Many teams like the Arizona Cardinals have already wrapped up their virtual offseason and are on break until training camp. With the offseason wrapping up, Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar put together a new set of power rankings for the summer.
The Cardinals are a respectable No. 15.
If 2018 was the year of Patrick Mahomes, and 2019 was the year of Lamar Jackson, it could be posited that 2020 will be the year of Kyler Murray. In his rookie season, Murray proved a perfect foil for first-year head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s offensive schemes, especially when Kingsbury started thinking outside his own box. Adding DeAndre Hopkins, as the Cardinals did as the latest team to fleece Bill O’Brien and the Texans, will certainly help, as will the selection of Houston offensive tackle Josh Jones in the third round of the draft — Murray caused a lot of his own league-leading 48 sacks, but an iffy offensive line didn’t help. On defense, first-round linebacker Isaiah Simmons comes in as the most versatile player in his draft class, able to play everywhere from the line of scrimmage to the slot to linebacker to safety. Arizona might not be quite ready to take the NFC West just yet, but this team will be must-see TV all season.
With 14 playoff teams this season, this would put them just on the outside of the postseason. They are also the eighth-ranked team in the NFC, which would mean they would just miss the postseason based on these projections.
It is fair. Murray will progress. They look better much better on paper but play in a tough division and conference. At minimum, they should be in the mix. If things go well, they will be fun the watch and could make a huge jump.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.
Ep. 268
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Ep. 267
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