Arizona Cardinals FULL 2024 Preview | Fantasy Projections, Depth Chart, & Predictions

Introduction what's up everybody welcome back to the channel today we are starting a new series where we look at every NFL team we look at their depth chart we look at their 2023 season we look at them from all aspects what they added in the draft we have fantasy projections on on deck for you and schedule predictions as well so this is a full-fledged Arizona Cardinals preview today we're going to 2023 Recap get into the Cardinals and we're just going to start right off 2023 recap so 4 and3 seven onore games and they were a record of two and five in those games so they were competitive um I think that's an important piece Kyler Murray came back uh and and performed pretty well I think uh better than many anticipated in the new offense um but maybe not as well as we had seen from Kyler before Trey McBride had a breakout year but their defense was the second worst in the NFL Randy what were your takeaways from the Cardinals last year uh yeah I mean Kyler missed half the year we kind of knew they weren't G to do anything I think for most people they won more games than we imagined and they still got arguably the best player of the draft so you know you got a little bit more confidence and KY in the offense a couple more wins than you were hoping for a little bit of a break out of Josh dos there really weird year for the Cardinals and almost a we're just throwing the can we're eating some money issues and we're figured out starting next year yeah and and we mentioned the defense we'll talk about what they added on on the defensive side of the ball but they certainly poured a lot of resource ources in to try to make this a more competitive group because I think their offense was shockingly good at times last year there were times where the Cardinals offense with Clayton ton at quarterback early in the year looked pretty good at at times so um there was a lot to build on I I really like what Drew petzing did for them still got a build on it they've added some talent Notable Roster Moves and and let's talk about what they added so um the big moves uh free agency Justin Jones Jonah Williams Shawn Murphy bunting bow Nichols Z Jones Evan Brown ma Wilson and then the draft Marvin Harrison Jr was was the cream of the crop there Darius Robinson as well Max Melton Trey Benson Isaiah Adams so they really um they they kind of had a balanced attack in on the draft side of things um where they they did get a wide receiver they went and got two skill positions but really they just invested heavy into this defense yeah again like you said second worst defense that was a very clear issue you had some spks from the offense last year you need to give them big weapons to help them grow and help the young weapons you had last year grow as well improve the offensive line slightly uh just to really plug in some holes and see if you could make it work for the future but the heavy invest and the defense was very smart the defensive line was really bad you have some upside Edge rushers so you added to that room slightly but you really added to your backbone of this defense and then drafted another threat and two good Corners in my opinion on day two to really bolster this defense and to if you can make it average this year with a young core you did your job yeah and when you look at what they lost just not a whole lot DJ humph uh has been up and down and and we were definitely on a down swing Jeff swam is like their their most impactful player that they lost on offense and then uh Carlos Watkins Rashad Fenton Josh Woods you know I think most people you know Cardinal fans I'm sure you know all of these guys but most like casual NFL fans don't know those last three names so that's a good sign when you you haven't lost a whole lot of impactful players um Hollywood Brown should be on that list as well um yeah but my thing was that I think they were always losing Hollywood Brown they kind of knew that and so this wide receiver room they were starting to build towards that and that's why you know they added Z Jones as a nice like headed of your bet on Michael Wilson um but I still like Michael Wilson so let's Projected Offense let's get into the depth chart on that note because um right now we talked pre-show I still think that this offensive line uh it's got promised but there is certainly some room for improvement from that group they signed Evan Brown they drafted a couple of guards like we mentioned they signed Jonah Williams but like when you stack this lineup offensive line up against the rest of the NFL you're still looking at probably a bottom third group is that where you'd put them yeah for sure I mean Paris Johnson uh we're we're not 100% sure where their tackles are going to set Jon Williams and Paris Johnson but if he Paris Johnson continues to grow Jonah Williams has shown some flashes at being actually a really good quality starter if he can continue that wiow Hernandez was really good for you but you improve this offensive line from last year even if it's just slightly uh but yeah it's still a bottom third maybe with Paris Johnson elevating his game we get to average uh of the NFL but you did a good Stepping Stones you built everywhere else you built on the defense you gave yourself more weapons and then you added some death pieces it's a good start I think they still have to attack interior offensive light next year obviously yeah for sure and then the wide receiver room we we just mentioned that but right now you know some of these dep charts are probably a little wrong I I think Michael Wilson and Greg dorch probably both start together uh I think the battle would be maybe with Michael Wilson and Z Jones um but some places have the three starters as Marvin Harrison Jr Michael Wilson and Z Jones so wherever you look I don't actually think that this will be the case but I do think there's a clear four person rotation in this wide receiver room this is an offense that will use a lot of 12 Personnel so it was important that they got someone like tip Ryman that can go out there and be that blocking tight end so that Trey McBride can move around and be a weapon on the rece end of things like he was throughout most of last year um we'll get into to the fantasy rankings and projections Randy but do you think Trey McBride takes a a massive hit with Marvin Harrison Jr coming in ye from the style of gameplay we saw last year yeah but that's only because Hollywood was hurt Mike Wilson was slowly breaking out and got banged up same with dorge it just really didn't work out to where like proba was really the only weapon there for the longest time besides James Conor so yeah he's going to take like a Target shair hit but I don't think that necessarily is going to get close with production just because there should be an upgrade to touchdown production of this offense uh he's not going to have much a tight coverage or any double coverage really because Marvin Harrison is getting all of that uh and then Z Jones is a good deep threat you have to take coverage on that side as well to help out McBride should have some open zones this year and I think maybe it's not as consistent last year where he's getting double ditch at Targets a game but I think the production can be at least close if not the same yeah yeah we'll get into it but I I think the efficiency is going to go way up uh I think the targets will go down but there's also a I mean when you look at the rest of this this group like you can argue that the running backs will will Garner some targets I think Trey Benson is certainly a good addition they can use him in the passing attack and and I have it projected that way James Conor is still going to be a factor in this offense but when you look at outside of that like Michael Wilson and Z Jones are good NFL players but they're not inspiring from a let's feed these guys targets type of of mindset so to me I think Harrison and McBride are still gonna be the clear leaders in in Target share when we get down to it Kyler Murray taking a step forward back to kind of what we used to see with Cliff Kingsbury uh I hope not uh to what we saw because we really didn't like that offense um hated it gross I I do think he's going to be he's obviously going to be quarterback to this year at worst um Dynasty wise I think this is a great sign for him I think this easily sets him back in as a dynasty quarterback one but we do really need to see a full off season and a full season of color in this offense with those coaching staff see if they can improve so we know the coaching staff's can stick around and there's a lot still to be left to prove here and they still really have to add continually to these weapons for him to get you succeed I'm curious with the injury history at this point how much he's going to keep running obviously it's going to be part of his game but it was a crucial part of his game early in his career let's see if he can get back to throwing the ball a little bit more uh so a little bit less on the legs now you have two running backs are we going to run the ball a little bit more with two tight ends set now we'll see I I think it's going to be a little bit of a plus minus for kyota this year yeah one interesting thing is while I do like this offense a lot and we saw some really good flashes I don't necessarily think it fits Kyler's style so it's certainly right well and and even some of the the passing concepts are just so foreign to what Kyler has done in the past like I think he can do it but it's just Cliff Kingsbury didn't know how to run an NFL offense to be completely honest so we really haven't seen um a ton of like really highlevel quarterbacking from Kylie Murray outside of you know a deep ball and and feeding one guy targets which I think we can we can say he'll he'll be feeding one guy targets let's flip over to the defensive Projected Defense side though because we mentioned it but um this defensive line group is really quite good I mean this this uh they really improve both sides of the trench but Justin Jones was a quality player I watched I'm wearing a bears thing I watched a lot of Bears games last year Justin Jones was up and down um there were times where he was really productive and then he couldn't finish um but to me you've got guys on that second level now that can kind of clean up um so as long as Justin Jones can kind of wreck up front I think they're in good shape Al Nichols uh is a good piece you got Darius Robinson rotating in like zav Collins showed promise as a a full-time Edge rusher we loved I loved BJ oari I don't remember what your grade was on him uh that year but where he got drafted because he he was projected first round I had him in second you had him first late first and he went early second so cool with me yeah yeah yeah makes sense but um Thana Xavier Thomas as well um to me this team on on the front end of this this defense they're good the problem I think that second level i' said they have some guys that can clean up but there's certainly going to be some inconsistencies Mack Wilson has been up and down throughout the years I think there's a lot of Promise in in some of those like depth guys there uh I think uh Chris Barnes has some some good moments on film but I don't I don't think he's anything to write home about I'm really worried about the the corners still I know they signed Sean Murphy bunting they drafted Max Melton but you're really relying on a uh an iffy group to kind of carry you and the secondary has been a problem for Arizona for a while now yeah but it it kind of last year at least and I think it going to be this year as well uh was reminded me of indianapolis's Defense in this last year where you had a bunch of young guys that stepped up made flashes inconsistent but everyone had good flashes but no one was consistent and I think we had some of that last year were Starling Thomas Garrett Williams uh but I think we're gonna have a lot more of that this year and Melton I think is very he'll be consistent enough to win a starting outside job uh Garett Williams can then stay on the inside where he really should be and Sterling Thomas can actually rotate in with Murphy Bunting and actually get improved to where he needed to be because really he could be in the slot as well uh I do think with this linebacking quarter they might be throwing more of these secondary players on the field as well so it's going to be really needed and hopefully Buddha Baker is happy again and he could really light a fire under the rest of the secondary to help them develop and if they can just even if they're not great in coverage if they can just be making plays with this backbone of the defense that's what you want from this team yeah for sure all right um now that we talked through through the team um sorry for like the long Snappers and punters and 2024 Schedule Predictions whatnot but um we're going to get into the schedule So Randy what was their their over underline yeah currently six and a half at least when we were putting the show back together obviously six and a half uh uh with people leaning on the over uh and then plus 290 to make the playoffs plus 1200 to win the division uh last in the division obviously and plus 8,000 to win the Super Bowl and they're only favor to win five out of 17 games currently so nothing great uh but again 4 and 13 last year you're over under six and a half that's showing that you made positive improvements to this team yeah it's interesting that they're over under six and a half and they're only favored in five of those games um normally that's there's a couple there's a couple like coin TOS games fair fair um so they do have a really rough first three I think H against the Rams is their best bet uh in week two to to get a win um Randy what was your prediction uh so we go through we're going to do schedule predictions for every team um so we have this all slated out so that we're not saying oh Cardinals are going to win week one and then we get to the bills and say that the bills are going to win week one so Randy what was your prediction for the Cardinals yeah I have them seven and 10 uh just hitting the over uh winning the you know obvious games a bit in Washington uh New England Carolina Chargers a little bit of a tossup Jets was a little bit of a tossup SL shocker uh and then I have them be the Rams week two Rams obviously the offense is what it is the offensive line is iffy uh but the defense got a lot younger and a lot worse so we'll see if the new additions can be good but if you're going to catch the Rams it's going to be week two at home and not week 17 away yeah yeah so I have him at at six wins so I have them actually hitting the under um one of our main differences is I have them going on a a little five game losing streak here I'm sorry Cardinals fans but the the stretch of uh San Francisco Green Bay Chargers who I think will be much improved Miami who is Miami uh Chicago who got you last year with Justin fields and improved the team drastically I think that's a really rough stretch and to be honest coming home to I mean you're still going to be home against the the Bears I think that gives you an advantage but um having that game against the Jets at home I think is really going to help um and then getting a win before the Buy before you know finishing out pretty strong I have them going three and four in their last seven um so I I think that's key I don't think this team should have like Super Bowl aspirations or anything like that um but I do think that playoffs should be on their mind and I think they you know eight wins could be enough in the NFC I think probably nine um NFC got a lot better this year so I think they're a little far away but Randy you probably have them fairly close to a playoff spot like a couple uh I don't believe so uh just because I I believe they're last in their division for me okay and yeah and it's really tough to make the playoffs yeah they are just below Seattle so I doubt I I didn't actually separate into playoffs yet but yeah they would they would need some desperate stuff to get in there with how good the NFC is uh obviously the afc's got the the quarterback Darlings which makes them better but man this NFC is going to be a little bit of blood bath again this year uh we'll see how this division's improved so we'll see about it but it is fun to have us sandwiching the over under uh yeah not on purpose but yeah and we'll keep track with these we'll let you know how we did next year when we do these so um all right we're going to get over to my projections and I do want to note that these are my projections please don't yell at Randy at all during this time um if you leave a comment you can yell at me um but I went through and I've projected all 32 teams now now and I do 2024 Fantasy Projections have rankings and we're going to drop them so I have Kyler Murray at qb9 I have James Conor at rb23 Trey Benson at rb19 I have Trey Benson actually being the more fantasy valuable running back Marvin Harrison all the way up at wide receiver 14 and then their wide receiver 2 and Michael Wilson down at wide receiver 81 because I do think that Trey McBride has a pretty massive year still and and ranks tight end four so Randy just your thoughts on this um you know do you think that a second wide receiver can takes away some more stuff from Harrison and McBride or do you think this is kind of close yeah I I would be curious did you look back at like the last like the Hopkins years to see how many targets he got with Kyler I did um so really the it's it's tough because the first couple of years it was like Hopkins was up in like the 26 27% range in Target share um and it's also tough because this offense is going to throw the ball a lot less probably than what Cliff kingsbery did but so I went by Sher and really I gave Marvin Harrison Jr that's a 24% Target share which it's fair felt it feels a little high for a rookie but when you start to look at some other like high-profile rookies like Marvin Harrison Jr was um that's kind of right around like Jamar Chase was right around there um guys like that tend to get in that like 22 to 25 range so I went maybe a little aggressive on it yeah and then W year 14 I'm happy with as someone that would draft Marv haris in any rookie draft I could uh and then T McBride little basically what we said a little bit more efficient more touchdowns between him and Marvin Harrison you got 18 of cow's 23 passing touchdowns I'm sure there's a couple more on the ground uh but I mean that's that is an overwhelming majority got to be close to 75 80% there uh and so that's two I see to Trey Benson one to my Wilson we only got two more touchdowns floting in the air folks like that's kind of what this is and really that's I'm assuming the biggest thing for you uh giving them 14 touchdowns just from the top two backs on the ground without even putting in kylers that's kind of putting him down a little bit uh yes I think people will the first thing people will see quarterback 19 until they get to Marvin and they'll be oh okay that's fine uh for 14 there so that that's really like the takeaways from the offense but yeah I think McBride like you have him here I think he's pretty safely a top 10 tight end this year uh Marvin I think he's safely wide receiver to this year the biggest thing also just the running backs the split share here pretty even I'm assuming this is early late uh just knowing how you usually do these things and yeah I do think Benson is a better pass catcher Connor was relatively healthy the last two years but he has had a pretty good injury history so Benson's here for a reason he he's going to start the take over this year yeah so I mean to me I think there's a world in which they do throw in a few more touchdowns but this offense like to run the ball um and and I think that that continues with the high selection of Benson and um you know I do have Kyler getting in on the ground I will say my main takeaway after I did these was that I I think I'm gonna be fading Kyler Murray in in fantasy drafts this year because while I do think that his weapons can be good I just think there might be some uh some overdrafting of of Kyler based on what he was and um you know just I think the youth infusing uh the quarterback position right now I mean there's a ton of guys that uh can you can justify taking over Kyler so um no offense Cardinals fans I I I think this team is on the right track I think they're they're going to be pretty good um but to me they're just a little bit further away than than what they need to be at this point but um like I said on the right track Outro yeah I mean the real I think a lot of people is going to really look at Kyler it's looking just pulled up fantasy pros quick everyone's got him about seven to 10 or seven to 12 so I think you'll be the among the lowest especially if you're still uh on their rankings which I believe you are I don't know I don't know anymore but you be dragging down Kyler's fantasy value for 224 yeah that's right um before we go I do want to mention the patreon patreon.com deev Royale if you if you feel like going over there it's $5 a month you can support us you get a big deie draft guide I'm dropping these projections this week so you can have my full set of projections um there's a ton more stuff going out there we've got uh full access to our substack there's there's just a lot going on over at the patreon so uh if you're you're wanting to support us over here it's patreon.com theed Royale Cardinals fans make sure you let us know what you think of this preview uh where did we get things wrong what did you think of of our analysis of your team we'd love to to chat with you in the comments so uh like I said this is a series we're hoping to do uh all 32 teams uh if it goes well so um if you thought this was cool share it with a friend um and we'll talk to you guys next time thank you guys for watching [Music] n