Tag: Cardinals training camp

Cardinals’ defensive scheme least unique in NFL

In a charting of defensive uniqueness, the Cardinals are dead-center at (0,0), the least unique spot one can be found.

Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is entering his fourth season with the Arizona Cardinals. Throughout his tenure in the desert, his defensive unit has grown significantly each year.

Pro Football Focus charted all NFL defenses in terms of uniqueness.

Principal components for a defensive scheme are made up of box counts used, number of even and odd fronts used, coverages used, blitz and stunt rates (on neutral downs), and many other things.

Joseph’s defense was the least unique of all, finding itself dead-center at (0,0) on the chart. It is not unique in any aspect — fronts, blitzes, coverage.  They also did an offensive study, citing head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s offense as the second most unique scheme in the NFL.

Having a unique scheme doesn’t necessarily produce results. Some teams in the past, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, win with personnel and physicality. Those will always remain important, but having a unique scheme can benefit, particularly early in the season before teams can adjust.

In a coverage analysis, PFF classified Joseph’s defense as a heavy man-coverage scheme, mostly utilizing Cover 1 and Cover 2 concepts. Joseph has often used exotic blitz packages, leaving his corners in press man coverage. The Cardinals defense under Joseph has been at its best using this concept, as opposed to the zone-heavy three man rush package that struggled to produce last season.

Playing man-heavy defense has been successful for the Cardinals partly due to the successes of their safety duo, Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson. With both playing at a Pro-Bowl level, Joseph can be more aggressive and feel comfortable that no one will get behind the defense.

For the Cardinals defense to take another leap in 2022, they will need a jump in production from promising cornerbacks Byron Murphy and Marco Wilson. They’ll both be extraordinarily important in ensuring Joseph can run the man-heavy scheme he likes to.

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Cardinals’ secondary ranked woefully low by PFF

Despite having one of the best safety duos in the league, PFF believes the Cardinals have one of the worst secondaries in the league.

The Arizona Cardinals’ secondary struggled late last season following the injuries to defensive lineman J.J. Watt and then cornerback Robert Alford. Alford was the team’s best man-to-man corner on the perimeter and Watt was holding the team’s pass rush together, making it easier on the secondary.

Despite their success early on in the season, Pro Football Focus is not particularly fond of the team’s secondary entering this season. As a matter of fact, they are ranked towards the bottom of the league.

PFF ranked the Cardinals secondary No. 27 out of 32 teams in the NFL in the tier of “serious flaws.” This comes despite the Pro Bowl selection to Budda Baker and the breakout season for Jalen Thompson.

The Cardinals finished 24th in team coverage grade last year, and for some reason, this unit went all but ignored over the course of the offseason. It wasn’t until they drafted cornerback Christian Matthew in the seventh round out of Valdosta State that they addressed this unit.

The ranking seems very low given the potential shown by Byron Murphy coupled with the very good safety duo in Baker and Thompson.

Many Cardinals fans were hoping the team would address the cornerback room in free agency. They did with the signing of Jeff Gladney, who later died tragically in an auto accident in Texas. The team has yet to bring back the aforementioned Robert Alford, which would bring a needed veteran presence to the locker room.

They also recently added former Packers cornerback Josh Jackson.

The Cardinals’ front office appears set on moving forward with the same starting unit from last season. They’re banking on a step forward from Murphy, who is entering a contract year and Marco Wilson, who started last year as a fourth-round rookie.

In a receiver-loaded division, the Cardinals will need their young secondary to prove this ranking wrong.

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POLL: What should the Cardinals do at the center position?

The Cardinals are set to lose Rodney Hudson to retirement. Who should the team look to in his absence?

The Arizona Cardinals are faced with the possible retirement of three-time Pro Bowl center Rodney Hudson. It’s a huge blow for a team that will already be down their best offensive player for the first six games of the regular season, as receiver DeAndre Hopkins was suspended six games for testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance.

What do you believe the Cardinals should do in Hudson’s absence? Which of the following do you believe is the best option to step in?

They could roll with their current backup center, Sean Harlow. Justin Pugh, their starting left guard, is getting work at center to potentially change positions. Rookie Lecitus Smith is a possibility. They could also look to free agency.

What should they do? Vote in the poll and give your thoughts in the comments section below the article.

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Players the Cardinals are counting on the most in 2022

Here are some of the players the Cardinals are counting on a bit extra in 2022.

The Arizona Cardinals are hoping to return to the postseason after breaking their six-year drought last season. Leading the way were Pro Bowlers Kyler Murray. Budda Baker and James Conner.

Entering this season, the Cardinals front office definitely has a handful of players they are counting on to perform at a high level. Of course, the team is hoping every player performs well, but with that in mind, who might they be counting on a bit more than the rest?

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Isaiah Simmons a top Year 3 breakout candidate for 2022

Cardinals third-year linebacker Isaiah Simmons is set for an increased role in 2022 and PFF expects him to step up.

The Arizona Cardinals used their No. 8 overall draft pick from the 2020 season on Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons, who was touted as a Pro Bowl talent at multiple positions.

Two years later, Simmons is poised for an increased role as one of the team’s standout defenders. While he didn’t play a ton in his rookie year, he was a starter for most of last season and again flashed his potential.

Pro Football Focus believes he will take another big leap in 2022, listing him as one of their top breakout candidates for this season. Here’s what they had to say:

Much was made of Simmons’ inability to see the field as a rookie, although to me that was overblown. Linebacker is the single most cerebrally demanding position on a defense. To add an entire new playbook on top of an entirely new position is a gargantuan ask for a rookie. So when Simmons didn’t look like Luke Kuechly early on in his career at a position he never played in college, many people freaked out. Now is the time to put up or shut up, though. He’s had a full season of playing time to digest what opposing offenses can throw his way. Now the flashes that we see of his position-changing athleticism can become the norm. After allowing fewer than 1.0 yard per coverage snap last season, Simmons should be able to play even faster in 2022.

Following the departure of Jordan Hicks to the Vikings in free agency, he and fellow young linebacker Zaven Collins are set to take over in the middle of the defense.

Simmons’ defensive flexibility has been useful to defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, as he’s spent time at inside linebacker, edge rusher and safety last season.

The former Tiger has shown his ability to be a Pro Bowl defender at inside linebacker. Fans should remember his game-winning interception on Russell Wilson in 2020 and his forced fumble on Dak Prescott last season.

For the Cardinals’ defense to take another step forward, so must Isaiah Simmons.

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Kliff Kingsbury ranked as fourth-best NFL head coach by PFF in one metric

PFF ranked Kliff Kingsbury as the fourth-best head coach in the NFL, just behind three coaches certain to be Hall of Famers.

During his time as Arizona Cardinals head coach, Kliff Kingsbury has been subject of both praise and criticism. The team has improved every year since his arrival but the last two promising seasons collapsed late in the year.

Pro Football Focus, one of the top football analyst outlets, created a tier list ranking all head coaches in the NFL. The first tier was for Hall of Fame coaches, where only three were listed. Bill Belichick, John Harbaugh and Andy Reid make up that list.

No. 4 on the list, however, is none other than Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury. He’s ranked ahead of Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur, San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan and even division rival Sean McVay.

The list is based on their projections for every head coach with a neutral roster. So, hypothetically, if every NFL team was the exact same, Pro Football Focus believes Kingsbury is the fourth-best head coach in the league.

Here’s what PFF had to say about Kingsbury:

Outside of quarterback Kyler Murray and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, Kingsbury has not had much to work with in terms of offensive talent in the desert, yet he’s still managed to make the offense hum. Unfortunately, Kingsbury has left much to be desired on the defensive side of the ball thus far.

The first part of that statement is true when looking at the majority of Kingsbury’s tenure in Arizona. He had a complete offensive arsenal for the first half of 2021 until DeAndre Hopkins went down for the season. The rest of his time, however, the team hasn’t had enough playmakers.

The latter half of that statement is interesting because the Cardinals leave essentially all of the defensive work to Vance Joseph, allowing Kingsbury to focus on the offense.

Do you believe Kingsbury is deserving of this grade? Or do you think he may after another season or two?

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