Arizona Cardinals near the top in early 2015 power rankings

Trying to predict how good a team will be in the future is near impossible. There are too many unknowns.

Take the Arizona Cardinals, for example. Nobody knows how far they would have gone with a healthy Carson Palmer last season. With his health in question and an entire offseason that still needs to be sorted out, September is just too far away to know anything solid. But now that the Super Bowl is over, attention is already onto next season.

Here’s how the experts think the Cards stack up in their early 2015 power rankings.

CBS Sports: 6

With Carson Palmer back, they will again push Seattle for a division title. This team is talented.

NFL.com: 7

Thought it classy that Bruce Arians so prominently mentioned Todd Bowles in the acceptance speech for his second AP Coach of the Year award in three seasons. Arizona’s high rank here is reflective of my immense respect for Captain Kangol, as well as the fact that the spring of 2015 will bring this club something vitally important that has nothing to do with the draft or free agency: HEALTH. I think all of us are a little curious how formidable the Cardinals can be in the NFC if they don’t have to play with one arm tied behind their back.

Yahoo Sports: 8

While it’s a big leap to assume Carson Palmer is back to his normal self after ACL surgery (he took a long time to recover from his first one, and some would argue he never totally did), the Cardinals are a dangerous team if he is. They do need to figure out the Larry Fitzgerald situation, however. It’s hard to believe he comes back at his scheduled $23.6 million cap number.

USA Today: 9

They cleaned up on postseason awards. With a little luck, they might be ready to snatch the hardware they really want next year.

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