
Overall Inexperience
Despite adding Justin Jones, LJ Collier, and Bilal Nichols through free agency, none of them are needle movers. All three free agent adds have put up sub-60 overall defensive grades over the past two years, will LJ being even worse at sub-50. Even the depth isn't that good, but Dante Stills could be a name to watch become a starter as the year goes on. He had a solid stretch between Week 6 and Week 11, where he posted 5 games of a 70+ defense grade in each contest. We'll cover Darius Robinson a little later on.
Signing Sean Murphy-Bunting was a fine addition from a process standpoint, but outside of him, this cornerback group is gonna get cooked again. Garrett Williams was doing just fine, but then he got abused in coverage over the final two games of the season. Starling Thomas V and Kei'Trel Clark were poor in the time they got, and rookies Max Melton and Elijah Jones are unproven - but even I didn't have them ranked high in this class, as both landed outside my top 10 CBs.
Out of the 22 starters and additional 10 bench pieces who are expected to contribute, 14 of them have played less than 1,000 career NFL snaps - and half of those 14 are rookies. The talent is there, but the experience isn't, especially for a team that needs to get into the playoff hunt within the next year or two. There will be plenty of mistakes this season that will hold this team back from reaching their potential in 2024.
Key Additions
Marvin Harrison Jr - Wide Receiver
Sean Murphy-Bunting - Cornerback
Darius Robinson - Defensive Linemen
This organization has completely bought into Kyler Murray. To help him out, they gave him one of the best receiving prospects of the last decade. MHJ is the definition of a WR1; he's a big body who can run any route, and when you need to make something happen, just get it in his hands. This connection is going to wreck defenses for years to come.
The Cardinals desperately needed help in the secondary. He's not the best corner in the world, but he's better than anything Arizona had last season. Despite putting up one of the worst seasons of his career in 2023, it would have been better than most of the corners that were in the desert. I think he'll be better this campaign, given the Cardinals will scheme up more pressure than the Titans did a year ago.
Just like their secondary, the Cardinals interior defensive front was one of the worst in the league last year. Adding Darius Robinson not only makes this front immediately better, but it allows them to disguise pressures as he can play inside or outside. He'll be a monster for how Nick Rallis will use him, and he may end up leading the team in pass rush and run defense grades.
Dark Horse
BJ Ojulari - Edge Rusher
BJ saw the field on just over 400 snaps last season, but contributed at a solid clip in that time. He posted a 12.42% pressure rate on 161 pass rushes, added 13 stops + TFLs while only missing one tackle, and he put up a 64.8 overall defensive grade. Over the final eight games, he had an increased pressure rate at 13.27%, 10 stops + TFLs with zero missed tackles, and had five games over a 62.4 overall defensive grade. In a full time starting role, he could be a menace off the edge in 2024.
Photo: Caitlyn Epes/Arizona Cardinals
Record
8-9
This is optimistic, but if the Cardinals squeaked out four wins given how bad the roster was a year ago, with three of those victories coming against playoff teams, they're bound to take a leap and win more games with a healthy QB. The beginning of their schedule is tough, as they take on the Bills, Rams, Lions, 49ers, and Packers in five of their first six games. If they can win at least one of those games, they can go to work on the rest of their schedule. I see them splitting games with the Rams and Seahawks, and getting wins against the Commanders, Patriots, Vikings, Panthers, Jets, and Chargers, giving them an eight win mark.
Final Notes
Call me a homer, I don't care, the Cardinals are going to surprise a ton of people in 2024. K1 is fully healthy, he's in a system that actually caters to his skillset, they added firepower to the offense, and the defense is coming along slowly, but surely. I don't think they're playoff ready yet, but they'll be a force in the NFC come 2025.
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