With the offseason officially underway in the NFL, looking at the Arizona Cardinals projected starters is an interesting exercise.
Kent Hodder, former writer here, sometimes reader, great follow on Twitter, had an excellent look at what the Cardinals look like as of February 5, 2018.
With the offense first:
Right now; The Arizona Cardinals offensive starters projection
— Call me Al (Holcomb) (@kent_hodder) February 6, 2018
QB: ???????
RB: David Johnson
WR:???????
WR:???????
WR:???????
TE:????????
LT: DJ Humphries
LG:????????
C:?????????
RG:????????
RT:????????
It looks crazy, there are unknowns all over the place, but when you look at it from the perspective of a new coach, it is a blank slate.
Obviously we expect David Johnson and D.J. Humprhies are going to be key pieces, they are nice building blocks, but the rest of the offense is moldable clay, a blank slate if you will.
Arizona Cardinals projected starting defense right now;
— Call me Al (Holcomb) (@kent_hodder) February 6, 2018
Edge: Chandler Jones
DT:?????
DT:?????
Edge: Markus Golden
LB:?????
LB: Haason Reddick
LB:?????
CB: Patrick Peterson
CB:?????
CB:?????
S: Tyrann Mathieu
S: Budda Baker
(Defense is a lot More multiple)
I have some disagreements with Kent on his questions at defensive tackles, as I think Corey Peters can fill the Star Lotulelei role while you have to hope Robert Nkemdiche and Olsen Pierre can give you something similar to Kawann Short.
No Deone Bucannon makes sense, the Cardinals are likely to pick up his fifth year option, well they technically already have but they can cut or restructure if they so choose. However, the key to the Panthers defensive success was the work of Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis.
Tramon Williams is likely to be back and join the secondary again, but he’s not under contract yet.
Which means the Cardinals need to find two corners and a linebacker.
This is an early projection, but there are a lot less questions on defense, but if you’re a glass half full type, there is a lot more the new coaches have control over on offense.