5 position battles to watch at Cardinals training camp

Like their pro football brethren, most Arizona Cardinals face a stark reality: The average NFL career lasts 3.3 years. 

Injuries play a role, but so does the salary cap. Every year, coaches and the GM are looking for better and more cost-effective replacements for many players on the roster. Every training camp, players know that they could be battling to keep their starting role, keep a spot on the roster, or keep a spot in the NFL.

PHNX Sports will explore the boys on the bubble next month when NFL teams must reduce their rosters to 53 players (plus the newly expanded, 17-man practice squad).

As training camp begins on Tuesday at State Farm Stadium with the annual conditioning test, here are our top five position battles to watch.

Cardinals cornerback No. 2

Sean Murphy-Bunting, 27, automatically became the Cardinals’ No. 1 cornerback when he signed a three-year contract after four seasons in Tampa. The 2019 second-round pick (No. 39) won a Super Bowl with the Bucs and former Cardinals coach Bruce Arians.

Who starts opposite him is still up for grabs.

Garrett Williams, who missed all of 2023 training camp and about half the season after tearing his ACL in Syracuse’s game against North Carolina State on Oct. 15., is expected to be the Cardinals nickel back. The Cardinals selected him in the third round last year (No. 72) and he played nine games, taking the majority of the snaps in most of them.

As for the battle for CB2, the Cardinals picked Rutgers’ Max Melton in the second round of this year’s draft. That sort of status normally carries with it great expectations, and the Cards weren’t exactly flush at the position last season so Melton, an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten selection, will have a chance to grab the job immediately.

Second-year man Starling Thomas V has shown significant progress, but don’t forget about 2023 third-round pick (No. 90) Elijah Jones, or even 2023 sixth-round pick (No. 180) Kei’Trel Clark, a good tackler who saw a lot of action early last season, but did not play at all in 10 games.

With their final pick in the draft, the Cardinals selected Jaden Davis out of Miami, who could play a role on special teams.

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Left guard

If you went off paper alone, you’d think Evan Brown was in a battle for the starting left guard position with a number of candidates. If you listen to left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. talk about his budding relationship with Brown, however, you’ll realize that the versatile veteran has pretty much claimed the job.

Paris Johnson Jr. says he and Evan Brown are bonding through competition.

PJJ says he won’t leave training if he hasn’t won two competitions against Brown. Arizona Cardinals training staff members have even had to shut down competitions that have gone on too long 😂… pic.twitter.com/pM0WUcveme

— Bo Brack (@BoBrack) July 16, 2024

“He wasn’t on the team with us last year but I think what he brings to the table in being a vet is that he’s a plug-and-play guy,” Johnson said. “He knows. He’s been in those scenarios before.”

Interior lineman generally have to be versatile anyway — to play multiple positions — but Brown, 27, has been a starting right guard and a starting left guard in the NFL. His physical strength is the talk of the offensive line and his experience should help cement the left side if Johnson can make a seamless transition from right tackle to left tackle in his second season.

Other players in the mix at left guard include Elijah Wilkinson, Isaiah Adams, Jon Gaines II and Trystan Colon.

GM Monti Ossenfort identified Adams’ ability in the run game as a key reason why he chose the Illinois product in the 2024 third round (No. 71). That said, starting as a rookie offensive lineman is a tricky business, but he should see time and if Adams ever needs to move to center, Adams could see a larger role.

Wilkinson, 29, re-signed with Arizona after playing 10 games (nine starts) last year. He was a Week-1 starter, but battled a neck injury that forced him to miss seven games. His career began when he signed with the Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2017 out of UMass.

Gaines, a 2023 fourth-round pick out of UCLA, missed his entire rookie year due to a knee injury suffered during the preseason. Coach Jonathan Gannon said he is progressing well but he could start the season on PUP (physically unable to perform).

Colon, 26, signed as an undrafted free agent with the Ravens in 2020 out of Missouri. He played 20 games in three seasons with Baltimore before the Cardinals claimed him off waivers. He played 14 games with Arizona last season — most of them at left guard — four as a starter.

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Outside linebacker

Public reviews of Zaven Collins have been positive throughout the offseason. He spent a lot of time with outside linebackers coach Rob Rodriguez and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis as he continues to adjust in what is now his second season at the position. The truth is, this is a make-or-break season for the Tulsa product.

Collins is entering the final year of his contract after having his fifth-year option declined. Ossenfort did not draft him; Steve Keim did. Collins has 5.5 sacks and 10 QB hits in three seasons and there is no denying the overriding feeling that he has been a disappointment thus far.

2023 second-round pick (No. 41) BJ Ojulari (four sacks) had an undisclosed procedure that slowed him down during his rookie season, but big things are expected of him this season as well. Ojulari may get starting opportunities, but the Cardinals are going to play with five DBs a lot to combat passing offenses; certainly in Week 1 against Bills QB Josh Allen. That said, Ojulari should get a lot of snaps and he could really help elevate a pass rush that finished 30th in sacks (33), 31st in QB pressures (98), and last in QB knockdowns (23) in 2023.

If any of those players struggle in the first few weeks, Darius Robinson could play a role or the team could seek veteran help to bolster a defensive weakness.

Dennis Gardeck led the Cardinals in sacks last season with six. He will be in the short rotation at the position, and coach Jonathan Gannon has said he wants to rotate his linebackers often to keep them fresh and playing to their strengths. Still, if all goes according to plan with the aforementioned players, Gardeck’s role could be reduced.

Other players in the mix include 2022 third-round pick (No. 87) Cameron Thomas; 2024 fifth-round pick Xavier Thomas (No. 138); 2021 sixth-round pick (No. 210) Victor Dimukeje; and 2022 seventh-round pick (No. 256) Jesse Luketa, who all saw action in five games last season. The Cardinals signed Tyreke Smith off the Seahawks’ practice squad last season.

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Tight end No. 2

Trey McBride is the starter and one of the top tight ends in the game, despite what some national rankings say. The Cardinals used a 12 personnel grouping (one running back, two tight ends) the second most of any grouping last season so a second tight end will factor in the mix.

Elijah Higgins was a big wide receiver at Stanford alongside current Cardinals current Michael Wilson, but NFL scouts viewed him as a tight end and when the Dolphins released waived him on Aug. 29, he made the switch last season as a rookie. He’ll certainly have a role in the offense, but the inside track goes to another player.

The Cardinals selected Tip Reiman in the third round (No. 82) out of Illinois. Reiman has the edge over Higgins as blocker and that will be a greater point of emphasis in the 12 personnel package. The fact that he went so high in the draft also speaks to how Ossenfort views his potential.

Reiman is huge at 6-feet-4 and 273 pounds. He was a physical blocking tight end in college whose season-high in catches was 19. He tested well at the combine.

Others in the mix include Travis Vokolek, whom the Cardinals signed off the Ravens’ practice squad in December; Austrian Bernhard Seikovits, who was originally a part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program in 2021 and has subsequently signed three futures contracts; and undrafted free agent Blake Whiteheart.

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Backup QB

Training camp will sort out any lingering questions about this position, but GM Monti Ossenfort traded receiver Rondale Moore (a 2021 second-round pick) to the Atlanta Falcons in March to get Desmond Ridder. That’s a pretty clear sign that he will be Murray’s backup.

Ridder (6-3, 207) was a Falcons’ third-round pick (No. 74) in 2022 out of Cincinnati. In 19 games (17 starts) with Atlanta, he completed 249 of 388 passes (64 completion percentage) for 3,544 yards, 14 TDs and 12 interceptions with a composite passer rating of 84.1.

“There is no substitute for experience, especially at the quarterback position,” Ossenfort told Darren Urban of the azcardinals.com at the time. “We’re seeking to add competition to the roster.

“Adding Desmond to the room with Kyler and Clayton [Tune] gives us three guys who will give us a good battle. They are all shaped a little differently but they all schematically can do similar things.”

Ossenfort drafted Tune in the fifth round of 2023 (No.  139) out of Houston. Immediately after the selection, Tune proclaimed: “I think I’m the best quarterback in this class.” 

Tune’s one start last season as a rookie said otherwise. He completed 11 of 20 passes for just 58 yards. He threw two interceptions and lost a fumble while posting a passer rating of just 20.8.

Ossenfort and the Cardinals scouts obviously saw something in Tune. They told PHNX that they are excited about what he can do in Year 2, but he is still early in his development. Will the Cardinals risk placing Tune on the practice squad to free up a 53-man roster spot for more depth elsewhere, or will they keep him on the 53-man to ensure that, given Kyler Murray’s injury history, a potential backup with a full year of development in the system isn’t lost?

Other position battles to watch

Running back No. 2: Will Michael Carter be listed ahead of recently signed Trey Benson when the initial depth chart is released?

Wide receiver No. 3: Can 6-feet-2 free-agent acquisition Zay Jones, who had other offers but chose Arizona, take red-zone reps away from 5-7 Greg Dortch?

Top photo of cornerback Max Melton via Getty Images

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