Another publication says Arizona Cardinals had best offseason in NFC West
May 26, 2016, 4:34 PM | Updated: May 27, 2016, 9:23 am
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians, left, and general manager Steve Keim discuss the upcoming NFL football draft, Tuesday, April 19, 2016, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)
(AP Photo/Matt York)
The school year is ending and there are grades being handed out to students all over the state.
In academics, pupils get one set of grades from teachers to mark their progress (or lack thereof). It doesn’t work the same way in football. What teams, players and front offices do on and off the field is picked apart by well, everyone, it seems.
With most NFL teams in the midst of OTAs and mini-camps leading up to the beginning of training camp in July, grades are pouring in from all over the internet on how each franchise did in free agency and the draft.
Pro Football Focus is the latest to make their grades public, and they gave the Arizona Cardinals a ‘B.’
The Cardinals already had a deep NFC-West-winning roster, with their most important pieces returning (Carson Palmer, Larry Fitzgerald, David Johnson, Calais Campbell, Patrick Peterson, and Tyrann Mathieu), but they used their offseason to improve in key areas. The additions of Jones and Nkemdiche, as well as the growth of Golden going into his second year, should make the Cardinals’ pass rush much more effective than their 29th-ranked unit last season.
Arizona’s front office, headed up by general manager Steve Keim, also addressed need on the offensive line, bringing in veteran free agent and two-time Pro Bowler Evan Mathis.
All the skill players from an offense that led the NFL in total yardage are back.
For comparison’s sake, the other teams in the division didn’t fare as well in PFF’s eyes. The Los Angles Rams earned a ‘B-‘, the San Francisco 49ers got a ‘C’ and the Seattle Seahawks got a passing mark of a ‘C-‘.
