NFL Team Previews: Arizona Cardinals
With the 3rd team in the NFC West, I will be covering the Arizona Cardinals, coached by Bruce Arians and with general manager Steve Keim in the front office. Throughout the season last year, I (among others) thought they were the best in the NFC and the Carolina Panthers were beneficiaries of a soft schedule, with the toughest game against the Packers in Carolina. Obviously, we all were wrong, as the Panthers beat the Cardinals to make the Super Bowl. This year, with no huge losses and some great additions, the Cardinals are aiming for the Super Bowl again this season.
DRAFT RECAP: This defensive front was solid last season, and now with the addition of Robert Nkemdiche (cover photo) and another player I'll mention later, this defensive front could be scary. To start, Nkemdiche could've been the #1 overall pick, but he fell past almost every team in the first round to the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals spent a lot of time doing their research on him, and if it pays off, he is the steal of the draft. I've mentioned a lot of "could be the biggest steal" players before, but he's it if it works out. The other main thing the Cardinals did was draft C Evan Boehm in the 4th round, and he should be the favorite for the division. The only other C on the roster is AQ Shipley, who was benched earlier last season. Outside of those picks, the Cardinals had a relatively quiet draft that could turn out to be a solid one.
FREE AGENCY: Obviously, trading G Jonathan Cooper to New England for OLB Chandler Jones is the big move of the offseason. 12.5 sacks says enough for me. Add that guy to Calais Campbell, Markus Golden, Frostee Rucker, Nkemdiche, and Alex Okafor and that gives the Cardinals a good (and potentially great) pass rush group. Outside of that, bringing in S Tyvon Branch from Kansas City is huge with the injury to Tyrann Mathieu. He should start next to Tony Jefferson and eventually become the number 3 safety. The other move was bringing in G Evan Mathis from Denver to replace Cooper, and he should be a decent fill-in until they find the long term replacement.
PLAYERS LOST: The biggest loss is losing young RT Bobby Massie to the Bears. With him and Jonathan Cooper going in a new direction, along with the questions at center, it gives the offensive line a bit of a depth concern. They also took a decent hit to the secondary, losing CB Jerraud Powers to Baltimore and FS Rashad Johnson to Tennessee. Added to the Mathieu injury, depth will be a bit of (but not a huge) concern for the Cardinals.
STRONGEST POSITION: Under the assumption Larry Fitzgerald's age doesn't catch up to him (get it???), the Cardinals strongest position is wide receiver. Along with Fitzgerald, the Cardinals have two great receivers in John Brown and Michael Floyd, and both have shown flashes of number one potential throughout their young careers. Both had at least 850 yards and 6TD last season, and Fitzgerald gives them three receivers with those stats. You then add in the speedy JJ Nelson who has shown his potential last season, and WR Jaron Brown and you have one of the best receiver groupings in football. Running back is also a big strength, as they have a three headed monster led by David Johnson in the backfield.
WEAKEST POSITION: Until they figure out things on the offensive line, I have to make it the teams biggest weakness. Even though they brought in Evan Mathis, he's still 34 and on the downside of his career. Right tackle is a question mark, and center is a battle between a guy who got benched after 3 games and a fourth round pick. It could, maybe, be better than expected, and it will have to for the Cardinals to be able to protect Carson Palmer. The left side is very good with T Jared Veldheer and G Mike Iupati, but the right side is the most questionable of any position on the Cardinals.
FIVE MOST IMPORTANT PLAYERS TO THE CARDINALS SUCCESS: QB Carson Palmer, CB Patrick Peterson, ILB Deone Bucannon, RB David Johnson, WR Larry Fitzgerald. Carson Palmer was in the conversation for MVP last season, and he did a great job turning around his career in Arizona. The lockdown cover ability of Patrick Peterson is a difference maker, and he'll need to be at full strength without Tyrann Mathieu at full strength. ILB Deone Bucannon is the leader of this defense, and is a key member of what they try to do defensively. He's been so good over the past few seasons that teams are starting to copy the Cardinals and find their own safety/inside linebacker hybrids. Larry Fitzgerald is the emotional leader of this team, and still one of the best receivers in the game, and RB David Johnson needs to keep his success going (especially with Chris Johnson still trying to get healthy) to help keep the pressure off of Carson Palmer.
PREDICTION: I think that this team will win the NFC West and battle for the NFC #1 seed. The NFC is a tossup for getting to the Super Bowl, but I think that this team is better than Seattle in all aspects but the secondary and they should have the edge on the divisional race. 13-3 is my prediction for how they will finish.
