5 winners and 3 losers from Arizona Cardinals training camp

The Arizona Cardinals officially wrap up training camp today, but yesterday was the last day of open camp for fans to attend.

It was an important camp for this version of the team. Are they still contenders, what do they have left, was 2015 the end of the run?

While most of those questions won't be answered until the season, the 2017 camp provided us a chance to analyze not only the team, but individual players.

It also provided us an idea of what the Cardinals have to build with as we move towards the transition from the Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald led Cardinals to… well something else.

Here are the five big winners and three losers from the Arizona Cardinals 2017 training camp.

Blaine Gabbert - Whether or not you believe in Gabbert as the potential quarterback of the future, he's done more than enough to buy himself a year to earn that possibility. Gabbert's training camp is exactly what you want out of a young quarterback, he played well against bad competition and looked superior to his opponents. If that carries over doesn't matter, all that matters is that for the 2017 training camp, Gabbert was the biggest winner who won't be starting in 2017.

Robert Nkemdiche - Can I put Nkemdiche in both spots? Clearly the best camp of anyone, Nkemdiche was a continual, dominant force, the only thing that stopped him was a calf strain, that hopefully is a quick heal. It was exciting to watch him grow and play well.

Tyrann Mathieu - He's back. After a lackluster 2016, Mathieu looks like the play maker, the game changer on defense. There's no question about Mathieu's ability at this point, the question is simply… can he hold up?

John Wetzel - While Wetzel may not be a starter, yet, he has cemented himself as the lead backup on the offensive line and is a player that Bruce Arians has raved about. Wetzel will be a starter in spot duty throughout the year, outside of center, and has made himself indispensable to the Cardinals.

The young secondary - Brandon Williams, Justin Bethel and Budda Baker have all played well in camp, they have all worked with the starters and they all have shown the growth/game that is needed to continue to build the secondary. Bethel will start in 2017, but the more Williams plays well, the more you are confident in 2018 and beyond. Meanwhile, Baker is as good as advertised and gives you a slight hope that if Mathieu can't stay healthy, the Cardinals will still be okay.

Bonus: No… serious… injuries (hope you're doing well T.J. Logan)

Three Losers coming out of 2017 training camp

Day 3 2017 Picks - Dorian Johnson, Will Holden and Rudy Ford are all on the bubble with the play of Wetzel and Cole Toner. That leaves only T.J. Logan who will likely find himself on IR. While the Cardinals roster is good, all three of the bubble guys had winnable jobs heading into camp and through ineffectiveness or injury, just never showed it. They have two games left to change minds, but it may be too little too late.

Wide receiver room: Excluding Larry Fitzgerald and to an extent, Jaron Brown, the Cardinals receiving corps went from top three in the NFL to… Can anyone take pressure off of Fitz? While it's just preseason, you wanted to see John Brown back to himself as well as more out of J.J. Nelson. We knew it would be a pseudo redshirt season for Chad Williams, but the lack of show from the rest of the unit may necessitate Williams being used earlier than expected.

Health: Nothing serious, but the Cardinals needed a lot of these players to be healthy and they just weren't. Offensive line, linebackers, wide receivers and the corners all dealt with lingering health issues. The Cardinals aren't the 2015 version of the team. They are not coming off a successful season. The veterans that received days off made sense and are necessary, but there were too many young players or new players missing big swaths of time. The Cardinals needed some growth. We'll see if they get it now.

What did you think of the Arizona Cardinals 2017 training camp?