Arizona Cardinals nail down initial 53-man roster

The Arizona Cardinals’ 53-man roster is complete.

For now.

While there is bound to be additional moves made by general manager Monti Ossenfort, the team nailed down its initial roster ahead of Tuesday’s 1 p.m. MST deadline.

A look at how Arizona’s roster, which features 52 players currently, shakes out:

Arizona Cardinals’ initial 53-man roster

Quarterback (2)

(Tyler Drake/Arizona Sports)

– Josh Dobbs
– Clayton Tune

With Colt McCoy’s release on Monday and quarterback Kyler Murray’s standing on the physically unable to perform list, the Cardinals will likely look to either Dobbs or Tune as their Week 1 starter against the Washington Commanders.

Running back (3)

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– James Conner
– Keaontay Ingram
– Emari Demercado

The biggest surprise out of the running backs room was the release of veteran Corey Clement, who appeared to have a grasp on the RB3 role.

Instead, it’s the undrafted rookie Demercado securing the roster spot.

Wide receiver (6)

(Tyler Drake/Arizona Sports)

– Hollywood Brown
– Michael Wilson
– Rondale Moore
– Zach Pascal
– Greg Dortch
– Daniel Arias

Arias beats out the likes of Andre Baccellia and Davion Davis for the final roster spot.

Tight end (4)

(AP Photo/Ralph Freso)

– Zach Ertz
– Trey McBride
– Geoff Swaim
– Blake Whiteheart

Undrafted rookie Blake Whiteheart flashed this offseason and clearly did enough to beat out training camp standout Noah Togiai.

Offensive line (8)

(Tyler Drake/Arizona Sports)

– D.J. Humphries
– Elijah Wilkinson
– Hjalte Froholdt
– Will Hernandez
– Paris Johnson Jr.
– Kelvin Beachum
– Dennis Daley
– Marquis Hayes

Beachum is cemented as Arizona’s swing tackle behind Humphries and Johnson.

Hayes marks one of the handful of holdovers from the previous regime to remain in the desert despite missing all of last season with a knee injury.

Rookie Jon Gaines II, who injured his knee in Arizona’s preseason finale, will miss the year after being placed on injured reserve.

Defensive line (7)

(Tyler Drake/Arizona Sports)

– L.J. Collier
– Jonathan Ledbetter
– Carlos Watkins
– Dante Stills
– Kevin Strong
– Leki Fotu
– Ben Stille

It’s almost an entirely new defensive line group outside of Ledbetter and Fotu, two players who could in line for extended reps.

Outside linebacker (7)

(Photo by Douglas Stringer/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

– Zaven Collins
– Dennis Gardeck
– Cameron Thomas
– BJ Ojulari
– Jesse Luketa
– Myjai Sanders
– Victor Dimukeje

It looks like it’ll be the Zaven & Dennis Show to start the season, with Thomas also right there in the mix.

And after we saw Luketa play fullback, special teams and linebacker, expect him to be utilized on more than one side of the football.

Ojulari is the wild card here (no pun intended). If he can get up to speed and gain the trust of his coaches, the 2023 second-round pick out of LSU could be an asset moving forward.

Sanders landing a roster spot is the most surprising development given his limited showing this training camp and preseason due to a hand injury.

Inside linebacker (5)

(Tyler Drake/Arizona Sports)

– Kyzir White
– Josh Woods
– Krys Barnes
– Owen Pappoe
– Ezekiel Turner

White will run the show as the team’s every-down MIKE backer.

The last time he commanded the middle of the defense, the veteran linebacker racked up 144 tackles, a sack, two interceptions, three passes defensed, two forced fumbles and four QB hits across 17 starts as a member of the Los Angeles Chargers in 2021.

Cornerback (5)

(Tyler Drake/Arizona Sports)

– Marco Wilson
– Kei’Trel Clark
– Christian Matthew
– Antonio Hamilton Sr.
– Kris Boyd

We know Wilson is in line to serve as Arizona’s CB1 in 2023.

Beyond that, the depth chart gets murky, with Matthew, Clark and Hamilton all vying for the starting role opposite Wilson.

Boyd rounds out the room thanks to his added special teams abilities.

Safety (3)

(Tyler Drake/Arizona Sports)

– Budda Baker
– Jalen Thompson
– Jovante Moffatt

Baker and Thompson are clearcut locks. The rest of the room? Not so much.

Expect this position group to change multiple times this season.

Special teams (2)

(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

– Matt Prater
– Nolan Cooney

Big surprise here was the release of long snapper Aaron Brewer. Arizona will need to add to the position moving forward.

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