The Arizona Cardinals Have One (Big) Problem

The Arizona Cardinals Have One (Big) Problem

The Arizona Cardinals finished the 2024 season with an 8-9 record and missed the playoffs for the third time in four years and the eighth time in the last nine years. But despite missing the playoffs last year, the Cardinals had a lot of positive things to take away from the 2024 season. They had a positive point difference despite finishing 8-9. They started to establish who they want to be as a team moving forward as they finished second in the entire NFL in yards per carry. And they even swept the division rival San Francisco 49ers. But it was not all sunshine and rainbows for this team as they started out six and four and were in a prime position to win the NFC West and make the playoffs only to lose five of their final seven games and not only miss the playoffs but end up with a losing record. Now, full transparency, I like everything the Arizona Cardinals are doing and I believe they are doing mostly everything right from a process standpoint in terms of how to build a franchise. But heading into the 2025 season, I have one big concern for the Cardinals. And in today’s video, we’re going to break down what that concern is, how we got to where we are today, and everything in between. And there is a lot to break down in today’s video. And without further ado, let’s begin. And we are starting today’s video by discussing what Cardinals general manager Monty Ozen Fort and head coach Jonathan Ganon have done since taking over back in 2023. And whenever teams hire new general managers and coaches, I think one of the biggest things that has to be remembered is where each guy came from. And in Ozen Ford’s case, he was with the Titans from 2020 through 2022. And Ganon was with the Eagles in 2021 and 2022. And one of the common themes with the Titans and Eagles during this time period was both teams like to run the football and play good defense. And obviously the Titans were on a downward trajectory as Ozenfort was leaving as they traded AJ Brown to ironically Ganon’s Eagles during the 2022 draft. And I do think it’s safe to say Ozen for left at the perfect time. But the reason we bring this up is because both of those organizations prioritize trench play. And that’s what we’ve seen with the Cardinals since Ozen Fort and Ganon were hired. And in terms of a collaboration of how each guy’s mind operates with how they want to build their football team, I don’t think there’s many duos that are on the same page. the way I believe Ozenfort and Ganon are with each other and with every football decision. And this started with the selection of Ohio State offensive tackle Paris Johnson back in 2023. And through two years, Paris has been a really good tackle and he improved significantly from his rookie season to his second season. And I legitimately believe he is their left tackle of the future. But why I also believe in the vision of the Arizona Cardinals is because I don’t think this team panics when they’re on the clock and they have a really wellthoughtout process with their draft board and how everything plays out. And during the 2023 draft, they traded back with the Texans who were coming off of a terrible season in 2022 and acquired their 2024 first round pick so they could go up and get Will Anderson. And I remember thinking at the time that there was a real chance Arizona would have two top 10 or 12 selections in the 2024 draft because I didn’t think Houston would have that good of a season in 2023. Now, I was wrong about that, but the process to trade back and to acquire another first round pick for moving back nine spots was still very good and one I 100% agree with. And even in the second round of 2023 when Will Levis dropped, the Cardinals traded back a couple of spots to acquire a third round pick in 2024 and eventually drafted LSU pass rusher BJ O Gelari in the second round of 2023. I am a big BJ Ojelari fan and I loved him coming out of LSU and unfortunately he tore his ACL prior to the 2024 season starting and unfortunately that is a reality of football is injury. I hope EJ O Gelari comes back and plays at a high level in 2025 and beyond because I really do think he has a lot of potential. But to go back to the origins of each guy in charge and Ozen Foron Ganon, it’s not a coincidence the first two picks of this era were both used on trench players. Although third-year receiver Michael Wilson is obviously not a trench player, he is a higheffort guy and a player who is not afraid to run block and do the dirty work. And that’s the type of football players coaches love. and entering the 2023 season, everyone knew it was going to be a long year for the Cardinals because Kyler Murray tore his ACL so late in the 2022 season. He tosses ACL in week 14 of 2022 and didn’t return until week 10 of 2023. And both Ganon knows and fort knew 2023 was going to be a long year because they knew they weren’t going to have their franchise quarterback for a good portion of their first season and knew that the 2023 draft was going to be one where they needed to raise the floor of the franchise and a draft with a long-term vision in mind and they did exactly that. Now, not surprisingly, the Cardinals did not have a good record in 2023. And to at least be fair to Arizona, I would not expect them or anyone to have a good record when your starting quarterback misses the first nine games of the year. Really, in the best case scenario, you’re hoping for maybe a three and six, maybe four and five start if your starting quarterback goes down. And then at that point, you almost have to win out or at worst lose one game the rest of the way just to get into the dance. And unfortunately, it didn’t work out for Arizona. And again, I wasn’t expecting a lot from them heading into the 2023 season. But for the Cardinals organization to move on from Steve Kim and to be able to bring in Montioenfort and Jonathan Ganon along with that with the situation they were in knowing that Kyler was going to miss a good chunk of the 2023 season was a big win for them. And again, I cannot praise their thought process for what they did in the 2023 draft enough and ultimately what they did in the 2024 draft. They had eight selections in the top 104 and they selected my number one overall player in the class and Marvin Harrison Jr. And that was a pre-draft ranking, by the way. And they also selected guys like Darius Robinson, Max Melton, and one of my personal favorite players, Trey Benson, the running back from Florida State, who did not have a big impact in his rookie year. Though, I certainly expect him to have a much bigger impact in 2025 and beyond as he gets more accustomed to the NFL. And as of course, as James Connor gets older, as he was drafted all the way back in 2017. Throughout this video, we’ve talked a lot about what the Cardinals have done right from a process standpoint since let sling go of Cliff Kingsbury and Steve Kim at the end of the 2022 season and since they brought in Jonathan Ganon and Monty Ozenfort. And to be clear, the good far outweighs the bad with what the Cardinals have done from a process standpoint in the past two years. And I credit Montioenfort for having a lot more hits than he does misses. But the one big thing as to why I think the Cardinals are going to be a limited team moving forward is the inconsistency of Kyler Murray. Kyler will have a game or two a year. And he had one against the Rams in week two in which he had just four incompletions and had three passing touchdowns in which the Cardinals put up 41 points. And he looked like an MVP candidate in that game. That was also the Marvin Harrison four reception, 130 yard, two touchdown game for anyone wondering. Kyler will then have a streak of 14 games like he did during the 2024 season where he averages just 227 passing yards per game and has just 13 touchdowns to 11 interceptions in the ensuing 14 games and the Cardinals go 6 and8 in the process and ultimately were not good enough to make the playoffs this past year. Now it was a bit of a funky year where there were several teams that had 11 plus wins and there were two 14 plus win teams in the conference and there were also two 10 plus win teams in the NFC West. So, I will give the Cardinals a little bit of a pass for not making the playoffs this year, but ultimately when it mattered most when the Cardinals could strike while the iron was hot. They were 6-4 heading into the buy and then they got swept by the Seahawks in two of the first three games coming off of the buy, which set the tone for the remainder of the season. The only two wins they had in the final seven games were a 30-7 win over the Patriots, who have since fired Gerard Mayo, and a win over the 49ers in week 18 that was ultimately meaningless because the 49ers started Josh Dobs and the Cardinals entering that game were seven and nine and were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. And the main reason that I bring up the week 2 game against the Rams in which he had three passing touchdowns to just four in completions and ultimately the week 18 game against the Niners in which he had four passing touchdowns and the Cardinals put up 47 points which was by far their season high is because Kyler had seven of his 21 passing touchdowns in two games. And there was a huge chunk where he was not a bad player necessarily, but he was not the player that they paid a couple of offseasons ago. And that’s where my concern lies with Kyler Murray and the Cardinals entering 2025. And for reference, the 47 points the Cardinals scored in week 18 was a significant outlier relative to who they were for the other 16 games and really 15 if you want to exclude the Rams game. Though I do want to give proper credit because they played their tails off in week two against the Rams. But that 47 point outburst in week 18 against the 49ers really propelled them up in points per game as they finished 12th in points per game last year. And if they had their average, which was weeks one through 17, that was around 22 points per game. If they scored 22 points in that game instead of 47 or maybe even 23 or 24, they would have finished 16th or 17th in points per game last year. And I think there’s a big difference heading into a new season of hey, we’re coming off of a year in which we finished 12th in points per game versus we were middle of the pack, which is really where we were from weeks 3 through 17 last year and ultimately having one big outlier game in which we forced multiple turnovers. And credit to Arizona for capitalizing off of those turnovers in week 18 against a backup quarterback. But the point is, I don’t think the Cardinals have that high-end ceiling with Kyler Murray as their starting quarterback because he will have an outburst of a game or two per season and then ultimately be a mediocre quarterback for the remainder of the season. Now, while Kyler Murray being as inconsistent as he is at times scares me, so does the division the Cardinals play in. From top to bottom, I really think the NFC West is at worst the third best division in football. And again, that’s at worst. And the only divisions I think you can argue are better are the NFC North and the AFC West. And again, this is from top to bottom. There is no team in the NFC West where you look at your schedule at the beginning of the year and circle the Cardinals, Rams, 49ers, or Seahawks as an easy win or a game you think you will comfortably win by a touchdown or more. Now, some teams may have their numbers, but there’s a reason three teams in this division won eight games last year. And there’s a reason the Rams were the closest to beating the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2024 playoffs. The Rams are at a point with Shawn McVey and Matt Stafford where they can start out slow and as long as they don’t lose seven games and are still in a position where they can win double-digit games, I’m not going to stop believing in them unless there are unforeseen circumstances like major injuries, for example. And in a lot of ways, I think the Rams and Cardinals are very similar teams. Both teams love to run the football and both teams specifically over the past few years have really prioritized the trenches and it’s shown. The Rams are coming off of a year in which they look like geniuses as they selected both Jared Verse and Braden Fisk with their first two picks. And all Jared Verse did in his rookie year was finished top four in the NFL in pressures, make the Pro Bowl, and win the defensive rookie of the year award. And Braden Fisk had 51 pressures, led the team in sacks with eight and a half, forced two fumbles, and finished third in defensive rookie of the year voting. And I love talking about defensive line play and how teams can dictate games in the trenches. And the Rams are certainly a shining example. And the point of bringing the Rams up is they are a very high floor team. And being in the same division as the Cardinals genuinely stinks for Arizona because at this point in time, I do think the Rams are a tier above the Cardinals. And what’s really unfortunate for Arizona is they play their final game of the year at Sofi Stadium in LA. And I’ll be honest, if it came hell or high water for the NFC West in a week 18 showdown, I would choose Shawn McVey over Jonathan Ganon. and so would a lot of other people. And as we discussed, it’s not like the Rams are the only good team in this division. We did a video a few weeks ago on the Seattle Seahawks and how they too are doing a lot of the right things from a process standpoint. And I’ll be honest, I don’t know how much their record will change from 24 to 25. Seattle that is, but their defense is taking a lot of steps in the right direction. And I am also a firm believer in everything Mike McDonald is doing from a coaching perspective. and he only adds the fuel to the fire that is the NFC West and Seattle too is a very high floor team. San Francisco is a true wild card because of the year they had in 2024 and given that they are going to go through a roster turnover period relatively soon. As long as they don’t have an injuryfilled year like they did last year and also with tragedy off the field too for not just one but multiple players. I don’t think they’re going to be a four or five win team as long as Kyle Shanahan is their head coach. And this isn’t to say that oh well let’s just throw in the towel before the season starts because our division is going to be really good and we can’t stand up against those guys. No, but it is to emphasize just how loaded the NFC West is and to show how much of a bloodbath this division is going to be. And this isn’t going to be the same old Cardinals playing at 405 Eastern that you just throw on as background noise as they get beat by another NFC West team. This is a really good team in a really competitive division. Now, about 2 weeks ago, we did a video titled four head coaches on the hot seat entering the 2025 season. And to a lot of people’s surprise, I included Jonathan Ganon within that video. I knew at the time we would do a Cardinals video at a later point, to which we are now discussing the Cardinal situation. And the biggest reason that I included Jonathan Ganon within that video is I think there is a very real reality where the Cardinals finished seven and 10 or 8 and N in 2025, not because they don’t have a lot of talent, but because of how loaded their division is. And like we saw last year, Kyler Murray folded in a lot of big games. Whether it was the Seahawks game in which he threw two first quarter interceptions that were, in my opinion, pretty inexcusable as he flat out did not see a defender on the first one and the second one was a very preventable interception. It was second and nine and Kyler was under pressure and he just threw a hailmary ball and basically said please go get the pass. And unfortunately his receiver did not go get the pass and it set the Seahawks up with an opportunity to have a double- digit lead in the first quarter and that is exactly what happened. So, my biggest fear is that the Cardinals finished 8-9 or 7-10 this year. And at that point, Jonathan Ganon would have a 19 and32 or 20 and 31 record through the first three years of his tenure as the Cardinals head coach. And he would also be coming off of three straight years in which he did not make the playoffs. And at that point, I think there would be a very real conversation of Jonathan, we appreciate everything you’re doing, but the results are not there and we’re going to have to make a change. Now, full transparency, I hope that that is not the case because I do believe in Jonathan Ganon and I do believe in everything that he’s doing as the Cardinals head coach and that again both him and Mios and Fort are doing everything right from a process standpoint. But the bottom line is I don’t believe in Kyler Murray when it matters most. Now, regarding Kyler Murray, I don’t want to get into the conversation of, well, guess what? Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow don’t have Super Bowl wins either. So, do you trust them when it matters? Because that’s not what I’m saying. What I am saying is Cardinals fans are not as hostile or as vocal as other fan bases online. So I think at times Kyler’s low lightss or mistakes fly under the radar and people kind of dismiss Kyler at times or forget about him and then you have a 14game stretch like he had in 2024 where he has just 13 passing touchdowns to 11 interceptions despite being paid north of $45 million per year. And ultimately that’s why I don’t believe in the Arizona Cardinals as much as I want to. I really like what Monty Ozen Fort and Jonathan Ganon have done outside of the quarterback position mainly because they’ve been limited since they took over and they knew Kyler Murray was going to be tied to their jobs and that he was going to be their franchise quarterback. But here we are entering year seven with Kyler Murray and there’s still the inconsistencies that he had as a young player and if we are entering year seven with Kyler Murray, I don’t think those inconsistencies and regular mistakes he makes are going to go away anytime soon. And we’re also at a point where the Cardinals are going to be too good of a team to have a top four or five pick unless they have an injury riddled season in which six or seven guys have season ending injuries, which we of course hope does not happen. So when we look at the future of Kyler Murray in the desert, I personally don’t think they should give him a third contract. They think there’s a big enough sample size to the point where you can say, “Hey, Kyler Murray’s played over 80 career games and I definitively do not think he is a top six, eight, or 10 player at the position to the point where we should give him a $55 million per year contract in hopes that he’s going to lead us to the Super Bowl. I know that’s a very difficult decision, but the 2026 draft is absolutely loaded. And at that point, I think the Cardinals would be in a good position to where they have most of the roster filled out. And again, credit to Manio and Fort and Jonathan Genning for filling out the roster the way they have over the past few years to the point where they could trade up from pick 15 or 16 or 18 really into the top five or six and if they wanted to sacrifice a future first round pick so that they can go get their quarterback of the future. But my biggest thing with the Cardinals entering 2025 is I do not trust Kyler Murray enough to the point where I think he elevates this team and ultimately offensive coordinator Drew Petting as well to the point where they’re going to be a 12 or 13 win team and win not just one but multiple playoff games. I hope you enjoyed today’s video and if you did, please like the videos. It helps tremendously with the YouTube algorithm and I cannot thank you guys enough for the support. We are closing in on 200,000 subscribers so please subscribe to the channel as well. And until next time, please be safe and have a great day. Love you guys.

The Arizona Cardinals Have One (Big) Problem

Bear Mattress: Click here https://bearmattress.com/analysis and use analysis to get 40% off your mattress + 2 free pillows. Offers are subject to change.

TWITTER: https://mobile.twitter.com/FBallAnalysisYT

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/fballanalysisyt

Apple Podcast:

Spotify Podcast:

DISCORD:
https://discord.gg/XAjBEcGVbH

TIKTOK: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMe5NbVa7/

Welcome to the Football Analysis Youtube channel! Subscribe for all NFL related content! Drop a like if you enjoyed the video as all support is very much appreciated! Thanks for watching!

#nfl #nflfootball #football #nfldraft #vikings #seahawks #49ers #rams #arizonacardinals #cardinals

Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, Washington Commanders

Bear Mattress: Click here https://bearmattress.com/analysis and use analysis to get 40% off your mattress + 2 free pillows. Offers are subject to change.

TWITTER: https://mobile.twitter.com/FBallAnalysisYT

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/fballanalysisyt

Apple Podcast:

Spotify Podcast:

DISCORD:
https://discord.gg/XAjBEcGVbH

TIKTOK: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMe5NbVa7/

Welcome to the Football Analysis Youtube channel! Subscribe for all NFL related content! Drop a like if you enjoyed the video as all support is very much appreciated! Thanks for watching!

#nfl #nflfootball #football #nfldraft #vikings #falcons #cardinals #ravens

Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, Washington Commanders