NFL teams like the Arizona Cardinals are less than four weeks away from starting training camp and it is still the season of rankings and lists.
We haven’t seen any power rankings recently, so Pro Football Talk obliged and gave us their pre-training camp rankings. While no one believes the Arizona Cardinals should be highly ranked, after how they ended the season and with what they accomplished in the offseason, one would figure they would be ranked somewhere in the 20s.
This is not the case here.
The Cardinals are No. 30 out of 32 teams.
Let’s see what they can do with a healthy Kyler Murray.
The statement makes sense. 2024 is about what the Cardinals can do with a healthy Murray.
But the ranking? Absurd.
After Murray’s return, they went 3-5 and had an offense in the top 10 in efficiency. They were No. 1 in yards in the final four games.
They added Marvin Harrison Jr. and Zay Jones. Their atrocious defense was improved with a veteran cornerback and solid defensive linemen. The unit should be at least not terrible.
With a good offense that has a promising rookie receiver, a tight end coming off a breakout year (Trey McBride) and a running back coming off a 1,000-yard season (James Conner) combined with a defense that will be something better than awful, they have the potential to be a playoff team.
Being ranked 30th put them in the same sort of zone they were entering last season.
Really, should the Broncos be 22nd? Washington is in a better spot?
They should be somewhat higher. No. 30 is just an insult, but that seems to be Mike Florio’s thing with the Cardinals.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
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