Welcome to the Arizona Cardinals post draft off-season! With the draft now over, there are still many questions that need to be answered. How will the Cardinals perform this season? Was this draft good enough to get the Cardinals to the playoffs? What is the overall outlook for the future of the Arizona Cardinals? Relax everyone. I will guide you with my vision to answer these questions to the best of my ability without using a lot of hopium.
Was this draft good enough to get the Cardinals to the playoffs?
Historically, the draft is where you build your team. Under the previous regime, the Cardinals were never consistently successful in the draft. Well, things have changed. Enter new GM, Monti Ossenfort. I was optimistic about his drafting ability based on his resume and he exceeded my expectations. My only red flag on his draft was that he didn’t draft a center and, in an interview, he stated he preferred players to be versatile to be able to move around on the O-line if needed. I disagree with him on that statement.
As Bruce Lee once said, “I fear not the man who practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who practiced one kick 10,000 times.” I want a player who has mastered his one position instead of a player that is ok at multiple positions. It’s that simple. Could the Cardinals gain a center in the off-season still? Of course, but for now, the center position is still in question.
So far, the Monti hire has been a success. Monti definitely knocked this draft out of the ballpark, but in my opinion, it is not enough to fix the Cardinals and that is not Monti’s fault. There are just too many problems to fix in just one off-season. It will take at least 2 successful drafts to get the Cardinals in a position to be considered legitimate competition for the top teams in the NFL.
The good news, with how Monti set the team up for the draft next year, it is a high possibility that with the moves he makes in next year’s draft, he could set the Cardinals draft up for the next 3-5 years.
How will the Cardinals perform this 2023 season?
Vegas has the Arizona Cardinals 2023 season win total over/under set at 5.5 wins. I know that is low. The good news is that at least Vegas thinks the Cardinals are better than last year. As for me, I believe they can win 6-7 games, best case scenario 9 wins. Here is the reality:
• New coaching staff – will need experience
• New system to learn – changing from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3 defense, and possibly a wide zone offense which means running the ball more
• Kyler most certainly not starting this season, possibly until November
• Developing rookies
• Too many unknowns (Center, CB, pass rush, stopping the run)
These are all possible variables Vegas has calculated to come up with their over/under win total. Could they be wrong? Sure. Is this team better than last year? Vegas thinks so and so do I.
What is the overall outlook for the future of the Arizona Cardinals?
This year is a development season for both players and coaches. It will take more than this off-season to figure it out and with that comes the pain of losing. The good news is that they will learn their weaknesses and adapt as the season moves along. If Monti can continue drafting like this, that alone is more reason to be optimistic for the Arizona Cardinals future. As for what to look for starting this season, here is what you should keep an eye on when watching the Arizona Cardinals games:
• The rookies’ development and snap counts
• The coaches’ ability to adapt and make adjustments
• Overall health of the team
• The performance of the O-line, D-line, Pass rush, and Secondary
My guess is that by the end of the 2024 season, if they played well, Monti will make some high impact FA signings for the 2025 season. To me, this will be a key indicator that the Cardinals are going for it. This is a new age of Arizona Cardinals football. They will look much different and trust me that is a good thing. We have to understand this is a rebuild. Cardinals changed/upgraded the following:
• GM
• HC
• Coaching staff
• Strength and conditioning staff
• Uniforms
Will all these changes/upgrades, all that is left is the roster which has already had some changes (I can’t call them upgrades, at least not yet) mainly from the draft. Now the Cardinals have to put it all together.
How long will this take? It will take at least one season to get the team to a natural flow of things. Never forget, it’s always darkest before the dawn.
