Arizona Cardinals Training Camp Talk! Plus, Why This Year WILL Be Different! | Ben Garcia Show

Arizona Cardinals Training Camp Talk! Plus, Why This Year WILL Be Different! | Ben Garcia Show

What is up? Welcome in to yet another edition of the Bengaria show. We got a lot of things to talk about. Cardinals training camp is coming in hot and heavy. Micah Parsons, Terry McLuren, trade rumors potentially. Don’t forget to like, share, subscribe, potentially even tell a friend about the Ben Garcia show. Joining me today from Cardinals on SI, my guy Donnie Druan. I do like to point out that it felt like I brought Donnie Duan on before it was cool and now listen he he’s going on a bunch of different platforms. He literally had to change locations just to jump on with me because his wife Wi-Fi has been working overtime going on everyone’s show. So the newly famous Donnie Drew, what’s up man? Dude, thanks for making time for me. I know big shot now you’re hanging out with the with the Cool Boys Club and one of the days I’ll be there but uh what’s up man? How are you? I’m good, man. I’m good. Like like I was telling you before we started recording, my man, you you don’t have to ask me to come on the show. You got to tell me and I’ll be there. I’ll always make time for the Ben and Garcia show. And it’s good, man. Training camp’s been a bunch of fun and it it’s just been incredibly awesome. And I I’ve been busy. I’ve been extremely busy. There’s no sugar coating it, you know, in this business, you know, it’s kind of just how it goes this time of year. But uh like what else would would we rather be doing right now? Nothing. Um absolutely nothing else. We’re just thrilled that football is here. It’s August, man. And that means we’re gearing up. Fantasy football drafts will start taking place. We already have a a a game next Saturday. We got the Cardinals red and white scrimmage today. We got a lot of things to preview. Man, it is interesting to note because I want to mention this before because for people that don’t know, we actually recorded the first six minutes of this and Donny’s literal Wi-Fi went out. He had to change locations. But I want to share this story. Me and Donnie, it’s very interesting that him and I are are where we are now. We see each other at Sun’s games. I actually miss him when I don’t see him. I He’s one of the few media members my wife knows about cuz I I’ve talked about him before. Text each other. Yeah, we we text often. He’s a dude that I legitimately root for and as I I feel like I’ve had, you know, some some incremental growth in this space and my it seems like my opinion is starting to matter more. It’s been even dope, more dope to see my guy raise through the ranks. Obviously, he’s he’s older than I am. Dude works as just as hard as I do, if not harder. He’s, you know, skyrocketing past everyone and still as humble as he can be. But it’s funny because the way me and Donnie first met, we got off on the wrong foot. When I was working, I just blatantly stole from Donnie. When I was working at Fox Sports 910 a.m. in Phoenix, I just started doing the social media. And when Jody Aaylor, the host of that show, was was talking about Cardinals head coaching candidates. I was trying to find a picture with all the coaches. And instead of just taking a stock photo from Getty, I did none other than steal a Canva made photo from my guy Donnie Druan and just completely ripped off his work. He called me out on social media, not me in particular, cuz he didn’t know it was me. I had to apologize to him. He he took down the tweet. I didn’t ask him to. I would not ask him to. But it’s interesting to see where you and I are now, just the best of buds after me blatantly stealing from you. And you know I I it’s you know we we mentioned before we’ve got enough people doing that now people taking your content people taking my content Evans Cidery ML Football and and Dove Kleinman editions or or NBA mix daily whoever it is right so it’s good to see we’re buds now and uh it’s good to see you’re doing well man. Do do you remember um I was you were coming back from a Diamondbacks game and I was we we crossed paths in the the parking lot and you were with your wife and you were like, “Hey, here’s the guy I stole from.” Like the very first words that came out of your mouth. So, it’s been I don’t think I ever told you I don’t think I ever told you when that happened. She goes, “You stole from that guy. He’s so nice.” And I’m like, “I didn’t.” I was like, “I think I’m nice.” I was like, My wife thinks everyone’s nice. I don’t know what you want me to say, but I I just told her because I I was just like, “Oh, I’m doing a show with Johnny Donnie today.” And she’s like, “Oh, you know, he’s really nice.” You know, she she she like I said, you’re one of the few people she actually knows. And, you know, right now, you know, pregnant, you know, checking in on her and, you know, all the crazy things happening, but it’s just wild, man. So, even even, you know, in her pregnancy with all the things going on, she remembers Donnie Drew. Either way, man, uh we got a lot of things to get into on this show and you got to be out of here at a certain time. You say you could stay longer. We’re not doing that. We’re respecting the time that you’re given. Uh let’s start here, man. We’ll get into the Cardinals offense. We’ll get into the Cardinals defense. We’ll talk to training camp as a whole. We’re not going to talk likely any kickers, Chad Ryland and company. Um however, there are some trade rumors going on. two guys who have requested trades from the NFC East alone, Terry McLaren and Micah Parsons. And my point has been, and I’ve argued this point with a couple of different people, and there’s this idea of like, stay the course. You’ll go six wins, you’ll go eight wins, you’ll be a Super Bowl team. I don’t really think that’s the case. I look at the Lions a couple years ago who went nine and eight the previous season and then no one thought that team was going to be an NFC conference championship team. They were up 20 bajillion points on the 49ers in the conference championship game. Uh uh they ended up losing that game, but I don’t think that they knew that that was actually their time to shine. The next season, everyone thought, “Oh, they’ll be back. They’re a great team.” Losing the divisional round to another team that no one thought was going to be the conference championship game. The NFC in particular, but the NFL as a whole is so wide open, man. So, although I understand the idea of like Drew Petty needs to figure it out with the weapons that he has and we need to stop supplying him with a bunch of toys until he can show us he can do it. I guess I get the Terry McLaren stuff. You don’t want to go after Terry. I can buy into that. Micah is kind of where I draw the line, man. This is that that’s the guy who I believe is the difference between a conference championship game and a a potentially no playoff. So, I’ll let you take it from there. But the trade rumors between those two guys, there’s someone you think fits even more uh better. Yeah. So, I think um I think honestly, man, after all the defensive additions made to the Cardinals during the offseason, you can look at the offense who had virtually no changes made to to their core, to their depth, really anything. Um and you can say, hey, you know what? Like, the offense didn’t get a shiny new toy this off season. It’s a very very big gear for guys like Drew Pettig and Kylin Murray. Will can we get them any more help? Can we do anything that is going to take them from good to great in 2025? And I I guess that the ultimate question is, can Terry McLuren be that guy? Because he’s not going to come here and be the de facto wide receiver one. By by all accounts, Marvin Harrison Jr. looks like he’s going to take that sophomore surge in 2025. Uh Michael Wilson looks like a very steady wide receiver, two, but it feels like his ceiling is kind of tapped out. Uh Terry, when you look at him, he’s had what, five consecutive 10,000 yard years with me new throwing him the football in Washington before Jaden Daniels got there. Um but he produces, he produces. He’s one of the league’s best receivers. And I I think when you evaluate what could help the overall team get better as a unit in 2025, both offensively and defensively, if you’re looking to make another move, I think maybe Terry would make a little bit more sense. But but when a guy like Micah Parsons becomes available and our guys over at PHNX had highlighted and reported that they checked on Micah last year at the trade deadline before they had to settle for Baron Browning. When you have a dominant game record, and I do not like using game wrecker lightly because I think that gets thrown around way too often in the National Football League nowadays. When you have a game wrecker like Micah Parsons who Oh, you need a guy opposite of Josh Wet, Micah Parsons. Oh, you need a guy who can line up next to Mike Mack Wilson at Mike linebacker. Micah Parsons. Like Micah is one of the league’s best defensive players. He’s one of the league’s best players, period. He fills numerous spots on the Cardinals defense. And like we talked about like how great the Cardinals did during the offseason and just like getting all of these people. You go from like a top 10 unit to what should be a top five unit. No question about it. Whenever it comes to Micah Parsons, you have the draft ammo to go and get him. You have the salary cap space to extend him if you wanted to. It it it it’s really hard to find and pick scenarios that make a lot of sense to where a star becomes available and the Cardinals should go after them because it’s very far and few between. Micah Parsons is one of the few players to where yeah, if he’s available, you make a phone call. You make a phone call and you see if he’s available. I can buy Terry McLaren and I can buy Micah Parsons. And I like both for very different reasons, but it’s really hard to try to not sell yourself on Micah and try to push all the chips in below the table. Well, for Micah, it’s interesting, man. Terry, like I’ll continue to go back to the point that Drew Petting already has a lot of weapons and I know that’s either Drew Petting’s fault or Kyler Murray’s fault. You can never say, well, the offense was a little not was not very creative and Kyler Murray sold down the stretch. Like it can’t be both guys. It has to be one or the other in the Kyler Murray Drew Petting space and that’s what drives me crazy. You can argue which one it was more of and I’d probably lean more Kyler, but Drew Petting is not without blame. And so with that being said, like this offense, can you figure out the weapons that you have now instead of adding another thing to it? I know Terry on the surface would make him better and on I would still go after Terry if the price was a third round pick and $32 million a year because you just don’t know when your time is to take that next step and be a Super Bowl contending team. I don’t believe in this idea of like we’re going to go six, then we’re going to go nine, then we’re going to go 12, then we’re going to go to the conference championship game and then the next year we’re going to win a Super Bowl. No, that happens if you have Burrow, Mahomes, Allen, and uh uh Lamar Jackson and maybe Jaden Daniels. It’s not It’s not that when you don’t have that kind of quarterback. Micah, I think it makes so much sense for the Dallas Cowboys to trade Micah Parsons. That team is probably going to be abysmal this year. I don’t like the head coach and shotty. I don’t like their offensive line. I don’t like their defensive line outside of Maha. I heard this on the Mina Kim show the other day when they had Nick Wright on and Nick Wright mentioned take Micah Parsons off their defense. Is it the worst defense in the NFL? Like if you look at that roster, Trayvon Diggs and then who who who else is there? Uh Don Bland if you’re still on that train. And so I think it makes so much sense for the Cowboys to call any team, but in this sense the Cardinals up and say, “Give us two first round picks and Jaylen Thompson or BJ O Jalari. It’s a hefty price to pay.” But Micah Parsons is a 26-year-old player that changes what I believe the Cardinals season outlook as a whole. that t turns the Cardinals into a fringe playoff team in my opinion to conference championship aspirations. And if you get there, the ball rolls the wrong way, someone fumbles, an insane circus catch, then you’re in the Super Bowl. And so I think if you’re looking for someone to completely change the outlook and put you over the top and you only get one chance to really go all in for one player, oftent times Micah’s that guy. He’s 25, 26 years old. He’s entering his prime. The Cardinals are missing one thing, a blue chip pass rusher that the opposing team has to completely game plan around. If I’m the Cardinals man, you have to make the call. There’s the argument to say he’s probably not going to get traded. And I totally buy that. But I buy that, too. I I mean, it’s it’s not like the NBA, right? Kevin Durant requests a trade, he’s gone. Yep. Michael Parsons requested a trade. It’s like, cool, buddy. We’ll see you at camp on Monday. Um, anything else on Micah? No, I I I think when you’re in the division with guys like Shawn McVey and Kyle Shanahan, um, a guy like Micah Parsons is another queen on the chessboard that can pretty much move anywhere and do anything you want them to. When you look at a guy like Nick Rises who like given the ingredients that he had the last couple years, he’s been able to cook phenomenally. Um, and so when when you look at him, what he’s been able to do, if if you add Micah Parsons, if he had the the the the garlic to the mix of whatever they’re trying to like cook in that pot this year, like it’s going to be phenomenal. But like you said, I don’t expect Micah to get traded. I I think it’s going to be another TJ Watt, Miles Garrett. Hey, like I’m not going to show up. Get me out of here. I tried. Sooner or later that it’s going to come. But really quick, man, like between are the Bengals and the Cowboys just competing with with each other to see who’s the more dysfunctional franchise, which makes me appreciate Monty Austin for and the Cardinals even more because when a star gets ready to get paid and they become available, they do it. They take care of their guys. How much draw out how much did we hear about Trey McBride or did one day he just got a got a deal and we were like, “Yep, that’s deserved.” And then later on, someone immediately leaprogged him. I think it was George KD. And it’s like, see, you you you technically got a discount on Trey McBride because if KD got his deal, you were going to have to overpay. Then it it’s absolutely nauseating. Last year, I got in so much trouble with Bengals fans and Niners fans. Because I said, loud and noisy off seasonasons lead to always disappointing regular seasons. And I said, the Cincinnati Bengals ain’t making the playoffs. The Niners ain’t making the playoffs. Neither team made the playoffs last year. And I got grilled for oh the ners were just in the Super Bowl or whatever it was in that and that is I was like okay let’s see neither team figured it out and uh you see it right here with the Bengals too man and the Cowboys it’s it’s so easy that team’s going to underachieve they’re going to win seven games even with Pickkins with CD. The offense is not what I’m worried about. The defense is absolutely abysmal and I just don’t believe in Shottimer. Does anyone hire Shottenheimimer to even be their OC? Like if he was on the market, would he have been someone? But like in term in terms of like head coach like but I mean counterpoint man a lot of people could have said the same about Ganon. Well at least Ganon led a Super Bowl defense. Ganon Ganon was awesome until the second half of the Super Bowl when they literally scored on every single possession. And my thing, my counterpoint to that was always, uh, yeah, Jonathan Ganon gave up a lot of points to what could be the greatest quarterback of all time 15 years from now. Probably going to be a top five guy. So, that’s kind of where I landed on that. Really quickly, uh, I don’t want to spend too too much time on this, but there’s kind of been the fight about this. Uh, and we’re talking about, you know, potential guys being brought in. Will Hernandez, he’s cleared. I spoke with Will Hernandez at Radio Row. He spoke very highly about Justin Fry. The Cardinals organization seems like he’d want to be back. Why do you think, unless it’s Will Hernandez just wants a starting job and they don’t want to give it to him because Isaiah Adams and and Evan Brown are holding down the guard positions, why do you think is it the Cardinals haven’t jumped all over bringing Will Hernandez in? Because if he goes to another NFC West team, that would be kind of annoying. that would I I think um and like you’re talking to a guy who is pounding the bring Will Hernandez back drum the entire off seasonason. Uh but it’s become very clear and very evident that they are very confident in Isaiah Adams. They have been this entire time. They really liked what he did at the end of last year after Hernandez got hurt. Him and Tristan Cologne kind of rotated at that right guard spot until Adams kind of ran away with the job towards the end of the regular season. um that they’re expecting a big sophomore surge from guys like Kim, Marvin Harrison Jr., like Daryus Robinson, like all those other names. He’s in that group, too. Like like like Marvin and Darius like get get grouped in that for for big secondyear expectations. Isaiah Adams is very much in that too. And you look at him um and you don’t need to be the like sexiest player along the offensive line. You just need to do your job good enough to where we don’t hear your name called. If if you go an entire 60-minute game without having number 74 announced from the referees or like having you’re just behind pushed back into Kyler Murray, you’re doing great. You were doing so so good. I think that’s the case with Isaiah Adams. And I think where the the Will Hernandez discourse starts and ends is okay, well, he’s coming off a torn ACL. We don’t know because you hear all the time about how guys coming back a year after they tear their ACL, they’re not the same. Does he want starting money? Does he want to be a starter? Can we trust him to to be healthy once again? Like, these are all factors I think the Cardinals looked at and maybe they do sign him. Maybe they do bring him on because he just got cleared. So, we’ll see. Um, but they really like Isaiah Adams. They really, really like him. And I think they like Isaiah more at this point right now than they like Will Hernandez. And that’s not a shot at Will Hernandez, but that’s just with everything that’s happened within the last year. I think they want to roll with their guy. Score one for the Ben Garcia show once again because the ID mentioned a couple a couple of months ago people were telling me bring back Will Hernandez and I’m like yeah sure like it sounds great. I love offensive line depth and I think Will Hernandez was really good last year. However, the Cardinals are telling what they think of Isaiah Adams. They’re like, “We believe in Isaiah Adams so much. We’re willing to break apart someone who was a key piece of this offensive line last year and say, you know what, we’re going to turn the table over to um Isaiah Adams. Let’s let’s continue that shift. You had mentioned another guy who’s who’s just going to have a sophomore breakout season. If you talk to the casual Cardinal fan, he’s going to have 20 touchdowns and 2,200 yards. He’s going to break all the records.” Um I have not shied away from this. I was someone who continued to say I would have drafted Joe Walt over Marvin Harrison Jr. because you look at what the Chargers have now in Slater and all for the next five seasons. Good luck getting anyone past those two guys. However, I’ve never said Marvin Harrison Jr. was a bust. I never said I hated this selection. I just had a preference. And the one thing I told people last year when I was on the Cardinals training camp sidelines, this year it’s not happening. It’s just life business gets in the way. But um the one thing I worried about Marvin Harrison Jr. last year and I mentioned this was huh he lacks a I I know he’s awesome. He lacks a Chad Johnson Randy Randy Moss bleep you mentality. I’m better than everyone else on this field. He’s very stoic Marvin Harrison Senior Larry Fitzgerald style. But those guys had earned that over the less over the next couple of seasons. And I’m not seeing what Marvin Harrison Jr. was doing wrong. what’s wrong with being humble? However, there is a certain belief as a wide receiver that you’re going to come down with every single ball and I worried about that. Steve Smith was a guy like that as well. And so with Marvin Harrison Jr., I I was worried about one thing and I was very skeptical about this secondyear breakout. Well, now I’m buying into the second year breakout one because he’s done all the things that he’s supposed to do. He’s gotten bigger. Uh looks he just it looks like he’s dominating everyone in camp from the from the from the highlights that I’m seeing. Will Johnson for the most part can’t guard him. Garrett Williams for the most part can’t guard him. And it’s a good test because the Cardinal secondary is top 10 in the NFL. I’m just gonna like just blanket it there. Marv and then when that you guys asked Kyler, I think it might have been you who asked this question like what was the biggest what’s the biggest difference from Marvin Harrison Jr. from year one to year two? He didn’t say he’s stronger. He didn’t say better route running. He said confidence. And then I was like Ben Garcia show right here. This is what we’ve been talking about. and he seems like a different guy. Marvin Harrison Jr. I know you were belief in the year two jump but uh how what is he looked like in camp and is this like is this it going to be the the next great thing? Yeah. And u I was very guilty of having so many expectations on Marv last year. Uh coming in, you know, you we throw that term generational around so much on on draft prospects, but you looked at Marv, squeaky clean guy. Like virtually nothing wrong with him. The one knack was that he didn’t have Tyreek kill speed. Oh man, who does? Um you you look at what he was as a prospect and then you look at him and even like looking back on his rookie season at what was it like 60ome catches for 885 yards and eight touchdowns like that’s not a bad season but when you are compared to other guys through draft when Malik Neighbors is getting thrown the ball 66% of the time I’m just making that number up off the top of my head but like when Neighbors is being forcefed in like an offense that has like me and you at running back and then like Brian Thomas Jr. like is playing in like a friendly receiver offense and down in Jacksonville like yeah like they’re going to put up numbers. Marv last year didn’t play in any preseason games is in a predominant run first heavy offense is behind Trey McBride in the pecking order of of pass options for Kyler Murray. Goes out week one. He he ran three plays in preseason. Ben didn’t get any targets. The Buffalo Bills doubleteamed him the very first week of the season. Had no idea what the Cardinals were going to do. They said, “We’re not gonna let this guy beat us.” Had no clue what was going on. Obviously had the jitters. And then as time progressed throughout the season, he kind of caught his footing a little bit. At the end of the year last year, he was like, “Yeah, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I wasn’t super confident. I was super scared.” Um, adds 20 pounds of muscle this off season. And when we talked to him be like, “Hey, what was something you worked on?” It wasn’t the typical answers. It wasn’t, “Hey, I wanted to get stronger. I wanted to get bigger. I wanted to get faster.” He said, “Whenever I would watch film, I would look at where cornerbacks are attacking me at the point of attack, where their hands were, where their leverage was. I was watching them where they were before I caught the ball, and I was watching them where I was as soon as I caught the ball and after I caught the ball. He was made in a lab. He is the son of a Hall of Fame receiver. Like it it is so so evident and I think that’s why the Cardinals were so confident in taking him is okay if we don’t get returns and dividends year one. We know a guy like that who has the talent and is going to put the work in eventually things are going to come to fruition. That is exactly what we have seen in training camp so far. He’s missed the last two practices due to knee soreness because the Cardinals being very very cautious with him and I definitely align with that. Every single time Marvin Harrison Jr. has been thrown the ball, he’s caught it. He has made play after play after play after play. He He’s coming down with those tough catches. He’s coming down with the 5050 balls. He doesn’t need five yards of separation because that that’s just that really isn’t a thing in the NFL like it is in college. He he’s winning routes. He’s winning 101’s. He’s finding holes in in zone coverages. Marvin Harrison Jr. in 2025 looks like the guy everybody had wanted him to last year. And I think the confidence like you had highlighted is a very very big thing because I remember at the end last year we talked to his receivers coach and he’s like I want to see Marv get that dog in him at at the top of the route when you need to separate when when you to break off that comeback route. I I need that FU mentality in him. I I I need that mean streak in Marvin Harrison Jr. And like Marvin isn’t going to go to the media and say, “Yeah, this guy can’t cover me and that guy can’t cover me.” But I I think we’re getting a little bit of that. And like you said, receivers, especially nowadays, man, you need it. You need it. And I think maybe maybe we’re not getting the entire chocolate bar, but we got a little Hershey’s Kiss and maybe that’s all we need. Dude, you were just Listen, you you were just spitting for like five minutes and then you ended it with that bar. uh you’ve got me buying more into Marvin Harrison Jr. now even before than I was. I was really starting to buy into especially after I heard the Kyler Murray quote and then you had said that. So I mean expectations are high for Marvin. You had mentioned before like I’m not really into ranking wide receivers after one year because things are different. But like I do understand when people say well Malik Neighbors, Brian Thomas Jr. and Lamb Nikoni are all better. And of course there’s the argument of like well target shares and all that stuff. So, like we’ll see after year or two. That’s when I’ll give a real report card. Uh, really quickly, would you like to guess how many targets uh Malik Neighbors had last year? There’s no wrong answers here. Uh, [Music] 150 somewhere around. He had 170 targets and Marvin Harrison Jr. had 116. So, little bit of lack of opportunity there. just a little bit of lack because one guy is being asked to, you know, save the offense. The other guy’s got Trey McBride and stuff. I I just think if Marv and Trey, like if Marv takes the next step to like 1,250 yards, 10 touchdowns, which I think is like elite, especially when you have another guy in Trey McBride who’s going to have 1,000 yards, too. I think you’re talking about the Cardinals being a 12- win team. Like I I I genuinely do believe that because then it’s like, okay, the defense has to just suck because I’m getting 2500 yards from two guys, which I think is very possible. 2,300 yards. Um, I’ll get to Kyler in a second. We We’ve talked We talked at Nauseium about Kyler and I do have one question, but I think this is more interesting because this is where the Ben Garcia show is going to say something and three months from now, I think we’re going to get another point. Uh Jonah Williams looks awful. And uh this was all the way up until last year. The Cardinals signed Jonah Williams to the Cincinnati Bengals, who was a former first round pick, uh 25 years old. And everyone was like, “Oh, we got a former first. We got a right. Jonah Williams is going to be great.” And I went, “Wait a second. Why would the Bengals I know the Bengals do a lot of dumb stuff, but why would they let a franchise right tackle go uh who can’t really stay healthy? He’s been iffy in the pros. Training camp, I was there. Didn’t look good. Preseason, didn’t look good. First game of the season, he got hurt. He didn’t look good in that game either. Um, I think the Cardinals are going to have a right tackle problem. Granted, they brought back Kelvin Beichchum, who could potentially solve that issue. He He did play fine last year. Am am I right? Am I right about Jonah Williams? I mean, listen, I know you’re right next to these guys, so it’s easier for me to say he’s been terrible, and you can say it a little bit nicer, but um from what I’m seeing, looks like the weak leak in that offensive line. Am I right? If you had to pick one, it’s probably him. Uh I’m not going to go as far to say he’s been terrible. Uh he hasn’t looked like an all pro rate tackle. I will say that. Um, and I remember going back to the whole Bengals thing, they he requested a trade because he wanted to play left tackle and then they went and got was it Orlando Brown? Um, some they went and got somebody to play left tackle. I think you’re right. And he he he requested a trade and then they they moved him to right tackle and then he was a free agent and then the Cardinals gave him two for 30 and I was like, “Okay.” I remember asking him in in his first press conference, I’m like, “Are you playing left to right tackle?” and he’s like, “I’ll play wherever they want.” And I’m like, you know, if you had to add it through with the Bengals, you wouldn’t be here right now, my man. So, like, obviously there’s like a plan for you. Um, didn’t say that out loud because, you know, why would I? Um, like you said, we got one quarter of him before he had a knee injury, came back, another knee injury to to hit IR. Um, last year of his contract, like he’s going to be the starter at right tackle at some point. Do we see Kelvin Beichum at right tackle? I wouldn’t be shocked because at some point I think what I really like about Ganon and Austin Fort is they’re going to put the best lineup out there regardless of where you’re drafted, regardless of how much money you were being paid, regardless of all that. They want to win football games. They’re in the business of winning good football games with good players. Do we see a backup at right tackle at some point? Possibly. Possibly. I’m rooting for Jonah Williams. I I want him to do good. Um, I think it benefits everybody if he’s able to hold his end of the stick. But that being said, I can’t say he looks great in training camp. I can’t say he looks good in training camp. He’s kind of just there for me. He’s kind of just there. And like that’s different between guards where we talked about Isaiah Adams where it’s like, “Hey, you don’t hear your name called, get out of there. Go get a steak, big dog. You earned it.” A tackle, you’re going against premier edge players week after week after week. you’re going to be in the spotlight. Jonah Williams wasn’t in the spotlight for very long last year, is another year older, is coming off a serious knee injury. There were already questions about his mode of play before he got to the desert. So, I’m very much in wait and see mode whenever it comes to him. I’m not buying Jonah Williams stock like I am Marvin Harrison Jr. stock. And I I’ll just leave it at that. Okay, that’s a good way to put it. Maybe I was a little harsh calling him a uh you know, future insurance salesman. Um uh I I’m going to be honest with you. I’m kind of getting tired about talking about Kyler Murray because there’s not much more you can say about him. Like he’s the quarterback. I’m going to talk about him because that’s what my listenership likes. Um I blame Kyler mostly for last year’s crash. Uh, I’ve bought Kyler Murray stock every single year and I’m not going to do it again to myself. I’m in wait and see mode. I am doing the Okay, this year is going to be different. Why? It’s like a relationship with a girlfriend when you guys keep breaking up and getting back together and they’re like, “Well, we’re not going to do that that time. I’m going to be I’m going to listen more. I’m going to be nicer or I’m going to, you know, I’m going to be nicer to her family or whatever.” But you keep breaking up and like it’s really good for the three weeks that you’re back together, which is the off season, and then the season starts and you’re like, “Oh, look. It’s it’s going it’s going well, and the by-week shows up and Kyler Murray falls flat on his face.” I’m rooting for Kyler. Our lives get so much better if Kyler Murray is good. I am not a Kyler Murray hater. He has me blocked on all social media platforms. He’s not a big fan of me. I want him to succeed. Sell me. Why is it going to be different this year with Kyler when it’s the same offense, the same offensive coordinator, and the same team? Maybe you don’t believe the same way, but I’m going to ask for you to be positive here. Sell me on Kyler. Why is it going to be different this year? Okay. If if you’re asking me to sell you on Kyler Burberry in 2025, I’m going to tell you this, and it’s what the Cardinals have tried to sell everybody on is continuity, the power of friendship, uh rep after rep after rep, familiarity. I’m glad you really like that. uh the the power of familiarity and just being in the same system for a third year with these same guys. There is some level of okay, we’re on the same page and that matters. When it’s late in the game, when we need a two-minute drill, when it gets late in the season, we’ve all been in this together, not once, not twice, but a handful of times. We know each other, and I I think that is important. That being said, I think a lot of the discourse around Kyler Murray comes to ultimately his consistency and his decision-making. And there’s no amount of continuity. There’s no amount of reps with Marv or Trey or whatever that ultimately will dictate how how consistent he plays on a week- toeek basis and his decision-m especially late in games. Eight interceptions the last seven games of the year. Um, a lot of them came in crunch time or on on plays like fourth down where it was kind of like got to I haven’t moments. Um, and he knows that. He knows that. I’m I’m not saying any revolutionary takes or words or anything like that. Like he’s well aware of it. The Cardinal are well aware of it. Um, but it’s so hard to look at Kyler and not just still see that potential within him. Crazy. athletic and like he has an arm that can make pretty much like in any throw even though his his his deep ball numbers have gone down. Um and like you you just hope you just hope and like Ben like I’ll be honest with you my man like I’ve I’ve been a Kyler guy. I’ve I’ve been somebody who has been on his corner for years because I see the upside. I see the potential but at the end of last year whenever everything happened like it did. I remember hopping on my own podcast and being like you know what like I’ll open the door. I I I will not shun these conversations away anymore. And I think 2025 is going to be such a fun year because more than anything else, Ben, we’re gonna find out if it’s a Kyler Murray problem, if it’s a Drew Petting problem, and like like who who’s responsible because it’s year it’s going to be year number three. Well, technically year number two because Kyler was coming back from that torn ACL. Full year number two under Drew Petting. Do you got it? Do you don’t? point is you don’t got it. Let’s have some conversations, baby, cuz we we got to figure something out. It’s such a scary place to be. I Kyler Murray is the most interesting player in the NFL. Uh not because he’s amazing, not because he’s terrible, but because he literally could be the best player on the field or one of the worst players on the field in any given week because I go back to fourth and I think it was 12 against the NerS when they uh when he throws a outbreaking route to Marvin Harrison Jr. anticipates the throw in the fourth quarter where they need it and they’re trying to score uh to to win the game. He throws an outbreaking route to Marvin Harrison Jr. with Fred Warner down his throat, man, and makes a throw perfectly and uh uh anticipates it, gets the first down, moves the change, the Cardinals end up winning the game. Or when he just outruns the entire entire Niners team or he outruns the entire Chargers team, throwing the hand up at the 40. Yep. Yes, dude. But then it’s but then it’s when he throws an interception to the Patriots that got called back or just too the fourth down pick against Seattle where uh was it Kobe? Yep. Oh yeah, the co the Kobe Bryant one that was in Seattle. The one in the with the again in Phoenix where he threw two bad interceptions where Ping was letting him rip and I’m like can’t have that, man. So like I got to make a decision this year. I’m sure I’ll have one by the by the end of it. But let’s move over to the defense. So, don’t keep you too long here, but um who’s Okay, so last year I was on the sidelines, too. And we all talked about damn Darius Robinson really looks good. Um and maybe the Cardinals don’t need Michael Parsons. Maybe they don’t need Trey Hendrickson. Maybe they don’t need whoever it is, right? TJ Watt when those guys were all available. Maybe they have it in um in Darius Robinson and we just don’t know it yet and we’re seeing it in spurts. Is this going to be a breakout year for Darius Robinson? Now, he’s an interior guy. So, like breakout means six and a half sacks because harder to get to the quarterback there, but he also can line up on the outside. Maybe he gets to 10, gets four there, six in the inside, which would be like nuclear. You’re talking insane numbers for especially a mostly interior guy. Um, is this going to be it? Is he going to break out for the Cardinals this year? And is he the the Micah blue chip pass rusher the Cardinals need? Um, still hesitant on the pass rush part. I do think there are some things about his ability to get to the quarterback that need to be fixed. I’m talking mostly in terms of like hand placement and and just kind of like the the moves and the the arsenal that he has in his back. Um, but when you look at Darius, he had a phenomenal training camp last year. Obviously, everything happened like it did last year. Um, but it’s been copy and paste because he’s looked so so good this year. Um, and I I remember being excited in 2024 and then he got hurt and then I I I remember just like him showing up at rookie mini camp. He he he was on the side. Obviously, he’s not a rookie. We’re watching a rookie stretch and lineup and somebody walks out of the facility to the side and we’re like, is that like Predator from Alien versus Predator? Like the the the dreads like the the huge body like oh my god. Like he looks jacked like if it looks like like protein eats him to try to get muscle. It’s so crazy, dude. And then like that that picture I took of like him standing next to Ganon like went viral, too. And it’s like oh my like this guy’s been in the lab clearly. He looks like he was made in the lab. Um he has looked very very good in one-on- ons and team activities. He he just he blows things up, man. Like his the great thing about Darius is that he’s so quick off of the ball and he is so strong. He’s extremely powerful. Like he is a body mover. He he is a human mover. I remember last year watching him push Paris Johnson, a blue chip prospect in the NFL, pushing him back like a grocery cart, Ben Garcia. And I’m like, this is not normal. These do not grow on trees. They have something here. So, I think breakout, I don’t think you can determine that by numbers or stats or anything. I really think especially in what Jonathan Gon is called year 1.5 for Darius, it’s going to be mostly eye test. But like, dude, does he look good, man? Does he look good? That the entire defensive line looks good, too. I remember the first day of pass that that defensive line wrecked everything the Cardinals offense tried to do. Everything. Literally everything. The offense could not get anything going. Nothing. And I I walked out of that practice suit and I’m like, “That’s a problem. That’s a good problem for the Cardinals to have.” It’s so funny, man, because in training camp, you’re like, “Oh my god, the defense looks awesome.” But then the flips are like, “Wait a second. What about the offense?” Cuz they’re going to push around right now. It’s like it’s the Spider-Man meme looking at each other. Um I I felt like you were gonna say about Darius and so I’m excited for it. Let’s uh Yeah, I I was really concerned when I heard about Walter Nolan’s injury because I’m like, damn, is he going to be out for 10 weeks like like Darius Robinson was? I believe Daryus Robinson made his his return week 11 against the Vikings somewhere around there. And it took a long time for him to kind of get into that frame. I really hope that’s not the Walter Nolan injury, but you have to. You see what happens if you don’t take care of a calf injury. That is not special in the NBA, dudes. Terra Achilles. So, like take the time you need. I’d rather not deal with that. I I think that’s exactly what they’re doing, Ben, because I think they learned last year um Darius let it slip in an interview towards the end of the year that he reagravated a calf injury coming back trying to work his way back. So like I think he had a setback at some point like that that isn’t confirmed like like no no no official reporting has been done on that but um he made a comment that suggested that he had suffered a setback in his rehab from the calf injury and I think the Cardinals are going to be extra cautious and careful with Walter Nolan. the initial reports from like guys like Ian Rapaort are saying that he’s going to miss like all of training camp which like I’m not super concerned about one because like there there’s still a lot of time for for him to remain green in that Cardinal defensive line room because they don’t need him to produce. They didn’t draft Walter Nolan out of need. They’re not counting on him for their defensive success in 2025. They did a very very good job stacking that room specifically this off seasonason to ensure because they rotate everybody on that defensive line on a weekly basis. Like so many guys get snaps and deservably so. So like Walram Nolan is just going to be icing on top of the cake whenever he’s healthy. I don’t think he’s going to miss a whole bunch of time. I don’t have a time frame. Like I I I have no indications sources reporting on any of that. But Well, they don’t have to either. They don’t have to by right now. Exactly. Yeah. once the regular season starts like they have to be very clear w with their reporting but right now they really don’t have to be um they don’t have to do anything actually pretty much yeah because there’s no injury reports for like preseason games or anything like that but no I I think maybe they they learned from the last calf injury they had for a firstround pick defensive lineman and they don’t want that to happen again. Uh two more questions then I’ll let you out of here. Uh Chad Ryland, no I’m kidding. Um he’s a cool dude man. I like talking to him. He He’s Those special team guys are different, bro. They’re wired. He’s a cool He’s a cool guy until he misses a kick. So, you know what, buddy? We We We love you. Make your kicks, okay? I’m not going to We’re not You’re cool until you miss a kick. Um BJ Ojelari, uh you just forget about him. He looked pretty good in camp last year. Torn ACL. Uh I there’s again, what am I How is BJ Ojelari looked like no one knows. Do we have an idea of when that dude’s coming back? Same thing with the NFL, too. Like right now, Cardinals don’t have to say Jack Bipe. Literally nothing. Now, when the regular season starts, they have to start being more clear. But right now, they don’t have to say anything. Do we know anything about BJ? Is he going to be back soon? He’s supposed to be one of those guys on the edges. Is there like a talk on the sidelines like, “Hey, where’s BJ?” Nothing. All right. I mean, there there’s there’s like questions about like, hey, like where do we know BJ’s going to come back? Like, is is he good? He was at practice in street clothes yesterday. I I think my dude Tyler Drake or Bo Brock had pointed that out. Um we I could not tell you my man that there has been literally zero talk from the Cardinals other than Jonathan Ganon the first day saying, “Hey, like BJ, Walter Nolan, and Blown Nichols, uh they’re they’re not going to be out there today. Uh they’re they’re all dealing with their things.” Um, and you you would hope he would be close to like ramping up. Um, this is about the time last year where he where he where he tore his ACL, right? And like like modern technology like it’s about like 9 10 months. Yeah, it’s about nine months. 910 now. So, um, but also like that’s another case of the the Cardinals saying, “Hey, you know what? Like we loaded that outside linebackers room. You know, we’re not banking on Ojelar’s third year to guide us to a Super Bowl. um if if we do make it into the postseason, like there’s going to be other factors as to why that happens. Ojelari again would just be another icing on top of the cake kind of deal. But no, dude, I I I could not tell you. They could come out tomorrow and be like, “Yeah, BJ’s done for the year.” And I would be like, “Oh, okay.” Or they could come out and be like, “Yeah, going to start practicing next week.” And be like, “Oh, okay.” Like it’s a there’s been no chatter, buzz, whatever you want to call it about him. So, we’re just kind of in limbo, dude. I um well I I I cover the team, you know, from my bedroom, but I cover the team and it’s like um I forgot about BJ. I they they loaded the the room up so much that someone had mentioned to me, hey, what about BJ? And I’m like, oh yeah, what happened BJ was Jalar? You looked great last year. So just kind of getting your check in there. This is my final question. We’ll get you out of here. Will Johnson, um I would have drafted him with the 16th overall pick before, you know, Walter Nolan fell and all that stuff. I just felt like premium position. I thought he was awesome. He’s they somehow got both. Um, is he going to come out right away and just be awesome or are you like me keeping your expectations somewhat tempered knowing that down the line he could just be freaking awesome, but he’s a rookie? I think the hardest transformation in the NFL, even harder than quarterback, in just the first year, is going from guarding Panera Bread and McDonald’s University uh wide receivers in college week in and week out, and then going in and having to guard Marvin Harrison Jr. uh every day in training camp. Is he going to be awesome right out of the gate? Or are you like, let’s give the guy half a season to get the rookie stuff out of the way. He’s gonna be thrust into a role with Stling Thomas gone, who went from really terrible to really serviceable, like a number two quarterback serviceable late last year. Uh, where you at on Will? Yeah, I I think I’m more with you. Um, like I’m excited for Will Johnson can be. Uh, will he come out and have like a S Gardner, a Pat Certan rookie campaign? Is he going to clamp people? Do best celebration in in sports, by the way. The seat belt. I love that. Um, is he gonna have that? I’m I’m kind of I’m I’m holding my breath on it. And that’s not against Will Johnson because I do think he’s going to be a premier player, but I was very excited for him to kind of just like slowly merge his way into the starting lineup with guys like Shawn Murphy Bunting and Sterling Thomas ahead of him. Like they didn’t they wouldn’t have to throw him to the Wolves week one. Now both of those guys are gone and like Will Johnson is talented enough to where like he’s gonna be a starter week one like it like if if you’re asking me right now it’s him and Max Melton on the outside and Nicole Packages with Garrett Williams in in the slot and then base defense their three four defense it’s going to be Garrett Williams on one side and then maybe a rotation of like Max and Will on the other side. Um, like you said, rookie quarterback is like the hardest position to master besides quarterback obviously. Um, but you you just you you look at everything Will Johnson is. He’s big, he’s long, he’s fast, he’s a ball hawk, he’s got a nose for the football, he’s good in man, he’s good in zone. Like there’s really not a lot of the the weaknesses you would like aim for in a quarterback whenever you’re scouting. There’s there’s not a whole lot of them. And that’s been true in training camp so far. Johnson really hasn’t lost a ton of reps. He he’s he’s been had a handful of times. Like yesterday, like Michael Wilson beat him on a go route and he he had him by a couple steps, but like that happens. That happens against rookie quarterbacks. Like it’s just like it is what it is. So I I don’t have like Will Johnson all pro corner hopes like year one. I don’t think that’s very fair to Hamilton or or the Cardinals given everything that’s like happened and panned out. Um because you you don’t draft guys for only one year of production. you draft him to be, you know, one of the best players down the road two or three years later. Now, if you get immediate substantial returns from Will Johnson, phenomenal printed jerseys, Subzero, love the nickname. I’m I’m all in on that. Um, the potential is there. I just don’t want to put that onus on him, even though I think he can handle it. God, this is why I like having you on because it’s like it’s like I’m talking to myself. I’m like the the he’s going to be awesome. I’m like, “Okay, can we just can we give the guy four weeks to get burnt a couple of times and just give him a pass because it’s going to be really effing difficult to go from guarding to from guarding Central Michigan’s number one wide receiver to I don’t know, Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase in week 15 when he’s got him like it’s he’s a rookie. All right, let’s just let’s give him eight weeks to like not be awful, but like he’s going to give up a couple of touchdowns because it’s just difficult.” Uh, that still says still says a lot that they’ve got him in the uh in the first steps. 30 seconds on this just because I I want to get you out of here and I want to respect your time. I know you’re gonna say you got I could be here for 10 hours. No, you can’t. You got things you got to do. Does it worry you a little bit that you have a third year a third year corner and Garrett Williams, which not so much, but on the outside second year corner and a first year corner. Does it worry you a little bit that like teams are going to test the youth of those two guys? is that I’m a little concerned there. Not massively. You got a lot of help over the top, DTR and and Jaylen and Buddha. And I think you can run some three safety sets, put Jaylen in the slot and kind of mask that stuff a little bit. But yeah, uh little worrisome about the youth on the outside. Uh worrisome wouldn’t be the word I I would quantify it as. um patient maybe kind of just like like neutral because that’s been brought up a handful of times in press conferences with with Ras like hey like hey like this is this is like a very green cornerback room like what’s up like you know like like obviously you have to frame the questions a little bit differently but it’s like hey like you know you can’t just say you oh I’m sorry you can’t just say hey Ganon do they suck you can’t just you can’t just do Yeah. Yeah. Not not like every Twitter user thinks we do in the the press conferences. Um, no, man. I I think I’m I think I’m still pretty confident because one, like Jonathan Ganon, like his specialty is quarterback, so like I’m not super worried about that. Nick Rises is a very very good defensive coordinator. And then I love how you highlighted the safety help behind him, too, because I think that will help mask a lot of the the stuff that you wouldn’t normally see out of a very very young quarterback room. Mhm. Okay. All right. That was my main concern. Listen, you’re you’re kind of making you’re you’re flattering me unintentionally. I’m like, listen, these are the things I’m concerned about. And you’re like, you know what? You’d make a great Cardinals on SI reporter. Not as good as me, but you you’d figure it out. Uh my guy Donnie Duan way way way way too gracious at this time. He’s got to get over to Cardinals training camp red and white scrimmage today. My guy Donnie Joan Cardinals on SI. Appreciate you making time. Make sure you follow this guy on social media. Myself, Ben Garcia show. Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe to the channel. Go. I link it every time I have him on. Cardinals on SI. I put the in the description. Go there, subscribe to it. You don’t have to hear my annoying voice. You can just hear his voice provoking takes. Um, last thing I’ll say, Ronaldo’s better than Messi, right? We’ll just we’ll get out of here. Absolutely not. For Donnie Duan, myself, uh Benj Garcia, the Ben Garcia show, Cardinals on his side, Donnie Druin. We will talk to you guys or at least I will come Monday morning at 700

Are the Arizona Cardinals playoff contenders in 2025? The team’s impressive training camp and offseason moves have sparked debate.

Ben Garcia and guest Donnie Druin from Cardinals on SI (@CardinalsonSI) break down if the team should pursue star players such as Terry Mclaurin and Micah Parsons. Plus, why will it be different for both Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr?

Finally, is the Cardinals defense going top be in top 10 discussions? Is the youth at corner back worrisome?

Join the two as they break it all down and swap training camp notes!

Socials:

X:
https://x.com/BenGarciaShow

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/bengarciashow/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/benjamin.garcia.180

TikTok:

@bengarciashow