See and react to Greg Cosell’s analysis of the Cardinals from Ross Tucker’s NFC West preview
Many thanks to since61 for bringing Greg Cosell’s analysis of the 2025 Arizona Cardinals to our attention, via Ross Tucker’s NFC West preview.
Here, have a look for yourself: (the Cardinals’ segment starts at 7:44)
Highlight’s of Greg Cosell’s thoughts:
- He’s fascinated with the Cardinals innovative defense, where they play Garrett Williams, Budda Baker and the free safety (Jalen Thompson or Dadrion Tayler-Demerson) as a trio in the middle portions of the field, each about 10 yards off the ball, and how Nick Rallis takes Garrett Williams away from the slot and uses him as a zone coverage dynamo, either in the intermediate or deep areas of the field.
- He lauds having Garrett Williams in a trio next to Budda and the FS because it allows Rallis to send Budda after the ball as often as he can in run support —- which, of course, is Budda’s forte.
- He lauds the Cardinals free agent signings of Josh Sweat, Dalvin Tomlinson and Calais Campbell.
- He believes that Walter Nolen is the most talented defensive tackle in the 2025 NFL Draft class and agrees with Ross Tucker that Calais Campbell is an ideal mentor for Walter Nolen.
- He’s still unsure of what to expect from QB Kyler Murray, given Kyler’s sensational ability to create big-time highlight-reel type plays and, on the flip side, Kyler’s up and down performances. As Ross Tucker said, “you can talk to 10 people and get 10 different opinions of Kyler Murray.”
- He said, “I watch him over and over and I can’t get a feel for what Kyler Murray is. He obviously throws the ball well. We know that as an athlete and a move he can be utterly dynamic. I mean there are times when he’s not that much different than Lamar Jackson, the way he moves and makes plays with his legs. I just can’t understand why there is an up and down nature to his performance.
- “The inconsistencies and not knowing what they are getting from a QB week to week can drive coaches crazy. They’d almost rather have a guy with lesser talent that they exactly what they are going to get from week to week, when they do some things really well. With Kyler Murray it’s a wide spectrum on a week-to-week basis.’
- Ross Tucker added, having done the color for a couple of Cardinals’ games last season, added, “sometimes it’s almost like a half-to-half thing.” Tucker said that when he played for the Patriots, “the most important thing they wanted was consistency. As long as they know who you are they are not going to put you in a bad spot, but if they can’t get a handle on what you are, then they can’t utilize you in a way that puts you in a good position.
- Greg Cosell lauded Kyler Murray sensational playmaking early in...
Revenge of the Birds
