PFF recognizes Cardinals’ Drew Petzing as a top-10 offensive coordinator

Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing dealt with an offense that had holes in 2023. Most glaring, starting quarterback Kyler Murray missed the front-half of the season, and there was no outright No. 1 wide receiver.

But despite that and the results, Zoltan Buday of Pro Football Focus ranked Petzing 10th in a list of the top 10 offensive coordinators entering 2024.

Dealing with an unreliable offensive line and no star wide receivers, the Cardinals featured three different starting quarterbacks over the 2023 season. Despite the turmoil, Petzing’s unit was far from the disaster some might have expected. It might not have been considered a success for most teams, but Arizona’s offense ranking 21st in EPA per play — ahead of the likes of the Chargers and the Steelers — was an impressive performance.

Before being hired by the Cardinals in February of last year, Petzing previously spent three seasons with the Cleveland Browns serving as the team’s tight end coach (2020-21) and quarterback coach (2022).

As Petzing enters his second year with the Cardinals, he will have more pieces to work with than he did in his first year.

Murray is back and fully healthy after missing the first nine games last year recovering from a torn ACL.

The Cardinals addressed a need at wide receiver by taking arguably the best one in the draft with the selection of Marvin Harrison Jr. Harrison’s playmaking skills gives Petzing a WR1 who could open up the playbook even more this upcoming season.

Arizona also added wide receiver Zay Jones, who will look to compete with second-year wideout Michael Wilson for the WR2 spot.

While the passing game saw its struggles last year, the Cardinals’ offensive identity under Petzing was their run game.

The running back corps established itself as a threat.

Running back James Conner, who has earned the reputation of being a downhill runner, was a focal point of the Cardinals’ fourth-ranked rushing attack.

He led the Cardinals with 1,040 rushing yards to go with seven rushing touchdowns despite missing four games.

The Cardinals also saw flashes from running backs Emari Demercado and Michael Carter last season. They added to their rushing attack by taking running back Trey Benson in the third round.

He established himself as a downhill runner in his final two seasons at Florida State and could compete for snaps.

Even though the run game has been the identity of the Cardinals’ offense, another unit that made some noise is the tight end room.

Trey McBride established himself as a great pass-catching tight end having led the Cardinals in receptions and receiving yards. He is seen as one of the up-and-coming tight ends this season.

Elijah Higgins, who made the transition from wide receiver to tight end during his rookie season with the Cardinals, also showed some of his sneaky athleticism. He finished with 11 receptions for 163 yards and one touchdown in 11 games last year.

The Cardinals also added tight end Tip Reiman in the draft back in April, who is known for being a blocking tight end and could have some upside to developing into a receiving threat.

PFF’s top offensive coordinators before the 2024 NFL season

1. Ben Johnson, Detroit Lions
2. Todd Monken, Baltimore Ravens
3. Bobby Slowik, Houston Texans
4. Kellen Moore, Philadelphia Eagles
5. Arthur Smith, Pittsburgh Steelers
6. Shane Waldron, Chicago Bears
7. Joe Brady, Buffalo Bills
8. Ken Dorsey, Cleveland Browns
9. Greg Roman, Los Angeles Chargers
10. Drew Petzing, Arizona Cardinals