NFL Cardinals In Unique Spot As Only Team To Face Top 3 Drafted QBs
The Arizona Cardinals, who hope to build on the momentum created by owning their former No. 1 choice, Kyler Murray, following his return from injury last season, are in a unique position to assess the top-heavy 2024 NFL quarterback class.
The Cardinals are the only team in the league that has games against Caleb Williams, the first overall draft pick by Chicago, Jayden Daniels, the second overall pick by Washington, and Drake Maye, the third overall draft pick by New England. According to Spotrac, these players are predicted to be worth $113.7 million in rookie salaries. State Farm Stadium will host each and every one of those games.
As the designated starters for their new teams, Williams and Daniels started organised team activities (OTAs) this week, while Maye is competing with veteran Jacoby Brissett for the Patriots starting position early in camp. On September 8, the regular season begins.
The Cardinals will also go to Minnesota to play quarterback J.J. McCarthy, the pick in the first round. McCarthy was selected with the 10th overall pick after the Vikings made a trade-up, and he is also anticipated to start following Minnesota’s offseason trade of Kirk Cousins to Atlanta.
On September 29, the Cardinals and Washington will play their fourth regular-season game. After spending his first three seasons at Arizona State playing under Herman Edwards before developing into a Heisman Trophy contender in just two seasons at LSU, Daniels will be making his way back to the Phoenix region.
The Commanders have also rehired Kliff Kingsbury, the former head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. Kingsbury was 28-37-1 in his four seasons with the team before being fired after a 4-13 2022 campaign in which Murray missed six games and the most of another due to injuries.
Pro Football Focus stated that Daniels has a high floor immediately because of the amount of pressure he can put on a defence and his ability to gain yards through his legs.
“With LSU’s explosive offence now facing NFL talent, Daniels’ passing will undoubtedly be a work in progress, but he and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury should be a good match.”
Dan Quinn, the new coach of the Commanders, selected Kingsbury to be his offensive coordinator.
The Patriots travel to Arizona on December 15 and Chicago visits Arizona on November 3. On December 1, the Cardinals take on Minnesota and McCarthy at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Williams is the most well-known addition to the Bears offence, but offensive coordinator Shane Waldron is by no means the only one. To bolster their receiving group, which already boasts tight end Cole Kmet and wide receiver DJ Moore, the Bears added wide receiver Rome Odunze via a draft pick, signed free agency running back D’Andre Swift, and traded for wide out Keenan Allen.
The NFL allowed three pre-before Zoom calls with possible draft picks, and the Bears, knowing they would take Williams but before the draft itself, got a head start in setting up their offence, Sports Illustrated reports.
Bears coach Matt Eberflus stated to Bleacher Nation last week, “We wanted to make sure he had those down during those three Zoom meetings.” We also wanted to have our install set for the OTAs and rookie minicamp.
As a result, he was somewhat comfortable with those installs when he arrived at rookie minicamp on May 9. That was a pretty lucky thing for us to do.
The Cardinals are well-versed in “1-1s.” Despite missing most of the previous two seasons due to injuries, Murray was the first player selected in the 2019 draft. The season before, they finished 4-13, going 3-5 when Murray got back from a knee injury.
This offseason, Arizona added more talent to the area surrounding Murray by selecting tight end Tip Reiman, running back Trey Benson, and wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. in the first three rounds—the latter two coming after the top three quarterbacks.
Additionally, the Cardinals inked wide receiver Zay Jones, an eight-year veteran, to a one-year, $4.25 million contract. In 25 games with Jacksonville in 2022–2023 Jones had 116 receptions for 1,144 yards and seven touchdowns; hamstring and right knee problems kept him out of eight games.
“With the guys we have here, we can definitely do something special,” Jones stated to the press.
Based on the opponents’ win-loss record from the previous season, the Cardinals’ 2024 strength of schedule is ranked in a tie for 24th position in the league. The opponents were 141–148. They share a tie with Miami and Seattle.
According to the betting website FanDuel, the Cardinals have a 6.5 victory total this season. After the incumbent champion San Francisco (-195), the Los Angeles Rams (+330), and Seattle (+750), they are rated at +1200 to win the NFL West.
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