The NFL offseason is an exhausting cocktail of hype, hot takes and hot air. Thankfully, that time is ending; to be replaced by sobering reality.
Arizona Cardinals training camp begins Tuesday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale with the traditional conditioning test. Here is a link with all of the info for fans who want to attend, once the practices open on Thursday.
Over the next few weeks, position battles will be fought, some players will surprise while others disappoint, and the coaching staff will experiment liberally in preparation for the season opener on Sept. 8 in Buffalo.
Before camps begins, here are 10 burning questions whose answers will help define the season.
1. Can Kyler Murray quiet injury and consistency concerns?
Let’s be blunt. Without an elite and healthy Kyler Murray, the remainder of these questions are moot. That’s the nature of the NFL. The rules favor quarterbacks and passing games, but American genetics have not produced more than a dozen QBs at any given point in time who are capable of mastering an offense, mastering increasingly complex defenses, mastering increasingly fast and physical defenders, and doing it all in about 2.5 seconds per play.
There is a different vibe with Murray this season; a maturity in the way he speaks and carries himself.
“I feel just really locked into what we’re doing,” he said. “For me, it’s confidence and understanding where to go with the ball no matter what they’re doing because I’ve been in the system a year. And when you feel like that, man, the sky’s the limit.
“I have played QB my whole life but when you’re at that point, I really can’t explain it to y’all, but it’s a good feeling. At that point, it’s just going out there and executing, building the trust, building the rapport with the receivers and obviously, the O-line and everything like that.”
Murray’s current mental state is better than the alternative, and it may be a sign that he is coming of age, but words are just that. Murray has struggled to stay healthy, he has struggled at times with his decision making, and at other times, he has looked absurdly athletic and supremely capable of making big plays with his feet and with his arm.
The Cardinals will need a lot of the latter and little of the former if they expect to contend in what is still a challenging NFC West, even if the division’s premier team is dealing with unexpected issues. We’ll talk about the backup options in a story this week, but everyone knows what turning to your backup QB for any length of time means in the NFL. It means you’re out of the hunt.
As Murray goes, so go the Cardinals.
2. Is Paris Johnson Jr. the answer at left tackle?
Paris Johnson Jr. is one of the most personable players in a dressing room full of them. He’ll tell you about his epic weight-room battles with left guard and good friend Evan Brown. He’ll tell you he doesn’t mind the Arizona heat because, at his weight, it helps him loosen up quickly.
He’ll tell you what the proper mindset is for a successful left tackle.
Historically speaking, the left tackle position has been as much of a black hole with this franchise as the tight end position. You’d have to go all the way back to Luis Sharpe to find a guy who played at an elite level for any length of time in Arizona. Johnson’s good friend and predecessor, DJ Humphries, is probably next in line.
Johnson has the pedigree. He was a consensus All-American at Ohio State and the No. 6 overall pick in 2023. There was some question as to whether Johnson was ready to move from right tackle where he played last season as a rookie, but coach Jonathan Gannon put that to rest during OTAs. Johnson apparently knew it even sooner.
“The difference from Year 1 to Year 2 was just the extended amount of time I had to lock in on a position I was going to be playing,” said Johnson, who wasn’t sure where the Cardinals would use him before his rookie season. “Everything I do in the weight room [and] recovery is just getting my body prepared to play at the highest level for this upcoming season.”
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3. Can Nick Rallis’ defense improve on an awful 2023 season?
We listed in a recent story the litany of obstacles that Nick Rallis faced last season as a first-time defensive coordinator, hired at age 29. A new management and coaching regime always brings sweeping change with it so Rallis should not be judged on the subpar performance of the Cardinals defense last season.
But as we also noted, mulligans are rare in the NFL. One season to build a culture and system is fine, but there has to be significant improvement in Year 2 or the natives get restless and riled.
GM Monti Ossenfort overhauled the defense this offseason with some additions that earned national praise and others that earned collective shrugs. Rallis has also hinted that the defense his unit will play this season will be more complex than the vanilla scheme he ran last season while his personnel committed its intricacies to muscle memory.
The Cardinals need to stop the run better. The Cardinals need more pressure on the quarterback. The Cardinals need to force more turnovers. The Cardinals have to get off the field on third down (a league-worst 47.32 opponents conversion percentage). That’s a laundry list of issues, and it’s not even comprehensive.
Rallis has work to do.
4. Is this Budda Baker’s final season as a Cardinal?
Safety Budda Baker is entering the final year of his contract and is due $14.2 million in salary with no guarantees. Last offseason, he wanted a contract extension and then requested a trade when he didn’t get it. The team finally gave him a bonus and guaranteed his salary.
What does that mean for this season? We’ll see. The two sides could reach an agreement before the season starts, or Baker, 28, may have to earn a new deal with elite play this season. The Cardinals already have a productive Jalen Thompson under contract as insurance.
Like Baker, the Cardinals are saying all the right things while talks continue behind the scenes about a player some consider the heart and soul of the defense. Gannon has said publicly that he wants Baker on the field, but the NFL is a year-to-year proving ground and when players are pushing 30 years of age with a lot of mileage on their bodies, performance can diminish rapidly.
The Cardinals made this gamble with Calais Campbell and lost, but there are plenty of examples to the contrary. Our own Johnny Venerable had this to say.
“They are a line of scrimmage franchise Paying an old safety isn’t in their DNA. He’d have to be undeniable this year. They also took that safety (Dadrion Taylor-Demerson) atop round 4 of the draft. Maybe he gets a two-year deal from the team next spring if he balls out.”
5. Can BJ Ojulari and Zaven Collins save the sad sack department?
The Cardinals finished 30th in the NFL in sacks last season with 33. Much of that stat was a product of recording just one sack in the final six games of the season, and that came when Dennis Gardeck chased Bears QB Justin Fields out of bounds for a 1-yard loss.
GM Monti Ossenfort opted not to spend big at the position in free agency, and he didn’t add a premium edge rusher in the draft.
The defensive line will play a role in this area, but there is enormous pressure on 2021 first-round pick (No. 16) Zaven Collins to show more consistency, even if he doesn’t reach double-digit sacks. 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.
Then there’s 2023 second-round pick (No. 41) BJ Ojulari, who had an undisclosed procedure that slowed him down during his rookie season. Ojulari (four sacks) must build on the impact he made late in the season when he started earning regular playing time.
Those two players could really elevate this unit if they can live up to their draft status, with Darius Robinson also a threat. Linebacker Dennis Gardeck led Cardinals in sacks last season with six.
6. Is Marvin Harrison Jr. the next great Cardinals receiver?
Roy Green, Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald. It’s a short list when you set the bar properly for elite Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals wide receivers.
Marvin Harrison Jr. has a chance to join that pantheon and perhaps sit atop it one day. Like Fitzgerald before him, Harrison is taking a low-key approach to the considerable hype surrounding him. Like Fitzgerald, he is careful in all of his media interviews and he is deferential to his elders within the locker room. That approach may not be great for beat writers, but it will likely serve him well as he finds his way in the NFL.
Harrison’s early reviews have offered a string of superlatives, and it’s easy to see why when you watch him on the practice field. His combination of size, speed and athleticism is absurd and he had a Hall of Fame receiver and father guiding him throughout his career. He has Valley icon potential written all over him.
7. Is Jonathan Gannon Ready to Assert Himself Amongst His NFC West Peers?
As we noted in a recent story, the list of NFL coaches who have taken quantum leaps in the second and third years of their tenure with a team is long, and the Cardinals have their own examples.
Is Jonathan Gannon ripe for the same sort of jump? He can start by proving he can handle his own division. The cCardinals went 0-6 against NFC West opponents last season, getting outscored 184-98.
While Pete Carroll is out in Seattle after 14 seasons, 10 playoff appearances and the franchise’s lone Super Bowl title, San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan and Los Angeles’ Sean McVay are coaching giants with Super Bowl résumés.
Three of Arizona’s first seven games are against NFC West opponents, a good early barometer. You’ve got to walk before you run… or something like that.
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8. What impact will the new kickoff rules have?
The NFL approved new kickoff rules by a 29-3 vote in March, ushering in one of the league’s most radical changes, with the hope that it will bring excitement back to a play that had become almost useless, while still reducing injuries.
In the offseason, special teams coaches from the Saints, Cowboys and Bears created an altered version of an XFL kickoff. Here’s how it shakes out:
ALLCITY Sports will dive into the impact of this new rule in a story this fall, but here’s what Cardinals special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers and return man Greg Dortch each had to say about it.
Rodgers: “This thing is totally different from anything we’ve ever coached. There’s still blocking and tackling going on, but the space and the angles [in which] you’re trying to get those things done are vastly different than they were before.
“I’ve got 20-plus years of looking at this play a certain way. I don’t know how much that stuff translates. I think I do, but when we get into the preseason and you start getting these things in pads, everything has to be reevaluated from what you’re asking the guys to do technique-wise to what you’re asking them to do schematically.”
Dortch: “I haven’t seen it in person live, but just watching it on film, I think there’s tons of opportunities for me to be explosive and make plays. You don’t have guys running down full speed. It doesn’t start until I either catch the ball or the ball hits the ground, so that’s kind of an advantage to me.
“The game’s a little bit slower and everybody’s at like one level so should you break past that first level, it’s just you and the kicker. I’ll take my chances.”
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9. Which rookies will make an immediate impact?
We’ve already discussed Marvin Harrison Jr.’s potential impact but there is opportunity for plenty of rookies on a team whose focus has been rebuilding the roster with youth.
DL Darius Robinson: Robinson should be in the mix for interior defensive line reps this season, especially on passing downs to provide pressure. Free-agent signings Justin Jones and Bilal Nichols are the presumed starters, but Robinson’s versatility could allow him to play end, where he spent his final season at Missouri after playing on the inside for four seasons.
CB Max Melton: There is plenty of competition for the second cornerback spot opposite free-agent signing Sean Murphy-Bunting, but Melton was a second-round pick. Much is expected. Third-round pick Elijah Jones could also be in the mix.
RB Trey Benson: The third-round pick signed a four-year contract on Thursday, putting the team’s entire rookie class under contract before the start of training camp. Benson ran for almost 1,900 yards and 23 touchdowns the past two seasons at Florida State.
TE Tip Reiman: Elijah Higgins switched from receiver to tight end earlier in his career, but Reiman has the inside track to the second tight end slot (with Trey McBride No. 1) because of his blocking skills. The Cardinals used a great deal of 12 personnel packages last season (two tight ends, one running back).
10. Playoffs? Are we talking about playoffs?
As we noted above, Ken Whisenhunt took the Cardinals to the Super Bowl in his second season in Arizona, and Bruce Arians took his team to the playoffs with an 11-5 record in his second season — and might have done more had Carson Palmer not blown out his ACL.
Why not Jonathan Gannon?
Again, so much depends on Kyler Murray, but the vibe at the team’s Tempe training facility is upbeat and hungry, and GM Monti Ossenfort has added some intriguing pieces who could at least push the Cardinals into the playoff picture.
The NFL’s cap structure is built for parity and rapid turnarounds.
Top photo via Getty Images
