The Arizona Cardinals have an optimistic outlook for the 2020 season and beyond because they believe have a good mix of solid veterans and talented young players. In fact, according to Football Outsiders, the Cardinals have one of the very best groups of players who aren’t yet 25 years old.
The Cardinals come in ranked third overall with three blue-chip players — quarterback Kyler Murray, safety Budda Baker and rookie linebacker Isaiah Simmons.
No team has made as dramatic a rise up the under-25 rankings as the Cardinals in recent seasons. The team had already finished in the bottom five of the rankings in 2017 and 2018 when they traded away three draft picks to move up and subsequently select quarterback bust Josh Rosen. GM Steve Keim and head coach Kliff Kingsbury deserve a ton of credit for understanding the concept of sunk costs and not letting a selection of a failed franchise quarterback set them back for multiple seasons. Instead, the Cardinals used the No. 1 pick that Rosen’s poor play helped earn them on another franchise passer, Murray. His neutral rookie efficiency of a -3.1% DVOA and 55.7 QBR in 2019 puts him on a star trajectory, and his four remaining years of inexpensive team control put him on the short list of most valuable assets in football…
Murray is the centerpiece. He is the player that will be the difference maker.
General manager Steve Keim has been criticized for misses in the draft. It is true. However, he has also managed to bring in some good young players.
This team is poised to continue its turnaround. With top young players like Murray, Baker and Simmons, they are in position to do that.
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