Cardinals offensive coordinator on approach for 1st preseason game
Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing spoke about the plan for their first preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Arizona Cardinals concluded their 12-practice training camp slate on Thursday, Aug. 7. Unlike their previous 10 practices, this was behind closed doors and only open to media for a brief window.
So, instead of daily observations, it provides a useful opportunity to look back on camp as a whole — specifically, a Cardinals offense that took on a different look in training camp.
Last year, Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison Jr. saw just over half of the Cardinals’ targets. In training camp, those two dominated the target share.
Excluding the days of camp that Harrison missed with a minor knee injury, he and McBride earned over 60% of Kyler Murray’s targets. Those numbers are based on full-speed, 11-on-11 practice sessions.
Here’s the full breakdown from camp, which featured five of those sessions with Harrison healthy.
Marvin Harrison Jr., 14
Trey McBride, 13
Zay Jones, 5
Trey Benson, 4
Greg Dortch, 3
Michael Wilson, 2
Elijah Higgins, 1
James Conner, 1
Harrison’s workload was particularly notable, as it amounted to a 33% target share — up from 22% last season.
“If (Harrison) can continue to play at the level that he’s been in camp, I think he’s gonna be a force to deal with,” Wilson said. “He’s been lights out.”
Wilson, it should be noted, missed one of those five sessions with a concussion. On Wilson’s one healthy day with Harrison absent, he led the Cardinals with five targets.
Here are some other observations as the Cardinals wrapped up training camp:
A more even backfield split
One of the preeminent trends of training camp came in the Cardinals’ backfield, where Trey Benson played a much larger role with the first-team offense than he did last season.
The Cardinals typically bring out each unit for five plays at a time. This time last year, James Conner would often take four of the first team’s snaps, with Emari Demercado rotating in. This year, Conner generally rotated out after two or three snaps, ceding time to Benson.
Excluding the one day of camp that Conner missed for a veteran rest day, Benson saw 11 carries to Conner’s six. No other running back took a handoff with the first-team offense except for the day when Conner was absent. In that practice, Michael Carter earned two carries.
It’s worth noting that part of Conner’s lighter workload stemmed from a conscious effort to reduce the stress on his legs in training camp as he enters his ninth NFL season.
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“There’s a little more tread on the tires,” head coach Jonathan Gannon said. “Obviously, the position that he plays. And he might not need as many reps to get ready for Week 1 as some younger guys. So we factor that in.”
Still, the shift is jarring from last season, when Benson saw just 63 carries to Conner’s 236. One factor that should enable him to see more playing time is his improvement as a pass-protector and pass-catcher.
Last season, the Cardinals used Demercado as their third-down back. That limited Benson’s role to spelling Conner on early downs.
“From an assignment standpoint (in pass protection), his eyes, his understanding of what to do and how to do it, it’s been really good,” offensive coordinator Drew Petzing said. “The limited reps you can manufacture in practice, I think he’s done a great job of stepping up and being physical.”
Michael Wilson makes full return
The most notable aspect of the Cardinals’ final training camp practice was Wilson’s full return.
After suffering a concussion diving for a pass on Aug. 1, he made his partial return in a no-contact jersey on Aug. 6. A day later, he was a full participant in all drills.
That’s good news given the Cardinals’ limited depth at wide receiver. Their top options behind Wilson are Zay Jones and Greg Dortch. Further down the depth chart, players like Xavier Weaver, Simi Fehoko and Tejhaun Palmer would potentially see snaps if Harrison or Wilson miss any time during the regular season.