The Arizona Cardinals enter 2024 hoping to build on their four-win 2023. While they won only four games, they played incredibly competitively and spent half the season with Josh Dobbs and Clayton Tune starting at quarterback before Kyler Murray’s return from his ACL injury.
According to PFF, Murray’s health and his play late last season after his return are reason for Cardinals fans to be optimistic about the 2024 season.
Kyler Murray showed that he could still be an elite playmaker toward the end of last season. The Cardinals ranked 10th in the NFL in offensive grade during the weeks that Murray played. They have now added dynamic rookies Marvin Harrison Jr. and Trey Benson to an offense that already includes James Conner, Michael Wilson and Trey McBride.
Assuming Murray is healthy and Harrison can live up to his WR1 potential, Arizona’s offense will be a credible threat to any opponent. The defense may limit their ceiling, but the Cardinals could find themselves in plenty of shootouts this season.
Conner and McBride had career seasons. Murray has a full offseason in the offense. They have a better receiver room with Harrison and the addition of Zay Jones. Greg Dortch will be given opportunities.
This could be a surprisingly good offense.
In 2023, the defense was just awful. While there are plenty of questions still on that side of the ball entering this season, the additions on all three levels should, at minimum, take the unit from being probably the worst in the league to simply below average. If the offense is solid and the defense can approach average, the Cardinals will be better than expected.
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