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With the Arizona Cardinals sitting at 3-9 — and with their playoff hopes officially extinguished — there’s an opportunity to turn toward the future.
Five games remain in their lost 2025 season. All five are opportunities to learn more about their young players and push the development of that group. No matter how much a player can improve in practice, there’s nothing like live game action. This week, one Cardinals player estimated that each game rep is worth “four to five” practice reps.
“It should accelerate their growth one way or the other,” coach Jonathan Gannon said. “The biggest form of learning, in my opinion, are game reps. So it’s good to see guys play. Cause you don’t know how they’re gonna respond and how they’re gonna play when the lights are on. For me, I love to see those guys out there.”
And yet, in the same breath, Gannon said that playing-time decisions will not be predicated on player development.
“No, do what the best thing we think is to win the game,” Gannon said. “That’s what we’ll keep doing.”
But if Gannon changes his mind, here are six young players the Cardinals can more deeply evaluate.
Running back Trey Benson
The question is whether Benson can return to the field at any point this year. Unlike every other player on this list, Benson is entrenched as a starter; James Conner is out for the season. But the Cardinals shut Benson down last week amid a lingering knee injury. He must be activated to the 53-man roster by Dec. 10 or his season will be over.
If Benson does return, it’s a crucial opportunity for the Cardinals to learn what they have in the 2024 third-round pick. As a rookie, Benson struggled to hit open holes, often bouncing runs outside unnecessarily. But in limited opportunities this year, he had shown growth, averaging 5.5 yards per carry on 29 attempts before his injury.
The question is whether that growth is enough to move on from James Conner, a stalwart here for the past five years. Conner will be 31 next season, coming off a serious injury, with a $10.3 million cap hit. The Cardinals can save $8 million if they cut him.
Offensive tackle Josh Fryar
The Cardinals are set at left tackle with Paris Johnson, but they desperately need a solution on the right side of the offensive line.
Jonah Williams, plagued by injury and struggling when healthy, is set to hit free agency after the season. And Kelvin Beachum, at 36, no longer looks like a reliable backup option.
The question, then, is which of the Cardinals’ in-house options can be part of the future. Fryar, an undrafted rookie, made the team out of training camp, which Gannon attributed to “his brain, he’s really smart.” He has primarily played as an extra offensive lineman in jumbo formations, though, making it difficult to know what the Cardinals have in him as a true tackle.
Offensive tackle Christian Jones
The same equation largely holds true for Jones, a 2024 fifth-round pick. He has missed most of his first two seasons with injuries but performed well as a starter in Week 18 last year.
He’s now back in practice and nearing a return from a knee injury suffered in the preseason opener. Like with Fryar, any reps down the stretch would help the Cardinals know what they have in him. It seems almost certain that they will acquire a new starting right tackle in free agency or the draft, but they’ll also need a swing tackle in 2026, with Beachum set to become a free agent.
Offensive guard Hayden Conner
The Cardinals’ 2026 picture is similarly murky at guard.
Evan Brown has regressed this year, and the team can save $5 million by cutting him. Will Hernandez struggled after returning from a torn ACL, then landed back on injured reserve with a hip injury. Isaiah Adams had a poor start to the season as well, though he has another chance with Hernandez sidelined, and he did perform well last week.
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It seems unlikely that Conner would change that picture drastically, given that he’s a sixth-round rookie who only recently returned from a knee injury. But there’s no saying how a player will perform until he’s tested in live action.
Linebacker Cody Simon
It’s almost cheating to put Simon on this list, given that he has played every snap in the Cardinals’ past four games. But Mack Wilson (ribs) is eligible to return from injured reserve in Week 15 and could play the final four games of the season. If the Cardinals return to their snap distribution from prior to Wilson’s injury, Simon would exclusively play on special teams.
The Cardinals, though, would benefit from learning more about Simon, their fourth-round rookie. He’s shown some positive signs in his four starts but has also struggled with his instincts in the run game. The Cardinals need to learn whether they need to find an upgrade at linebacker.
Safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson
Like Simon, Taylor-Demerson has seen plenty of opportunities in the back end of the defense. This season alone, he’s played 272 snaps, mostly when Garrett Williams was out, which forced Jalen Thompson to slide over to nickel corner.
But with Williams back, Taylor-Demerson’s opportunities dried up, even before a recent ankle injury forced him out of the past three games. The Cardinals need to learn whether he’s ready to take over as a full-time replacement for Thompson, a free agent after the season.