Cardinals need a lot to go right to rise in ESPN’s future power rankings

The unknowns for the Arizona Cardinals give experts pause.

Before a minute of preseason action under first-year head coach Steve Wilks and with a newcomer at quarterback — whether it’s veteran Sam Bradford or rookie Josh Rosen — there’s nothing more to evaluate than what’s on paper.

What’s on paper elicits even more questions.

That’s why Arizona ranked 26th in the NFL in ESPN’s annual future power rankings, which uses a panel of three experts to determine which teams are best positioned for the next three seasons.

To rank and score every team, the panelists take into account the Cardinals’ roster (30 percent), coaching staff (20 percent), quarterback situation (20 percent), draft (15 percent) and front office (15 percent). The final score represents the average results from ESPN’s Louis Riddick, Mike Sando and Field Yates.

Because the roster accounts for the biggest chunk of the pie, the talent holes on the Cardinals stick out the most, according to Yates.

 The areas to watch on the roster include defensive line, wide receiver opposite Larry Fitzgerald and offensive line. There’s a lot of new in Arizona, as the Cardinals are the only team with a new coach who is expected to roll out a new starting quarterback this season.

Of course, Wilks’ lack of experience leading an NFL team dings Arizona again.

So do the red flags surrounding the long-term health of Bradford, leaving the team’s dependence on Rosen’s development as a key for success in the near future, wrote Riddick, a former NFL safety who later worked in the front office for Washington and Philadelphia.

It’s a two-part issue with the Cardinals that could derail everything going forward. First, their ability to draft and develop starters, including overall depth of the quality that will contend for division and conference titles. Second, and more specifically, did they select their QB of the future in Rosen, both in terms of the right profile for their program, and do they have the right coaches in place to develop him? I am very skeptical about part one, but I do believe in Rosen as a prospect. We will see.

What’s to bump the Cardinals up in next year’s future power rankings?

Quite simply, wrote Sando, much depends on how Wilks maps out a winning culture and winning gameplans around Rosen.

That, and the internal development of the Cardinals’ recent draft picks, will go a long way in building depth and filling in roster holes.

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