Roundtable: What is the Arizona Cardinals’ biggest worry entering 2024?
Sep 7, 2024, 6:54 AM
(Tyler Drake/Arizona Sports)
(Tyler Drake/Arizona Sports)
Year 2 of the Jonathan Gannon era begins most notably with quarterback Kyler Murray healthy. The Arizona Cardinals have more reasons to be optimistic about taking a leap from a four-win 2023 season.
But questions about the roster remain, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
We asked our Arizona Sports hosts and editors a few questions to prepare for the long-awaited 2024 season.
After covering best- and worst-case scenarios, it’s about the largest red flag, as well as a bonus question on who leads a Cardinals pass rush without BJ Ojulari and Darius Robinson (for four weeks) in sacks.
What’s your biggest worry for the Arizona Cardinals in 2024?
Ron Wolfley, co-host of Wolf & Luke: If the Cardinals defense can be average against the run, which I am expecting, they could be a playoff team. If they cannot stop the run, it will set off a chain reaction that will most likely keep them from being an above .500 team.
If you can’t stop the run, the playbook opens to opposing offenses.
When the playbook opens, teams score more points.
When a team scores more points, the Cardinals offense may need to become one-dimensional in the fourth quarter.
Being one-dimensional should not make their offense better. And their offense is the strength of this team.
Who leads the Cardinals in sacks?: Darius Robinson. Assuming he comes back in Week 5 and stays relatively healthy the rest of the year, he could bag seven or eight sacks on the season. Considering Dennis Gardeck led the team in sacks with six in 2023, I think Robinson could still lead the team in sacks.
Luke Lapinski, co-host of Wolf & Luke: I’d say the inexperienced cornerback group. Maybe Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson can bail them out from the safety position some weeks, and maybe guys like Garrett Williams and Max Melton evolve quickly. Then this won’t be as much of a question mark. But either way you have to expect some growing pains here and they start the season off facing the Bills, Rams and Lions, so they’re going to get tested right out of the gate.
Who leads the Cardinals in sacks?: I’m going with Mack Wilson Sr. Realistically this is going to be more of a committee approach across the board when it comes to rushing the passer, so I’m guessing the team leader in sacks probably still finishes the season pretty close to a few of his teammates. I really like the duo of Wilson and Kyzir White in the middle of this defense, but they may need Wilson in particular to get after the quarterback. That’s something he was doing towards the end of his time in New England and it’s not crazy to think he could do it even better here working with Jonathan Gannon and Nick Rallis. They’re kind of banking on it actually.
John Gambadoro, co-host of Burns & Gambo: The biggest worry is where does the pass rush come from and if there is no pass rush how will the corner backs hold up? With no BJ Ojulari for the season and Darius Robinson for at least the first four games, can Zaven Collins and Dennis Gardeck generate enough pressure to make quarterbacks have to get rid of the ball quicker? Or will those quarterbacks have all day to make reads and complete passes?
Who leads the Cardinals in sacks?: I was going to pick Robinson here and I still am. Missing four games may start him one or two behind whoever the leader is but I doubt it will be four or five. So I will stick with him over 13 games coming out on top — as long as he is back in Week 5.
Vince Marotta, co-host of Bickley & Marotta: Most of my concerns are on the defensive side of the ball. The 2023 Cardinals struggled to stop the run (32nd in the NFL) and rushing the passer (28th in pass rush win rate). The addition of Bilal Nichols and Justin Jones in the middle of the defensive line, along with the return of Kyzir White at linebacker should lead to improvement in stopping the run. But…what about the pass rush? I don’t feel great about the Cardinals’ ability to get to the quarterback on a consistent basis; the closest thing they have to a proven pass rusher is Dennis Gardeck – and he’s only got 14 sacks in his career. Defensive coordinator Nick Rallis is going to have to get creative in his pass rush/blitzing schemes this year.
Who leads the Cardinals in sacks?: I’m looking at Zaven Collins. He’s playing the same position for the second straight season (something we haven’t been able to say yet in his career) and the Cardinals showed a level of faith in him by signing him to a two-year contract extension. I think he absolutely needs to increase the sack total from a year ago, but I don’t believe he has double-digit potential. I think Collins will lead the team with 7.5 sacks.
Lauren Koval, producer of Burns & Gambo and co-host of the Cardinals Corner podcast: Can I get pass rush for 400, Alex?
I am sure this will be the most popular answer, so I will take another big worry I have about this team, which is the cornerback room. The defense as a whole will come under scrutiny this season, but the cornerbacks are a group that is under the brightest lights each Sunday. Sean Murphy-Bunting has taken a leadership role within the room but it is still his first year with the team. All we can hope for with one of the youngest rooms on the team is they don’t show it on the field. My hope is the Cardinals already have the answer to this question on their roster, in a young batch of rookies. The Cardinals drafted three cornerbacks this year, which is the most since 1991. If the Cardinals see growth out of their cornerback room, I think by the end of the season Max Melton will cement himself as CB1, and with Sean Murphy-Bunting as CB2, there is a lot less to worry about.
Who leads the Cardinals in sacks?: Jonathan Gannon has made it very clear what he wants to see from his team this year and that can be summed up in one word, violence. With that in mind, the one player who has shown both potential and growth under a Nick Rallis-led defense with a great head of hair no less is Dennis Gardeck. He has all the capabilities to be the sack leader for this Cardinals team a second straight year if he uses his size, upside and embodiment of that violence to his strengths. The number last year was six, and I would not be surprised to see that number doubled.
Tyler Drake, Cardinals reporter and co-host of the Cardinals Corner podcast: I’m guessing this is going to be a broken-record opinion, but it’s Arizona’s pass rush. BJ Ojulari going down with a torn ACL this past training camp have only compounded the worry on that side of the football. Losing rookie defensive lineman Darius Robinson for at least the first four games of the season doesn’t help matters at all.
With Ojulari sidelined, it’s Zaven Collins and Dennis Gardeck expected to get first crack at rushing the passer in 2024. Coaches believe Collins has checked the appropriate boxes heading into Year 2 as a full-time pass rusher, while Gardeck is coming off a team-leading six-sack effort in 2023. Still, questions remain on how big of a jump either can make in 2024. As for alleviating the pass-rushing concern, it begins with getting creative from a personnel and scheme standpoint. An example of that is getting Mack Wilson Sr. more reps off the edge after flashing in the role with the New England Patriots a year prior. Getting Xavier Thomas, one of Arizona’s truest pass rushers currently healthy who flashed this preseason, firmly in the rotation could do wonders, too.
Who leads the Cardinals in sacks?: Collins or Gardeck are easy answers, but I opting for two outside-the-box picks, beginning with Wilson. Like I mentioned above, the veteran moved into a pass-rushing role due to injuries along the Patriots defense and racked up 3.5 sacks, two tackles for loss and four QB hits across the final five games of the season. His sack total alone would have ranked tied for fourth among Cardinals defenders last year. My other choice is the rookie Thomas. He presents Arizona with a legit pass-rushing prospect after coming on strong this preseason. There were some noticeable growing pains starting out for Thomas, but with more time on task, he’s popping off the tape. If he can parlay that confidence into the regular season, that could do wonders for Arizona’s pass rush.
Mitch Vareldzis, co-host of Arizona Sports at Night: I think the defense will play well enough against the run to force the passing attack, but their pass defense is where I’m concerned. Who is going to be the defining pass rusher if Darius Robinson is not going to play to start the season? Can Kyzir White continue to play solid in coverage like he did last year prior to the injury? Can Mack Wilson Sr., Bilal Nichols and Justin Jones create enough front-7 pressure to force the opposing quarterback to make mistakes? And is a young cornerback room actually an advantage as opposed to a disadvantage?
I’d feel a lot more comfortable with the pass defense if there were an established edge rusher leading the charge. Maybe the Cardinals think they aren’t going to take the leap this year, but Kyler Murray is making a lot of money and they invested a top draft pick on an electric wide receiver. They should reward the defense with their own shiny, new toy.
Who leads the Cardinals in sacks?: I’m excited to see rookie Xavier Thomas get the chance off the edge. But he isn’t in line to start. So I’ll take Zaven Collins, and predict he’ll have a Haason Reddick-like leap. 12 sacks.
Alex Weiner, ArizonaSports.com editor: Let’s twist this a bit, because concerns over whether they can pressure quarterbacks or defend the run are largely consensus. A worry here, or more so a question than a concern, is how many defensive players on this roster would contribute to the next great version of the Cardinals. Monti Ossenfort and Co. have brought in a healthy number of young defenders over the past couple drafts, and building a capable defense becomes difficult if they don’t see at least flashes from these guys.
How many of Max Melton, Starling Thomas V, Garrett Williams, Xavier Thomas, Rabbit or Darius Robinson become red-chip players or even blue-chip players? If this group has gems, that makes Ossenfort’s job to fill in the gaps that much easier and the lane to contend clearer. If not, that’s when this thing could stall.
Who leads the Cardinals in sacks?: Let’s go with Collins rewarding the team for giving him a new contract with at least eight sacks to lead the way.
Dave Burns, co-host of Burns & Gambo: Is it the secondary or the pass rush? Flip a coin or don’t because they’re both so interconnected. A good pass rush can help a suspect secondary and certainly vice versa is true as well. But when they both have question marks you’re vulnerable at too many points. My hope the solution lies in the secondary. There are just too many injuries among the pass rushers to count on that. And while it’s also a lot to ask of rookies and second year players like Garrett Williams and Max Melton, at least the pedigree is there to hope they contribute right away.
Who leads the Cardinals in sacks?: Put me down for Zaven Collins as the sack leader.
Kellan Olson, ArizonaSports.com editor and co-host of Arizona Sports at Night: How competent-to-great quarterbacks will be able to dissect them. If the pass rush can’t create consistent pressure, signal callers will have lots of time to work through progressions against a secondary that probably won’t be able to consistently cover guys. Here are the QBs they face to begin the year: Josh Allen, Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff, Jayden Daniels, Brock Purdy, Jordan Love, Justin Herbert, Tua Tagovailoa, Caleb Williams and Aaron Rodgers. Even if the two rookies stink, that’s eight throwers we can agree are at least solid, and a lot of them are great.
What can the Cardinals do about this? Prove they drafted excellently. Xavier Thomas being a fifth-round heist and racking up 6-10 sacks would be a monumental help. First-rounder Darius Robinson needs to help with the rush as well. We can even work our way backwards to pre-Ossenfort and Zaven Collins having a Haason Reddick-esque jump in his fifth season. For the secondary, Garrett Williams locked in the nickel role quickly and he has to show why. It’s not super chill that Max Melton failed to beat out Starling Thomas V for the other CB spot considering Thomas was among a group with Ke’Trel Clark that got rotated in and out all year.
Arizona has to have one big hit in each of those areas or this defense is going to diced up to start the year before the schedule gets much more favorable.
Who leads the Cardinals in sacks?: I’ll do the dumbest thing anyone can do and believe in a Steve Keim draft pick. Zaven Collins.
