Who would’ve ever thought? The Cardinals, who were 5-10-1 last year, are going to make the Seahawks and 49ers work just a little bit harder to get that coveted playoff spot. They probably had the best offseason out of any team when they traded for, arguably, the top receiver in the game right now and drafted the best defender in the first virtual draft in NFL history. I’m going to discuss these topics and more today, so buckle up because the train’s leaving the station.
First, let’s get into the offense. They still have their elusive dual-threat quarterback in Kyler Murray. He beat out Raiders running back Josh Jacobs and Titans receiver A.J Brown to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year. His stats seemed to show just how good he really was last year. He had a completion percentage of 64.4% and threw for 3,722 yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Additionally, he had almost 7 yards per passing attempt, which is 21st in all of football. To give you some perspective on how that’s important, the leader in this stat last year was Ryan Tannehill with a total of 9.6. This means that he stacks against the best QB’s in football in this category. Over to the running backs now, where the Redbirds had a sneaky good tandem last season. Kenyan Drake and Chase Edmonds had a combined 946 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns last season. They also had really good single-game stats as well. In one game against the Browns, Drake ran for 137 yards and 4 touchdowns and against the Giants, Edmonds ran for 126 yards and 3 touchdowns. Drake has the elusiveness of a top back along with his ability to use his blockers and his jukes to create some running room. Edmonds is a similar player to Drake and he has the ability to shed a few tackles if the opportunity presents itself. Now, let’s get into the heart of this offense. The Cardinals front office pulled off one of the most shocking and lopsided trades in NFL history. They traded for the top receiver DeAndre Hopkins for the lackluster David Johnson, a second round pick from this past draft and a fourth round pick for the 2021 draft. With the addition of Hopkins, their receiving core gets that much better along with the legendary Larry Fitzgerald and the rising star in Christian Kirk. Hopkins has the ability to do a lot of things, and he can do them at the highest level. He can wrestle the cornerback or he can create separation. It’s basically pick your poison. But, the most important thing he can do is win the 50-50 balls almost 100% of time. He always tells his QB’s to throw it up and he’ll find out some type of way to bring it down. Let’s turn things over (no pun intended) to the defense, where it has lots of potential to be great.
We’ll get into the draft pick later but, let’s break down how underrated this Cardinal defense really is. The leaders of this defense, Chandler Jones and Patrick Peterson, are probably the first two people that come to mind when talking about this defense. Jones had a career year last year as he was 2nd in the entire league in sacks with 19. In addition to that, he had 8 force fumbles, which was a career-high. He also had 53 tackles (including 11 tackles for loss) and 26 QB hits. The second the ball gets snapped, Jones is trying to find some sort of way to sack the quarterback. He can be elusive or just throw you to the ground like you’re the weakest person on the field. At the secondary, Patrick Peterson is probably one of the best to ever do it. Although he doesn’t intercept a ton of balls, he does tackle a lot. Case in point, he had just as much tackles as Jones with 53. He also had 3 tackles for loss. Even though he was injured last season, look for him to be a key component of this defense in the coming years. Also, the Cardinals take up 2 of the top 5 spots in solo tackles. Jordan Hicks is at the #5 spot and Budda Baker is at the #1 spot. Hicks and Baker also are number 3 and 4 in combined tackles. But now, the topic that you all have been waiting for, the Cardinals drafting the best defender with the 8th pick in this past draft, Isaiah Simmons. This was one of the most shocking picks in that draft, as he was projected to go a pick earlier to the Panthers. He’s a talented defender because he watches the play unfold and knows when to attack the ball carrier and make some hard hits. He also has something that a lot of front 7 guys don’t normally have and that’s speed. In the combine, he ran a 4.39 at the 40 yard dash. In his last year with Clemson, he had 107 tackles, 16 tackles for loss and 8 sacks. He will be a star for the Cardinals for years to come.
Overall, the Arizona Cardinals have the assets on offense and defense to get the job done every week. On the offensive side of the ball, they have a rising star at QB and a future Hall of Famer and a veteran in DeAndre Hopkins. On the defense, the trio of Chandler Jones, Patrick Peterson and Isaiah Simmons are going to be scary for opposing teams to go up against. Look for the them to fly above the top of the NFC West for this season (if there will be one) and for years to come.
Sources: cardinals.com, pro-footballreference.com, youtube.com, ESPN.com