Let’s have a look at some of the players to wear No. 94 over the years for the Cardinals.
The Arizona Cardinals will wrap up the final practice of voluntary OTAs today. From today, there are 94 days until they open the 2022 regular season at home against the Kansas City Chiefs.
No. 94 hasn’t changed for a bit, as defensive lineman Zach Allen has it for the third year in a row.
But let’s look back over the years at some of the players who have worn No. 94.
We take a look at which players on the Arizona Cardinals have the best chance of breaking out in 2022.
The Arizona Cardinals hope to get improvement from everyone who was on the roster last season. If everyone improves, then the team will naturally get better.
That isn’t likely to happen, but some players are poised to break out in 2022 to improve to good or even great.
Which players are in the best position to do that?
QB Kyler Murray tops the list, of course, but Byron Murphy, Zach Allen and Jalen Thompson all need to be great for the Cardinals to improve.
The Arizona Cardinals enter the 2022 season with expectations of doing more than fading late in the season and losing in the first round of the playoffs. To do that, as they have returned much of their roster from their 11-win 2021 season, they will need players to step up and improve.
In particular, a few fourth-year players are being counted on to take a big step forward and be great.
Cardinals DE Zach Allen recently spoke with Arizona Sports 98.7 about his expectations for this season and more.
Arizona Cardinals DE Zach Allen undoubtedly had his best season as a pro in 2021 after an injury-riddled first two seasons. He had a number of highlight-worthy plays, from a two-sack performance against the San Francisco 49ers to snagging a one-handed interception against the Chicago Bears.
Allen’s role is likely to increase this year, as he showed flashes of being a dependable player in the league. The loss of Chandler Jones, coupled with Allen’s ability to play edge in certain defensive packages, is also something to keep an eye on.
The 2019 third round pick was highly regarded by the Cards in that draft class, as the team had a first round graded on the Boston College standout.
Allen appeared on Arizona Sports 98.7 on Tuesday to discuss how he believes his game will continue to improve.
“I thought last year was a nice step for myself personally,” he said. “I think the production rose and was able to play more, get more comfortable in the NFL. I definitely have that confidence now and I’m really excited for this year.”
Allen detailed how confidence plays a huge role in the NFL and how he feels like that will be the foundation for an improved season this year.
The Cardinals are going to need increased production from Allen, particularly following the loss of Chandler Jones to the Raiders. He was asked about that, exhibiting confidence in the team’s current group of pass rushers.
“We can do everything. We have the guys that can do everything and that can play at multiple positions. I think that’s something that we all pride ourselves on.”
Allen also mentioned how the Cardinals’ pass rush had a good season in 2020 following the injury to Jones. They were able to still have a productive season despite Jones being lost so early in the season.
It’s a pivotal year for Allen, who is entering a contract year and will look to improve upon last season.
With Chandler Jones leaving in free agency, it appears the Cardinals expect increased production from Dennis Gardeck, Zach Allen and Michael Dogbe.
The Arizona Cardinals will have to adjust on defense in 2022 with the departure of franchise all-time sack leader Chandler Jones. They have not yet replaced him in the lineup.
In the most recent episode of Cardinals Flight Plan, general manager Steve Keim spoke of Jones’ departure. He spoke of how teams love to have Pro Bowl players, “but at the same time, there are guys that are really good fits that do things day in and day out here that sort of lead us to success.”
He suggests that there will be players to step in and give the Cardinals what they need to replace Jones.
The video cut to three players while Keim was saying that, suggesting that are players they have at least some hopes will be key contributors in 2022.
Byron Murphy, Zach Allen and Jalen Thompson all get raises of more than $1 million over their originally scheduled 2022 salaries.
The Arizona Cardinals will have to pay three of their young defenders a little more than their contracts originally called for in 2022. Thanks to proven performance escalators, defensive lineman Zach Allen, cornerback Byron Murphy and safety Jalen Thompson all will get a nice raise in their fourth season in the NFL.
Murphy, a second-round pick in the 2019 draft, was scheduled to receive a salary of more than $1.58 million. Allen, a third-rounder in 2019, was due to make more than $1.1 million in salary, while Thompson, a supplemental fifth-round selection in 2019, was going to make the league minimum of $965,000.
Thanks to what is called a proven performance escalator, players drafted in the second round or later can get a fourth-year salary bump in three scenarios, based on playing time or making a Pro Bowl.
It prevents these draft picks from being penalized for being drafted.
An undrafted player becomes a restricted free agent after three years and, if tendered, makes more than $2.5 million in his fourth season. Someone drafted in the second round or later would be locked into a salary in Year 4, ranging from the league minimum to the more than $1.5 million that Murphy was scheduled to make.
There are three tiers of proven performance escalators.
For Tier 1, a second-round pick must play in 60% of the team’s offensive or defensive snaps in two of three seasons. After the second round, the average is 35% to reach that tier.
Allen and Thompson each reached Tier 1, according to Over the Cap. Allen played in only 12.9% of the Cardinals’ defensive snaps in 2019 but hit 45.4% and 63.0% in each of the last two seasons.
Thompson played in 53.2% of the defensive snaps as a rookie in 2019, but injuries in 2020 limited him to 20.9%. In 2021, he played 90.7% of the defensive snaps.
As a result, both will be paid the same as a low-level restricted free agent tender, which will be $2.54 million in 2022. Both more than double their expected salary.
Murphy hit Tier 2, which is playing at least 55% of the team’s offensive or defensive snaps in all three seasons. He played in 97.6%, 71.6% and 88.9% of the Cardinals’ defensive snaps in his first three seasons.
Tier 2 players get $250,000 more than Tier 1 players, so he will make $2.79 million in 2022, an increase of more than $1.2 million over his originally scheduled salary.
Allen says he played the final three games of the season on “a torn-up ankle.”
The Arizona Cardinals dealt with a number of injuries to key players. Some missed time and others played through injuries they could. Defensive lineman Zach Allen, who emerged as a productive, disruptive force on the defensive line, played through an injury.
He had an ankle injury that limited him in practice over the Cardinals’ final three weeks of the season, including the playoffs. It was bad enough that he had offseason surgery on his ankle, he shared on his Twitter account.
Surgery was a success! All season, I was playing on a torn up ankle, but now that’s behind me. Can’t wait to get back for 2022 at 100%. God is Great! #RedSea
He said that his surgery was a success and that he was playing on “a torn-up ankle.”
Allen played the most defensive snaps among the defensive linemen this season and, even with the ankle injury, played in over 65% of the team’s defensive snaps in each game, including 95% of them in their Week 18 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
Allen set career-highs in everything.
He played in 15 games. He had 48 tackles, five for loss, four sacks, 14 quarterback hits, three fumble recoveries, one he returned for a touchdown, one interception and four pass breakups.
If he puts a whole season together the way he played over the second half of last season when he had to fill in for J.J. Watt and have Watt play a full season, the Cardinals could have one of the most disruptive defensive lines in the league next year.
Watch Cardinals star outside linebacker Chandler Jones get to Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson for a forced fumble, which led to an Arizona touchdown on Seattle’s first possession of the game.
Arizona scoop & score on the first play of the game 🔥
Priority No. 1 this offseason should be upgrading the Seahawks’ offensive line to improve their pass protection. Somewhere along the way they’ll also need to address Wilson’s penchant for hanging onto the ball too long.
The Cardinals will get two key defenders back to face the Packers on Thursday night.
The Arizona Cardinals will have back two of their defensive players when they take on the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night. After missing two games on the COVID list, outside linebacker Chandler Jones and defensive end Zach Allen were activated from the list and returned the active roster.
Jones tested positive two weeks ago was able to return to the team late last week, but the team opted to give him a few days to build up his conditioning. Jay Glazer reported Jones lost 15 pounds, something that Jones refuted.
Allen tested positive later in the week before the game against the Cleveland Browns but also missed two games.
Head coach Kliff Kingsbury was understandably happy to get them back.
“With that group, they’ve both been having tremendous seasons, and hopefully they can pick up where they left off,” he told reporters.
Jones might get to line up against a backup tackle, as left tackle David Bakhtiari has not yet been activated from injured reserve yet and is unlikely to have it happen this week with the short week.
A look at the performance in 2020 and how things might go this offseason.
The Arizona Cardinals are in the offseason and are evaluating what to do to improve and address the roster in 2021.
As we have done previously with the quarterback, running back, wide receiver and offensive line positions, we will look at each position group, how it did in 2020, who is on the roster moving forward and what the Cardinals need at the position moving forward.
