With Training Camps just around the corner, our annual NFL Previews kick off with a trip out to the desert, where the Arizona Cardinals suddenly find themselves in what appears to be a full-scale rebuild after taking a major step backward. Indeed, 2022 was a VERY disappointing campaign for the redbirds, who a year after going 11-6 and advancing to the playoffs for the first time since 2015 came crashing back down to earth in the form of a miserable run of form that saw (Pro-Bowl Quarterback) Kyler Murray tear his ACL, (Pro-Bowl Wideout) DeAndre Hopkins suspended for the first six games, (General Manager) Steve Keim effectively resigning from his post, and (Head Coach) Kliff Kingsbury ultimately relieved of his duties, resulting in a last-place finish in the NFC West. This led the Bidwell family to hit the reset button HARD, hiring Monti Ossenfort and Jonathan Gannon to lead the franchise through this dark period, but were they the right choices and how long before we see some progress? Let’s take a stroll through Glendale and see how the Cardinals are picking up the pieces, shall we?
A New Era
Even before it all went to @#$% for the Cardinals last season, there was clearly something wrong with the team, with many fingers pointing at Kliff Kingsbury, whose air-raid offense never really caught on in the NFL, while his inability to make necessary adjustments led to numerous late-season collapses. Prior to Kyler Murray tearing his ACL (much more on the Quarterback in a bit), Arizona sat at a mediocre 4-7 largely on the strength of an attack that continued to stall, averaging 21.8 points on 331.9 total yards. While those numbers don’t sound terrible, a deeper dive into their troubles reveals a passing game that was inept at striking downfield, averaging a mere 5.11 net yards per attempt (31st Overall), struggled to maintain possession with a meager 35.2% success rate on third down (26th Overall), and couldn’t run the ball much at all outside of Murray, who accounted for 34.8% of their rushing yards (418) during that span. His absence over the last six contests revealed the stunning lack of playmakers around him and just how dependent the supporting cast was on his skills. And it is with that said that the fate of both Keim and Kingsbury was sealed, and now it is up to the new brain trust of Gannon and Ossenfort (pictured above) to pick up the pieces and mend the wings of these redbirds. Make no mistake, there is A LOT of work to be done on both sides of the football in Arizona as the duo look to replenish the roster from the inside out. Both men came from franchises that put a lot of stock in building within the trenches, with Ossenfort having spent nearly two decades in New England before serving as Tennessee’s Director of Player Personnel for the last three years, while Gannon coordinated the Eagles’ sack-happy defense last season en route to a trip to the Super Bowl. However, it is going to take some time for these guys to find and cultivate the necessary talent to turn this team around, though it appears that they will have plenty of opportunities to do so as Murray continues his lengthy rehab, which is likely to keep him sidelined until November at the earliest.
At a Crossroads
Speaking of Murray, the immediate and long-term future of the Cardinals is directly tied to how effective the diminutive Quarterback will be once he returns from a torn ACL suffered back on November 21st. Fresh off of back-to-back Pro-Bowl nods, the former no. one overall pick suffered through a tumultuous 2022, which exposed a frayed relationship with the organization, who sought to add stipulations in his contract extension based on his time spent (or lack thereof) in the film room. Though that clause was eventually removed, it felt like there was some bad blood between the QB and the team’s decision-makers, particularly Kingsbury, whom he frequently clashed with throughout the first eleven weeks of the season. Indeed, Murray (pictured above) experienced decline across the board, completing 66.4% of his attempts for an average of 215.3 yards (down from 270.5 in 2021), logging just 5.24 net yards per pass (down from 6.84), with a 14/7 touchdown/interception ratio (down from 24/10). Basically, this guy went from having a career year in 2021 to having a career-worst in 2022, setting the table for what is shaping up to be a crucial 2023. Once he returns from his injury, will he retain the explosive quickness and speed that made him such a playmaker? How will he adapt to the new Offense led by (Offensive Coordinator) Drew Petzing? And if either of those questions is met with an answer not to their liking, what will Ossenfort and Gannon do with by far and away their most expensive player? Next season is when his five-year, $230 million extension kicks in, making it nigh impossible to move him and completely unpalatable to cut him outright, which means that the fate of these two parties is tied together for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, the Cardinals must replenish the supporting cast around their Quarterback, which means finally investing in the Offensive Line and bolstering his protection, which will be of the utmost importance once he returns from injury; Murray was sacked twenty-five times in eleven games last season, pressured on 18.5% of his drop-backs, and hit on fifteen occasions, which is two more than he suffered in three more games played in 2021. Arizona clearly has his protection in mind, having spent the sixth overall pick in last April’s NFL Draft on mammoth Left Tackle, Paris Johnson, the latest road-grader out of Ohio State, and adding (veteran Guard) Will Hernandez from the Giants via Free Agency.
Getting Defensive
As miserable as last season was for the Cardinals, there were definitely some bright spots to be found on the defensive side of the football despite their relatively poor statistical standing. Arizona allowed the second-most points in the NFL (26.4), though that was in part due to the ineptitude of their aforementioned offense, which committed twenty-five turnovers and regularly left them in poor field position. To their credit, this unit logged twenty takeaways themselves, even returning five of them for touchdowns. (Veteran Safety) Budda Baker was selected to his fourth consecutive Pro-Bowl on the strength of 111 tackles and two interceptions, while (versatile Linebacker) Isaiah Simmons looked ever closer to realizing his immense potential in compiling ninety-nine tackles, and a pair of forced fumbles and interceptions apiece, along with a touchdown to his credit. With Baker and Simmons (pictured together above) in the fold, there are some strong building blocks for Gannon to implement his strategies, with the hiring of the former Defensive Coordinator signifying a clear transition from the perceived style over substance philosophy that was the Kingsbury era. Indeed, it would be difficult to find a more polar opposite from Kingsbury, but then again that was precisely the point; Gannon comes from the Mike Zimmer school of coaching, serving under the venerable tactician in Minnesota from 2014 to 2017, and in two seasons coordinating the Eagles’ fearsome Defense had taken those birds to new heights, including a trip to the Super Bowl last February. Last season, Philadelphia ranked second in total defense (301.4), eighth in points allowed (20.2), first against the pass (179.8), fifth in takeaways (27), and above all else, first in sacks by a wide margin (70). In fact, Gannon’s troops registered the most sacks that the league had seen in a single season in over thirty years. The 40-year-old brought (athletic Linebacker) Kyzir White along with him via free agency, and the addition of (Rookie Edge-Rusher) B.J. Ojulari should bring some sorely needed teeth to a pass-rush that lost (three-time Defensive Player of the Year) J.J. Watt to retirement. This guy can coach, we have seen enough of that. Now it will up to Ossenfort and the scouting department to grant him the necessary talent to work with.
Projected Finish: 4-13
2022 was a dreadful campaign for the Cardinals, who bottomed out at 4-13, leading to a regime change that many around the NFL felt was a long time coming. Ossenfort and Gannon are certainly good hires with stellar CVs in hand, but we are under no illusions that they don’t have their work cut out for them in their first season together in what looks to be quite the rebuild. Making matters more difficult is the uncertainty around Murray, who will miss at least half of the season rehabbing from that torn ACL which most assuredly will impact his speed and quickness moving forward. With that in mind, 2023 is a proverbial Year Zero for Arizona, who face a treacherous first eight weeks of the schedule; the Giants, Cowboys, 49ers, Bengals, Seahawks, and Ravens await during that stretch, making it difficult to find many victories for these new-look redbirds.
