The Arizona Cardinals Are In A Bad Situation

The Arizona Cardinals Are In A Bad Situation

The Arizona Cardinals are not off to a great start to the 2025 season as they started 2-0 with wins over the Saints and Panthers, then drop four in a row to fall to 2-4. And it’s been a frustrating start to the 2025 season for the Cardinals as not only have they been in all four of their losses, but you can make a case they should have won a few of those games. And despite being two and four, they have more points scored than points allowed on the year. Their four losses have been by a combined nine points. And what is extremely unfortunate for the Cardinals is they haven’t hit the worst part of their schedule. Not even close. After their week eight buy, they have a brutal six-game stretch that is games like at Seattle, at Tampa, and home against the Rams to name a few. And what’s really frustrating for the Cardinals is this was supposed to be a year where they take a step and they haven’t. They have one game with 400 yards all season offensively, and that was with Jacobe Brassette starting against the Colts. And pertaining to their future, the Arizona Cardinals are in a bad situation. And in today’s video, we’re going to break down how we got here, what the next steps are, and what they should do moving forward. Now, let’s begin. And we are starting today’s video by going back a few years, and really breaking down how we got to where we are today. The Cardinals finished the 2022 season with a 4-13 record. And that offseason hired Monty Ozen for it to be the team’s next general manager and Jonathan Ganon to be the team’s next head coach. And one thing I do want to acknowledge within the Jonathan Ganon hire specifically was this job was not that lucrative at the time because for anyone who may not remember, Kyler Murray tore his ACL in week 14 of the 2022 season just a month before the season ended, meaning the recovery time from his injury was going to force him to miss some games in 2023. So, in a lot of ways, the Cardinals knew heading into 2023 that it was going to be a long year because at the time they had no idea how long their quarterback was going to be out. And they started Josh Dobs for eight games in 2023 and even started Clayton Ton for a game at Cleveland in which they lost 27 to nothing and had less than 60 yards of total offense. And needless to say, it was a very long nine games without Kyler Murray. And the reason we bring this up the early parts of 2023 is I want to be fair to Jonathan Ganon and provide some reason as to why his record is as poor as it is since taking over as the Cardinals head coach. And for reference, he has a lifetime head coaching record of just 14 and 26. I definitely think there is reason to criticize Genanon, and we’ll get to that, but I think it’s more fair to start with the beginning of the 2024 season and go from there, at least in the conversation of judging Ganon’s record as a coach. And since the start of the 2024 season, the Cardinals are 10 and3. But to go back to 2023, we have to start with Monty Ozen for’s first draft class. And the one thing I want to hammer home in today’s video is I liked the vision this team had from the start. They wanted to build through the trenches and become a team who physically imposes their will on others. And during the first round of the 2023 draft, the Cardinals had the third overall pick, and it made a lot of sense for them to draft Will Anderson, a very talented pass rusher from Alabama. But they traded back with the Texans to pick 12 again from pick three in exchange for the number 12 pick in the 2023 draft, the number 33 pick in the 2023 draft, a 2024 first round pick, and a 2024 third round pick. And technically the Cardinals also gave up a 2023 fourth within this, but to receive another first round pick, a second round pick, and a third round pick for a swap of nine spots was a tremendous process by Arizona. And they eventually moved back up from pick 12 to pick six to draft their franchise left tackle, Paris Johnson. And anytime you can move back what is essentially three picks for another first round pick and two third round picks because they did trade another second round pick with the Lions to move back up to six. Well, the process itself was great by the Cardinals and I would argue the process of drafting a good pass rushing prospect and BJ Ojelari in the second round of the 2023 draft was also a great move by the Cardinals and a reason I really liked what they were building at the time. And it’s extremely easy to sit here and play revisionist history two and a half years later. But I will say at the time drafting Paris Johnson and BJ Ojelari and having the Texans first round pick in 2024 was a great job by Monti Ozenfort, especially with where this roster was at the time. I loved Ojelari coming out of LSU and thought he could be a guy who could generate 45 or 50 pressures per year and even have 8 to 10 sacks per season because of the variety of moves he showcased during his time at LSU. And this goes back to the philosophy of this team, which was to build through the trenches and ultimately through the NFL draft. And they did exactly that in 2023. It’s also extremely unfortunate for Arizona that Ojelari tore his ACL prior to the 24 season. And at the time of this video release, over 14 months later in October of 25, he is still on the physically unable to perform list. And we’ll dive more into the draft history and where we are now in a minute. But first, we have a word from today’s sponsor. And today’s video is sponsored by Prize Picks and my code GFB. We went two of three on picks last week as Jackson Smith Ajigba more than cleared the line of 82 and a half receiving yards and George Pickins also scored a touchdown. Unfortunately, Devonte Adams did not get to at least 61 and a half receiving yards as he finished the day with 39 receiving yards, but we’re looking to get back on track in week seven and this is through the seasonl long partner of the channel Prize Picks. The first two plays for week seven are both within the same game. Justin Jefferson to score and Jaylen Herz lower than 207 and a half passing yards. Jefferson’s only touchdown of the year came in week one against the Bears and a six-week drought for one of the best players in football is a long time without him being in the end zone. I think the Eagles are going to place a big emphasis on running the football and I don’t think they’re going to have a big day from a passing standpoint. So, I think there’s a better chance Saquon Barkley has of having a big day than Jaylen Herz in week seven. The final play is Baker Mayfield to throw for more than 235 1/2 yards against the Lions. And the reason for that is I think the game against the Bucks and Lions could be a shootout. And if it’s going to be a shootout, then I’m going to take the chances of Baker Mayfield throwing for more than 235 1/2 yards every single time. Basketball is also back this week. And on prize picks, there’s a Steph Curry half point prop where if he has a single point, the play cashes. So if you use code GFB when you sign up for prize picks after making a $5 deposit, you will receive $50 in lineups instantly. Once again, that’s code GFB. And when you make your first $5 deposit, you will receive $50 in lineups instantly. And a big thank you to Prize Picks for sponsoring today’s video. Now, like we said, I am willing to dismiss pretty much the entire 2023 season because if your starting quarterback misses more than half of the season, which Kyler did. He missed nine games, then your season is in a lot of ways over. Right now, the Ravens have been without Lamar Jackson for two weeks and they’re averaging six and a half points per game without Lamar Jackson under center. Lamar Jackson is a lot better of a player than Kyler Murray. The point is, if your starting quarterback is out for more than half the season, your season is pretty much over. But what I really respected from Montazen Fort and Jonathan Ganon from the start when they took over was how they went about the process of rebuilding or attempting to rebuild the Arizona Cardinals. And the trade back with the Texans, I thought was a tremendous process because they bet on the fact that the Houston Texans, who were led by a rookie head coach at the time and Demo Ryan, a rookie quarterback and CJ Stout, and if you want to include a rookie pass rusher and Will Anderson, be my guest. But what we are going for here is the rookie head coach and rookie quarterback. And they basically thought to themselves, hey, we are probably going to get a top 12 pick again in 2024. And the reality is if you can trade for a future first round pick with a rookie head coach and rookie quarterback while only moving back at the time nine spots. Houston did not know they were going to trade back up. So for the sake of this conversation, nine spots from pick three to pick 12. That was a tremendous hall by the Arizona Cardinals and that was a good bet for them. Now, unfortunately, it didn’t work out because the Texans ended up winning the AFC South. And it was a really good risk for the Cardinals at the time because this was coming off of the 2022 season. And I know the Browns have been what they’ve been over the past couple of years. in revisionist history is obviously 2020, but at the time you were looking at, if you’re the Cardinals, you were looking at Trevor Lawrence and the Jags coming off of a playoff win against the Chargers, a team that the Texans would have to face twice a year and presumably lose because Trevor Lawrence was further along into his career. And things finally started clicking at the end of the 22 season and like we said, a big 20 plus point comeback win and the fact that CJ Strad was by no means a perfect prospect. So, there were a lot of flaws to indicate that the Texans would probably be picking again in the top 12 of the 2024 draft. And also, at the time, the Texans had two first round picks in 2024, which of course was theirs, and Cleveland’s from the Deshaawn Watson trade. Now, again, revisionist history is of course 2020. Now, when we are going to talk about Deshaawn Watson here, we’re talking about the player he was in Houston and nothing else. Deshun Watson, the Houston Texan football player, was an electric I mean, he was an MVP candidate. There was a reason the Browns gave up three first round picks to begin with and other teams were willing to give up multiple first round picks. Again, talking about the player. So, when he came back at the end of 2022, nobody knew what was going to transpire after that and how he would play in 2023 and then obviously where we are now. So, for the Cardinals to again get the Texans first round pick in 2024 rather than the Browns was a great process. And now we kind of fast forward to the 2024 draft. They walk out with Marvin Harrison and Darius Robinson in the first round. Truly imagine in the 2026 draft if you’re a team like the Saints who may be selecting in the top five, though Spencer Rattler has been balling recently. Shout out to Spencer Rattler. But if you make a trade with somebody like the Jets, who trade up from wherever, and you get their 2027 first round pick in what is supposed to be a very loaded draft, by the way, for anyone who may not know, and then the Jets come out of nowhere, they beat the Patriots, they beat the Bills next year, and they win the AFC East and make the playoffs for the first time in nearly 20 years. The process itself from New Orleans would be correct. And that’s what we’re saying with the Cardinals here. And there was a very real vision that the Cardinals probably had that, hey, we can walk out of the 2024 draft with somebody like Marvin Harrison Jr. and even somebody like Joe Alt. And imagine if the Texans 23 season went the way that it did, and that the Cardinals in the present day had Kyler Murray, Trey Benson, James Connor, MHJ, Paris Johnson, and Joe Alt. That itself would be a hell of an offense. Now, where I think Monty Oenfort deserves some criticism is the selection of Darius Robinson at pick 27, who I personally had at player 70 on my 2024 top 150, and ultimately Isaiah Adams, a player they selected in the third round that I did not have in my top 150 at all. I did like the Cardinals 2024 draft class as a whole. I absolutely loved MHJ as a draft prospect. He was my number one player in the 2024 class. And I also really like the selection of Trey Benson and even blocking tight end Tip Ryman in the third round because it really placed an emphasis that this team was going to run the football, play big boy football in the trenches and and be a smashmouth team the way that Jonathan Ganon and Monty Oenfort wanted them to be. Now to go back to the first draft with Monty Ozen Fort because he is the general manager. He is the one that takes responsibility for the draft picks as the Arizona Cardinals GM and even 2024 for that matter too. Purposefully we are going to leave out the 2025 draft because they are only a handful of games into their careers. They can still very much turn it around and even 2024 can for that matter too. But to go back to BJ O Gelari being a second round pick in 2023 that has not played since his rookie season, I would argue the process of selecting him was correct. And ultimately, if you could have walked out of that first two days of the draft with Paris Johnson and BJ Gelari and another first round the following year in your back pocket, you were doing things the right way. and even drafting a player like Michael Wilson from Stanford who I thought could have been a really solid number two receiver at the NFL level and ultimately a player who is also a really good run blocker that fits directly into what Jonathan Ganon and Monty Ozen Fort wanted to do. Now I think there is some criticism warranted for the value that they had their players in the 2024 draft like we mentioned specifically with Darius Robinson and my big thing with Darius Robinson was I thought he was kind of a tweener. I didn’t think he had a true position and unfortunately he has not played well so far in the NFL though he’s only played in 10 games and I hope that I will eventually get proven wrong with Darius Robinson. Isaiah Adams I was not a huge fan of. I much would have preferred Cooper BB who has taken two picks after Isaiah Adams and I think that he would have been a much better player for the Cardinals. But the reality is when you look at what Monty Ozenfort has been trying to build over the past couple of years again from a process standpoint I would argue they did everything pretty much the right way. But business is very difficult. And just because the Cardinals have done a lot of things the right way over the past few years or have had a good process over the past few years. The 49ers, Rams, and Seahawks doesn’t matter to them. They don’t care. The NFC West is a very brutal division. And this also plays a big reason as to why the Cardinals are in a difficult position. Now, why the Cardinals are also in an extremely difficult position is this is a team that has spent the past few years building up to what they are now. And fair or not, the reality of where the Arizona Cardinals are now is not enough. And with Jonathan Ganon as this team’s head coach, and especially with offensive coordinator Drew Petting, who could have a 10 or 15inute video specifically dedicated to him, I don’t trust the Cardinals coaching staff when it comes hell or high water. And to be completely honest, I don’t trust Kyler Murray when it matters either. And the San Francisco game in week three to me is a perfect microcosm of the Jonathan Ganon, Drew Petting, and Kyler Murray era all in one sequence. The Cardinals got a safety with 3 minutes to play due to a Dominic Puny holding penalty in the end zone. Great. They’re up 15 to13 with 3 minutes to play and you’re getting the ball back with a chance to go to 3-0. They get a first down and San Francisco uses a timeout. Arizona now has the ball on their own 49 yd line with 218 to play with the 49ers having two timeouts along with the two-minute warning. Drew Petting calls a quarterback power run with Kyler Murray, which I already think is a questionable play call and it gains a single yard. They then run an inside zone split which gets no gain. So now we’re at the two-minute warning with a third and nine on the 50ard line with the 49ers having one timeout. Pretty simple. You get a first down and the game is over. The 49ers are in cover one with a quarterback spy and Drew Petting calls a clear out play where Marvin Harrison runs a deep post to take the safety out of the play. Michael Wilson and Z Jones each win their routes. And I would have preferred Kyler have thrown this pass to Michael Wilson, but he throws it to Z Jones and under throws it a bit as he should have let him a yard or so more towards the sideline, which gave Upton Stout a chance to break up the pass. You can make the case that Z Jones should have caught the ball, but Kyler missed Michael Wilson to begin with underneath and it was a good release concept dialed up by Drew Petting. So, credit where it’s due and Kyler missed the play. Long story short, the 49ers get the ball back at their own 20, drive down the field, and Eddie Pinierro makes a 35-yard field goal as time expires. And losing a game like that on the road against a division rival with a backup quarterback in M. Jones summarizes this era for the Cardinals. Two weeks later, they had the disaster against the Titans. And we all know what happened in that game. But my biggest question that I go back to with the Cardinals, and by the way, this applies to several other teams, not just Arizona, but do you ever think there will be a week 18 game where they have to go to Sofi or Levi Stadium or Lumen Field, and do you actually trust Kyler Murray and Jonathan Ganon to lead this team and come out with a win? Because I don’t. And the most frustrating thing for me with the Arizona Cardinals is it’s always something. They were six and four heading into their week 10 buy last year and went one and five in their next six games as they lost to the Seahawks twice, blew a second half double-digit lead to the Vikings. Also lost to the Panthers in overtime and you guessed it, lost to the Rams, too. Now, at the beginning of the video, I did say I was going to be fair to Jonathan Ganon from a record standpoint because I don’t think it’s fair to throw his record in his face when his starting quarterback missed more than half of a season. that would significantly affect any coach’s record. Especially when that accounts for nine of 40 games you’ve coached, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence they’re 10 and 13 since the start of the 2024 season when it was time for this team to take a step. And it also doesn’t help the Cardinals that they’re in one of the best divisions in all of football with what I would personally argue is three head coaches that are better than Ganon. So, while the Cardinals have done a lot of things right from a process standpoint, this only emphasizes just how hard it is to win in the NFL. And when you think about the NFC West, this division is probably going to be good for a long time. Now, I’m definitely not going to get into discussion of what it could look like in four or five years because anything can happen in four or five years in the NFL. But right now, you have to take a look across the division. Kyle Shanahan is a great head coach. Shawn McVey is a great head coach, also a Super Bowl champion. And the Seattle Seahawks are also on the rise. And Sam Darnold right now is not playing at a top 10 or top 12 level at the position. He’s playing at a top three level at the position. And the connection in the early parts of the 25 season between him and Jackson Smith is at another level right now. And there’s a reason that Jackson Smith Ajigba is very easily in the discussion for offensive player of the year heading into week seven of the 2025 season. And he’s also under 25 years old. So, you would have to imagine that he’s going to be around for a long time. Seattle will pay him and it’s just a matter of when. And I don’t think you can bank on the fact that there were rumors after one season that Shawn McVey may get tired of coaching and he may go into the media route and we have to hope that Shawn McVey is going to be out of the division because of a media job. So, whenever you look at this division, this is a very bad situation for the Cardinals to be in because of how high everyone else’s floor is within the division. And then you have to have the conversation about Jonathan Ganon because right now and like I said, I myself am willing to dismiss a lot of the 2023 season due in large part to his starting quarterback being out. But the media will not be as fair to Jonathan Ganon and that’s certainly not going to be factored in. Right now he is 14 and 26 lifetime as a head coach. Like I said, I’m willing to dismiss the 23 season. So personally in my book, I would say he’s more of 10 and 13 as the Cardinals head coach just because of the quarterback aspect. But anyways, the reality is if the Cardinals finished 6 and 11 at the end of the 2025 season, Jonathan Ganon will have coached 51 games in 3 years and you’d be looking at a record of something along the lines of 18 and 33 or maybe 19 and 32 through 3 years. And then you also have to factor in and say how much have we really improved over the course of Jonathan Ganon’s tenure and ultimately since they had Kyler Murray back from injury since he tore his ACL from the week 14 injury back in 2022. And I think that that conversation would go something along the lines of well they’ve made improvements on the roster but Jonathan Ganon really hasn’t got the most out of guys and he’s also played a part in them losing a couple of games specifically and also Drew Petting has for that matter too. But then you have the conversation of is Jonathan Ganon going to be fired at the end of the 25 season or are we going to have him enter the 2026 season on the hot seat again in a division that is absolutely loaded that features two great coaches in Kyle Shanahan and Shawn McVey and another team that like we said is very much on the rise in the Seattle Seahawks. Now I will be honest this is a rare situation where I don’t know what the play is regarding the future of the head coach, the quarterback and the GM of this football team. I will be pretty clear that I don’t think Jonathan Ganon is the long-term head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. And forget the the ultimatum of do you think he’s going to win a Super Bowl. I absolutely hate that because you are going to be right far more often than you’re going to be wrong when it’s a Super Bowl or bust ultimatum, whether it’s with a quarterback like Josh Allen or Lamar or a head coach like Jonathan Ganon. So, forget the Super Bowl or bust, but division title or bust. Do you think Jonathan Ganon is going to win an NFC West title at any point in the next two or three years? because I would probably lean no within that. And Kyler Murray’s future in the desert, I would also say is a question mark at this point in time. Now, he can be traded from a contract standpoint. So, getting out of the Kyler contract trade-wise is doable. And you would look at a team probably like the New York Jets. And we’ll see about the future of some other teams right now with question marks at the position long-term. The New York Jets would probably make the most sense if they don’t like somebody in the 2026 draft class, at least to select with the first or second overall pick in the draft. But pertaining to Kyler Murray’s future in the desert, he was asked a couple of weeks ago about the new practice facility they’re building that will open in 2028. And he said, “It’s beautiful and I hope I’m around to see it.” So, I would argue that there’s also some questions around Kyler Murray’s future in the desert as well. And with the GM and Monty Ozenfort, I would like to think that he’s going to be around for a couple of more years because again, from a process standpoint, I would argue that everything has been done pretty much the right way. But then you have the question of okay well a GM is entering year four and a head coach is entering year 1 and typically you want those you want those on the same timeline. So there’s definitely a question there of you know does a head coach want to work with Monty Ozen for it and could we bring in our best head coach candidate possible maybe not because maybe they don’t like Monty Ozen for maybe they don’t share the same vision. So, this is a very rare situation where I don’t think the head coach is going to be the long-term guy, but I also don’t think the general manager should be fired because I think that Monty Osen has done a pretty solid job of bringing in talent. And I still am on the Trey Benson train. I think that he will eventually figure things out. But we’ll see how everything else plays out. But the Arizona Cardinals right now, due in large part to the uncertainty they have around the organization and especially with how good the rest of the NFC West is, they are in a very difficult situation. I hope you enjoyed and if you did, please like the video and subscribe as we are closing in on 220,000 subscribers and I cannot thank you guys enough for these support. Thank you to Prize for sponsoring today’s video. If that is not for you, I completely understand. But if it is, always play responsibly and use code GFB when you sign up using the link below. Until next time, please be safe and have a great day.

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