NFL Power Rankings 2020 preseason: Where do LA Rams fall?

Team 23 – Arizona Cardinals (5-10-1)

I like some of the actions taken by the Arizona Cardinals this offseason. But they remain the last-place team in the toughest NFL division. While they added WR DeAndre Hopkins to the mix, their offense had a better reputation than statistics showed. It was their last place defense that needed the drastic overhaul, and the jury is out whether the team fixed that part of the team.

2019 summary

The Arizona Cardinals are an exciting but bad team that just became more exciting. The defense was the NFL’s worst in 2019, I don’t believe the team did enough to move the needle much. Instead, the team invested in giving gutsy rookie quarterback Kyler Murray more weapons.

Players lost

The Arizona Cardinals were not stung by player attrition in 2020, perhaps due to the lack of stars on the roster with expiring contracts? The Cardinals did lose DE Rodney Gunter and Zach Kerr on defense and surprisingly did not re-sign center A.Q. Shipley.

Players added

The Cardinals paid big dollars in free agency to try to bolster the bad defense, adding DE Jordan Phillips and OLB Devon Kennard. In the draft, they added versatile LB/DB Isaiah Simmons, OT Josh Jones, DT Leki Fotu, and RB Eno Benjamin.

2020 outlook

The Arizona Cardinals are an improving team, but their 2019 base was pretty far down.  The team’s offense was more highlights than production, and the defense was outright abysmal. I expect both aspects of the team will improve. I’m simply not convinced that Kyler Murray will synch up with DeAndre Hopkins this season, but attempting to do so may actually stymie the offense somewhat.