ClutchPoints
The Arizona Cardinals are backed against the wall entering the 2025 season, which creates an interesting dynamic for their inaugural unofficial depth chart. The team has held a competitive camp thus far, ensuring none of its players have secured a spot in the starting lineup, from longtime star James Conner to rising prospect Darius Robinson.
Although they missed the postseason for the third straight year, the Cardinals improved from 4-13 in 2023 to 8-9 in 2024. The improvements are nothing for a struggling franchise to look down upon, but Arizona went just 2-5 after its bye week to end the year outside of the playoff picture.
The team is clearly trending in the right direction, but frustration built up in the locker room down the stretch of the 2024 season. The awkward ending forced general manager Monti Ossenfort to make meaningful changes in the offseason while maintaining a consistent core.
Despite not having the most cap space, the Cardinals notably added Josh Sweat, Calais Campbell, Akeem Davis-Gaither and Jacoby Brissett in free agency. Ossenfort maintained a defensive focus in the 2025 NFL Draft, where six of his seven selections were used on defenders.
The Cardinals’ 2025 depth chart did not change as much as many others did around the league, but the standard is now different entering year three under head coach Jonathan Gannon. Arizona fully expects to compete in the NFC West and no longer seems to view itself as a developing team.
The team’s consistent evolution puts players like Conner and Robinson in precarious situations for different reasons as they enter the 2025 season. As much as the team believes in both players, they have found themselves in surprisingly competitive positions atop the Cardinals’ 2025 unofficial depth chart.
When James Conner signed with the Cardinals in 2021, no one believed his signing would have as much impact as it has had. Despite nagging health issues earlier in his career, Conner has somehow aged like fine wine and enters 2025 off the two best seasons of his career. However, after turning 30 in May, he might have finally reached the end of his magical run.
Conner has undoubtedly been the Cardinals’ best offensive player over the past two seasons, but his production is largely unsustainable. He has defied the historical odds that suggest running backs begin their decline at 28, but his Herculean effort in 2024 might have been his swan song.
Although coming off a career-high 1,094 rushing yards, Conner also took a whopping 236 carries in 2024, by far his most in a single season. His rush attempts were only the 14th-most in the league, but only one player — Derrick Henry — who fielded more carries was older than him. Henry has typically been a much more durable player than Conner.
Even if his decline is near, the Cardinals will not completely phase Conner out in 2025. However, they have already begun preparing for a drop-off. [Arizona selected Trey Benson with its...
