The Cardinals come into the year with many key losses that are effecting everyone's mindset regarding them. Firstly, their franchise quarterback, Kyler Murray, won't be ready until maybe the second half of the season because he tore his ACL late last season. Without Murray, this offense is not going to be able to flow to its best ability and with limited weapons to operate with as well.
Along with the injury to Murray, the Cardinals also lost one of the best receivers of this generation in DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins decided he wanted to play elsewhere and chose Tennessee to be his next location to play football. No matter what quarterback Hopkins as been with in his career, he has always made them that much better and is a huge loss for this young Cardinals team.
The Cardinals also lost their top two free agents in Zach Allen and Byron Murphy this past offseason, doing little to nothing to help improve this roster. They also recently traded their former 8th overall pick from three years ago, Isaiah Simmons for basically nothing in return (7th-round pick) to the New York Giants. It's clear that the Cardinals are in a full rebuild as they are already moving on from a guy they highly praised coming into the league just three years ago.
The Cardinals also lost arguably the anchor of their defense in JJ Watt as he decided to retire after a very successful NFL career although it lacked a ring. Watt was one of the best defensive players of this past generation, losing him even at his age is still a big loss for the Cardinals. Not only did they lose one of the best offensive talents of this previous generation, but they also lost one on defense as well.
With all of these losses, Cardinals management decided to shake things up this offseason by hiring a new head coach to represent the team. That head coach being the previous defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles, Jonathan Gannon. Gannon replaces Kliff Kingsbury after a failed experiment of transitioning him from college football to the NFL.
So in just under two weeks, the Cardinals will most either start the season with Clayton Tune, rookie out of Houston, or Joshua Dobbs as the starting quarterback for the time being. Don't get me wrong, the Cardinals have some weapons on offense with Marquise Brown, Rondale Moore, James Conner, and even Zach Ertz at his age.
The loss for the time being in Kyler Murray is what is going to tank the Cardinals season and probably solidify them as a bottom five team in the league. Already playing in a tough division as it is, the Cardinals will most likely finish in last place with a ceiling of six to seven wins and a floor of three wins this upcoming season.
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