The Arizona Cardinals were the worst team in football in 2018. Things are on the up heading into 2019. Clueless Steve Wilks is out. Mysterious Kliff Kingsbury is in. Sam Bradford and Josh Rosen are out. Kyler Murray is in. Murray if nothing else fits the Kingsbury offense and a plan is developing. Arizona finally has something again! Here we go. What do Arizona Cardinals fans have to look forward to in 2019 as training camp opens up?
3 Position Battles To Watch:
Wide Receiver: Larry Fitzgerald, Hakeem Butler, Andy Isabella, Chad Williams, Christian Kirk, Kevin White, KeeSean Johnson, Pharoh Cooper
How many wide receivers do the Arizona Cardinals need? Seriously? They drafted 3 of them in the 2019 NFL Draft. Larry Fitzgerald probably only has a year left but still. There are a ton of young guns. Which ones will emerge as keepers for the future? Given the success that Christian Kirk had as a rookie, I’m shocked they took so many. Speaking of Kirk, boy does he have star potential. He looks like rookie Keenan Allen. Not super fast but quick and lethal.
Center: Mason Cole, AQ Shipley, Lamont Galliard
If the Cardinals have done anything right, it’s collect center depth. Mason Cole actually did a really nice job as a rookie. He also has the ability to play guard and tackle too. That is incredibly important. AQ Shipley has those distinct short arms but always gets the job done. Lamont Gaillard was a down right
Safety: DJ Swearinger, Deionte Thompson
DJ Swearinger has always been better than his reputation around the league. DJ has 4 interceptions in back to back years. Enter Deionte Thompson who has really great cover skills too. Thompson picks and chooses tackling which isn’t an issue for Swearinger. That may prevent Thompson from grabbing the job. However, Thompson is probably the best pure cover safety in the 2019 Draft. He may get his chances in year one.
Ready Breakout: Budda Baker
I think it took the Cardinals some time to figure out how to use Budda Baker. It’s pretty easy, just do what Tyrann Mathieu used to do. Okay, maybe that isn’t so easy. Baker’s nose for the football keeps improving after recording his first 100 tackle season in 2018. Heading into year 3, I think Budda emerges as one of the better jack of all trades players in the back end. There are not enough of these guys in the NFL.
Rookie To Watch: Zach Allen
I thought Zach Allen may have had the worst pre-draft process of any player. Bad tester at the Combine and got his ass kicked at the Senior Bowl. Allen was still fairly productive at Boston College. Is he just a better football player than practice guy vice versa? Allen has an opportunity to fill that Calais Campbell role that the Cardinals haven’t figured out yet.
Fantasy Sleeper: Kyler Murray
Quarterbacks that can run have value in fantasy. During the final 4 weeks of the season, Josh Allen was the number one fantasy quarterback. Yes, Josh Allen. Murray is going to run. He will probably get his fair share of rushing touchdowns too. His ceiling is very high in fantasy even as a rookie.
