ARIZONA CARDINALS

Arizona Sports Panel: What is the Cardinals’ greatest strength?

Jun 26, 2016, 11:00 AM | Updated: Jun 27, 2016, 11:33 am

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July 28.

On that day, the Arizona Cardinals will report to training camp at University of Phoenix Stadium.

July 29.

On that day, the team will take part in its first training camp practice.

At that point, the 2016 season will officially begin, as the Cardinals put on the pads and put in the work in an effort to reach Super Bowl LI in Houston.

Until then, however, Cardinals fans will have to fill the void left in their life with…actually, we have no idea what they’ll do.

In an effort to help, we here at ArizonaSports.com decided to put together a weekly series that will see one Cardinals-related question be answered by our esteemed panel of personalities.

Last week, we asked if Carson Palmer was bound for regression in 2016.

This week’s question:

Entering training camp, what do you believe is the Cardinals’ biggest strength?

Doug Franz, co-host of Doug & Wolf

Leadership.

Owner to GM. GM to Coach. Coach to quarterback. Quarterback to offense. The Cardinals have leaders at every level but they also have leaders that are willing to be led.

Dave Burns, co-host of Burns & Gambo

The easy answer is the depth at wide receiver but I’ll go a different direction. I think their biggest strength will be the versatility they’ll feature on both sides of the ball. Offensively they have so many different weapons they can deploy in so many ways. Wideouts that can lineup in a variety of spots. Running backs that can catch out of the backfield or run guys over. To me, David Johnson represents this potential better than anybody. Defensively, the addition of Robert Nkemdiche and Chandler Jones plus the return of Honey Badger and another year of Deone Bucannon in his permanent role allows James Bettcher to do many different things.

Vince Marotta, co-host of Bickley & Marotta

I think the Cardinals’ biggest strength is their defensive line rotation. It’s simply the deepest position on the team. Calais Campbell is a two-time Pro Bowler whose production should increase in 2016 based on the presence of other disruptive forces (Markus Golden, Chandler Jones) around him. Corey Peters returns from an Achilles injury that kept him out all of last year. Rodney Gunter is a year wiser after being a pleasant surprise as a rookie. Frostee Rucker has been a solid veteran leader since joining the Cardinals, while Josh Mauro and Ed Stinson just make plays when they’re called upon. And I haven’t mentioned Robert Nkemdiche, who has the talent to be the best player in the whole group. General managers and coaches around the league dream about having this kind of depth on the defensive front, and it’s a reality in Arizona.

John Gambadoro, co-host of Burns & Gambo

The Cardinals’ biggest strength is not what one would think. It’s not any single position or group of players. The Cardinals’ biggest strength is their front office. From ownership, Michael Bidwill, to the general manager, Steve Keim, to the head coach, Bruce Arians, the Cardinals have the right recipe for success. One that in all honesty can’t fail. The Cardinals’ front office is their main strength. From free agent signings like Evan Mathis to the drafting of Brandon Williams, the Cardinals’ front office continues to give the team the best chance for winning. You can’t win in this league without talent and it takes a front office that knows what they are doing to bring in the talent. Clearly Arizona has one of the most talented rosters in the NFL. And if you have that talent you need to develop it, mold it and have a gameplan that if properly executed leads to wins — a lot of wins. And the Cardinals have that with Coach Arians. So yes wide receiver is a strength, secondary is a strength, offensive line is now a strength as is defensive line and the running backs. But I’ll say front office is the Cardinals ultimate strength.

Criag Grialou, Arizona Sports reporter

If we are to believe there is strength in numbers, then the Cardinals’ biggest strength resides along their front seven, where the Cardinals would like to use a hockey-style substitution pattern to 1) give opposing offenses different looks and 2) keep players fresh throughout the game.

On the defensive line alone, Red Bryant, Calais Campbell, Rodney Gunter, Josh Mauro, Frostee Rucker, Ed Stinson and Xavier Williams all return, plus Corey Peters is healthy, and then there’s the addition of Robert Nkemdiche.  Throw in newcomer Chandler Jones, who has spent much of his career with his hand in the dirt, as well as Markus Golden, Kareem Martin and Alex Okafor, and the Cardinals have a baker’s dozen with which to choose from to rush the quarterback and plug up the middle.

And that’s not counting Tristan Okpalaugo or Shaq Riddick, both of whom the Cardinals are high on, yet are unproven.

Of course not all of those players will make the team, but the numbers at the position give the Cardinals choices plus assets should they need to fill a hole elsewhere.

Adam Green, Arizona Sports reporter, co-host of Arizona Sports Saturday

When was the last time the Cardinals had a running back room as deep as this one? Never, that’s when. The team’s last 1,000-yard rusher was Beanie Wells in 2011, and before that you’ll have to go back to 2007 when Edgerrin James reached that mark. And even while they each hit the milestone, no one would accuse them of having had great seasons. Fast forward to today, and the Cardinals have three running backs who all, if given a starting running back’s share of carries, could reach 1,000 yards. Led by David Johnson, who is one of the most complete backs in the league, and then fortified by veteran Chris Johnson and the dynamic Andre Ellington, the Cardinals’ running back depth chart is as loaded as you will find in the NFL. We all know a strong running game takes a lot of pressure off of the passing game while also helping to secure victories, and while injuries will undoubtedly play a role in how the carries are divided and what the final stats are, the Cardinals should have one of the strongest running games in the league.

Paige Dimakos, Arizona Sports social media

The Arizona Cardinals’ biggest strength is their wide receiving group. With future HOFer Larry Fitzgerald coming off an incredible season and Michael Floyd entering camp healthy, it’s hard to beat them from top to bottom. Brown, Nelson, Fitz, Floyd this group of receivers is all capable of making game-changing plays. Also, we all know Arians likes to throw the ball and they have plenty of playmakers.

Jordan Byrd, producer for Doug & Wolf, co-host of Arizona Sports Saturday

It may be a cop out, but the Cardinals’ biggest strength heading into training camp is the amount of depth they have across the board. On the offensive end, almost every single positional group is now considered to be near the top in the NFL. The wide receiver, running back and tight end talent on the roster would be hard for any other team in the league to match what the Cardinals have from top to bottom. Defensively, the Cardinals have turned one of their biggest weaknesses (pass rush) into a situation that on paper has been drastically improved. Although there is still some concern about the depth at cornerback, the Cardinals have arguably the best group of safeties in the NFL that only got deeper in free agency. Every team experiences injuries and the Cardinals will be no different. But with the depth that they have at each position, the Cardinals are prepared to handle those losses while still being in position to compete for the Super Bowl

Steve Zinsmeister, producer for Doug & Wolf

How can you not pick the defensive line as the Cardinals’ biggest strength? Calais Campbell brings leadership and size. Chandler Jones brings pressure off the edge. Rodney Gunter has a strong punch that causes chaos up the middle. On top of all of that, the Cardinals picked Robert Nkemdiche in the first round. Everything he does in 2016 is icing on the cake for a defensive line that was already pretty darn good in 2015. Someone with a lot of talent will have to be cut from this group. That’s how you know it’s special.

Andrew Greenberg, producer for Off the Edge with B-Train

Wide receiver. If you lose a guy and it’s still one of the team’s biggest strengths then you know you have something great there. Larry Fitzgerald is the unquestioned leader and every successful receiving core needs some strong veteran leadership. Floyd is in a contract year and will want to prove to the Cardinals that he’s worth hanging onto. John Brown is an up and coming star, speedy and despite his size is surprisingly great at pulling down 50/50 balls. J.J. Nelson is primed to be the next big deep threat in the Arians “no risk-it, no biscuit” offense, it’s just a matter of Palmer throwing him the ball and giving him the opportunity to make a play. One to four, this is one of the best wide receiver rooms in the NFL.

Erin Maloney, associate producer for Burns & Gambo

It would be easy to focus on position groups in answering this question. The wide receiving corps is as deep as it has ever been. The addition of Robert Nkemdiche makes the defensive line one of the deepest and most formidable in the league. The running back position was bolstered with the resigning of Chris Johnson, the emergence of David Johnson and a healthy Andre Ellington. The Cardinals are a deep talented football team which can be attributed to the hard work and talent of the front office and coaching staff, which I believe is their biggest strength. Success in an organization is built from the top down and the Cardinals’ recent success is a result of this.

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