Revenge of the Birds
The Cardinals have been stuck in a franchise malaise for too long. Here are three Secret Superstars who might be able to reverse that issue.
It’s a nebulous but fair question at this point in time: What exactly are the Arizona Cardinals?
Since Bruce Arians’ retirement after the 2017 season (a retirement that obviously didn’t last too long), the team has struggled to find the identity needed for championship-caliber performance. There was the Steve Wilks/Josh Rosen disaster in 2018, a bit of an upswing for a while in the beginning of the Kliff Kingsbury/Kyler Murray era, and then, matching 4-13 seasons at the end of Kingsbury’s time with the Cardinals in 2022, and new head coach Jonathan Gannon’s start in 2023.
Gannon’s second season went a bit better with a healthy Kyler Murray, and a 6-4 start to the season that had people thinking that this may be the start of something big. Then, there was the Week 11 bye, and the 2-5 end to the season which had those same optimists realizing that the ancient Romans were right about the aquaducts — water always finds its own level over time.
From Week 1 through Week 10, Murray completed 191 of 276 passes (69.2%) for 2,058 yards (7.5 YPA), 12 touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 100.8, which ranked ninth among NFL starting quarterbacks.
Then, in Weeks 11-17, Murray completed 156 of 230 passes (67.8%) for 1,551 yards (6.7 YPA), five touchdowns, eight interceptions, and a passer rating of 79.5, which ranked 26th.
Finally, in Week 18, Murray beat the hell out of the San Francisco 49ers in a 47-24 win in which he completed 25 of 35 passes for 242 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 128.5.
Murray wasn’t the only reason for the 2024 Cardinals’ utter lack of consistency, but he did personify it to a great degree. Coming into his seventh NFL season, we know about as much about what Kyler Murray can be as we know about what the Cardinals are — which is to say, not a lot.
If these Cardinals of Jonathan Gannon and general manager Monti Ossenfort are to transcend their recent fallbacks, they’ll obviously need everybody on the roster doing their best. In the continuation of our “Hidden Gems” series, we look at three underrated players currently on this roster — one veteran, one free-agent signing, and one draft pick.
The Cardinals signed former Pittsburgh Steelers running back James Conner to a one-year, $1.75 million deal in 2021, which proved to be one of the year’s best bargains after Conner gained 1.127 yards on 239 touches and made the second Pro Bowl of his career. That led to a well-deserved three-year, $21 million re-up with $13.5 million guaranteed, and Conner’s been earning that money ever since — which is why the team gave him a two-year, $19 million contract extension with $8.25 million guaranteed in 2024.
Whether it’s been Kliff...
