Cardinals enter new season with major lack of elite talent

The Cardinals have a lot of issues entering training camp. They add up to one major problem. A math problem. A serious shortage of elite talent.

With four drafts under his belt, general manager Monti Ossenfort has yet to select a Pro Bowl player. Their roster features only two players considered top-10 at their position (Trey McBride, Budda Baker), setting them miles behind loaded NFC West counterparts.

Even if they make good with Jacoby Brissett, they will have a logjam at the position, featuring the worst starting quarterback in the division; the best backup in the division; and a roll-of-the-dice rookie who spent six years in college.

How will the team sound once training camp begins? Most professional athletes thrive with chips on their shoulders. The 2026 Cardinals have been ridiculed, mocked and held in contempt by the national media before their first day in pads. With 49 losses in the past four years and a slew of terrible NFLPA report cards, the organization is sinking toward a new kind of rock bottom.

Will these Cardinals act defiant? Will they rally around the family? Or will they be cautious and uncertain? Even worse, are there unhappy players in our midst? Is Josh Sweat happy in Arizona? After signing up with the Cardinals as a highly rated free agent, is Tyler Allgeier cool with the team’s selection of another marquee running back in the NFL draft (Jeremiyah Love)?

This is an important time for new head coach Mike LaFleur. His ideas must inspire and his voice must transcend and affirm. This team badly needs an A-plus leader, a head coach who can move the needle with his personality and his acumen. If the Cardinals ever make it back to the playoffs, they need a head coach who surges in local and national popularity, thereby gaining leverage and power inside the organization. Just like Bruce Arians once did.

This will also be a pivot-point season for Ossenfort. He has presided over an absurdly long rebuild, and there is a fear the team is still going backwards. He needs huge seasons from Marvin Harrison Jr., Garrett Williams, Darius Robinson, Walter Nolen and Will Johnson. He needs productive seasons from some combination of Max Melton, Isaiah Adams, B.J. Ojulari, Tip Reiman, Denzel Burke and Cody Simon.

It’s a long list of what-ifs, and why Ossenfort will either be vindicated or vacated following the upcoming season.

Good news is, football is full of surprises. Many of our memorable sports teams in the Valley were spawned from modest to minuscule expectations. The 2026 Cardinals might face the lowest bar of them all.

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