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It’s back to the drawing board for the Arizona Cardinals after a last place finish in the NFC West that got head coach Kliff Kingsbury fired and saw Kyler Murray finish the year on injured reserve. Murray, if you’re keeping track, hasn’t played a full season in the last two and missed most of the final game of the 2020 campaign after getting knocked out in the first half in the season finale contest against the Los Angles Rams. It was a “win and you’re in” the playoffs game for the Cards, so Murray hitting the locker room in his first Pro Bowl season could have very well cost them the game, especially since the Rams were starting John Wolford at quarterback themselves.
Of course, all of it was chronicled on the in-season version of HBO’s Hard Knocks, a show I can’t believe any team ever agrees to be on. Kingsbury wrapped his NFL coaching career (for now, he might get another shot) 28-38-1. He’s now the senior offensive analyst and quarterbacks coach at USC, which will last all of a year before some college hires him to take over their program next season. A move to West Virginia (or a return to the NFL as an offensive coordinator) would not surprise me.
The lone bright spot for the Cardinals, if you could call it that, was a final full season from JJ Watt. Watt got to take his bow on the field, playing in 16 out of 17 games and compiling 12.5 sacks, his highest total since 2018 and the fifth highest of his 12-year career. His next stop, Canton.
ARIZONA CARDINALS
2022-23 Record: 4-13
Playoffs: N/A
2023 NFC Championship Odds: +7500
NOW WHAT?
The Cardinals are in bad shape, but new head coach Jonathan Gannon is here to save the day. Gannon was the defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles, who made it to the Super Bowl last season and nearly won it. He was the final head coach hired, but you can’t hold that against him. He was busy pretty much during that whole process.
Arizona’s primary concern is the health of Kyler Murray. Murray signed a lucrative, yet controversial, contract last season that basically saw the team demand he put in work off the field studying game film instead of setting new Killtacular marks on Call of Duty. Murray responded by having his worst season as a pro, going 3-8 as a starter before going down with a torn ACL against the New England Patriots in Week 14. He’s still rehabbing post surgery and there’s little hope he’ll see the field before Week 5 of this season. That means it’s the Colt McCoy show, maybe, as McCoy is also dealing with an injury of his own. There’s every chance the Cards take the field in Week 1 against the Washington Commanders with rookie Clayton Tune or last year’s Detroit Lions Hard Knocks sob story David Blough at QB.
Also not helping? Cutting their best offensive player outside of Murray in DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins missed six games for a PED suspension and another two with injuries, appearing in just nine last season. He still was Murray’s favorite weapon and target, catching 64 passes for 717 yards and three touchdowns. It’s no secret to anyone who’s watched NFL football over the last four seasons that Murray is a significantly better QB with Hopkins suited up. So, of course, the Cards gave him the boot.
Oh, and Murray’s second favorite wideout, AJ Green, retired.
Their schedule is brutal to open the year, with games against the New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals, Seattle Seahawks, Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns all stacked up. They’d probably be picked to lose most, if not all those, with Murray healthy. With him out that opening week against the Commanders, a very winnable game against a team actively trying to tank for the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2024, Arizona could open the year 0-9 before getting a shot to host the Atlanta Falcons at home.
While I have no issue believing the Commanders are in full tank mode, I have to believe Gannon has some kind of plan for Arizona. Not a winning plan, mind you, but certainly he isn’t actively trying to lose. But he will. A lot. Unfortunately for Cardinals fans, they’re used to it.
THE DRAFT
The Cardinals didn’t draft like a team that’s looking to win this year, but isn’t exactly in tank mode either. They landed a B- in my Draft Grades due in large part to taking one of the amateur player selection meeting’s top offensive line prospects in Paris Johnson, Jr. out of Ohio State in the first round and adding one of its best edge rushers, BJ Ojulari from LSU, in the second. They did not address their glaring need at wide receiver and only picked one, Michael Wilson out of Stanford in the third. While a third-round pick should be a starting caliber player, I don’t expect a lot out of Wilson this season.
FREE AGENCY
Arizona wasn’t super active in free agency, adding Hjalte Froholdt to take over at center from the Cleveland Browns. Zach Pascal joins the team at wideout along with teammate Kyzie White at outside linebacker from the Philadelphia Eagles. Josh Woods at linebacker and Bobby Price at safety come from the Detroit Lions. LJ Collier at defensive end from the Seattle Seahawks, Dennis Daley at offensive tackle form the Tennessee Titans, Cody Ford at guard from the Cincinnati Bengals, Jackson Barton at tackle from the Las Vegas Raiders and Krys Barnes from the Green Bay Packers round out the acquisitions.
NFC WEST
The NFC West took a step back last season, losing its aura of the “best division in football.” I don’t expect that to change, but I do expect at least one of the top teams in the division to be switched out in 2023. But that new playoff team won’t be Arizona. They have too much stacked against them, even before the season begins, and it would probably be in their best interest, as a franchise, to phone it in this upcoming year anyway. I expect another fourth-place finish.
Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.
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