Arizona Cardinals Training Camp Preview
The Arizona Cardinals had super bowl aspirations last season and they failed to make the playoffs. Carson Palmer had a down year. He will be the reason why they either miss it again or they go deep in the playoffs.
Fortunately for the Cardinals, they play in one of the weakest divisions in the NFL. Arizona doesn't have to sweat too much with Los Angeles or San Francisco because they are both pretty bad. Seattle will be decent, but has their offseason distractions going to play into a factor?
Head Coach Bruce Arians always has an aggressive mindset when coaching this team. Carson Palmer will be the starting quarterback. Drew Stanton will be the backup. Blaine Gabbert or Trevor Knight will be the third quarterback on the roster.
David Johnson will be the starting running back. Chris Johnson will be the second running back. Kerwynn Williams will be the third running back. Andre Ellington, Elijhaa Penny, T.J. Logan, James Summers will compete for the final spot.
Larry Fitzgerald decided not to retire and return for another season. He is the clear cut number one receiver. After that, it will be interesting. John Brown, J.J. Nelson, and Jaron Brown will compete for the 2,3, and 4 spots. It honestly may not matter to the Cardinals. They all might see time on the field anyways this season.
Jeremy Ross and Brittan Golden will most likely be the five and six wide receivers. Tight end will be a weak link on this Cardinals roster. Troy Niklas and Jermaine Gresham will be the top two tight ends. Hakeem Valles and Ifeanyi Momah.
The starters on the offensive line will be D.J. Humphries, Mike Iupati, A.Q. Shipley, Evan Boehm, and Jared Veldheer.
The defense needs to find its groove in 2017. Josh Mauro, Corey Peters, and Frostee Rucker should be the starters in 2017 on the defensive line. Expect Rodney Gunter and Robert Nkemdiche to be in the rotation as well.
The Cardinals nucleus of this defense is the linebacking core. Chandler Jones, Haason Reddick, Karlos Dansby, and Markus Golden will be the starters. Alani Fua, Gabe Martin, and Kareem Martin could also see time at linebacker as well this season.
Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu, Antoine Bethea, and Justin Bethel will be the starters in the secondary. Tyvon Branch, Budda Baker, and Brandon Williams will also be key to a deep secondary this season.
Phil Dawson will be the Cardinals kicker. Matt Wile and Richie Leone will compete to be the Cardinals punter. J.J. Nelson will be the team's kick returner. Patrick Peterson will be the team's punt returner.
The Cardinals have super bowl talent, they just need to put it together.
