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The Arizona Cardinals have not seen a ton of positives from the media after their 2018 offseason.
They lost the winningest coach in franchise history, arguably one of the two best quarterbacks in franchise history and now sit with a new quarterback leading a first time head coach.
It makes sense, the Cardinals were mostly scoffed at going into 2013 as well.
However, in 2013 I cannot recall a time seeing the Cardinals projected by anyone or any statistical analysis that had the Arizona Cardinals as the worst team, record wise, in the NFL.
This time around, ESPN’s Mike Clay sees the Cardinals, as constructed right now, as having the lowest win total in the league...
The Arizona Cardinals have some work to do... early 2018 player projections and unit grades (NFL schedule TBA) #ClayProjections pic.twitter.com/GCPHrXAHrL
— Mike Clay (@MikeClayNFL) March 28, 2018
That is really crazy to see, honestly, but I guess there seems to be some questions about what the Arizona Cardinals are doing from a directional standpoint.
In Clay’s projection model, which I have no way to understand, the Cardinals have one of the worst offenses and defenses in the NFL.
The only positively graded positions on either side of the ball were the running backs, hello David Johnson return, and the safeties, despite the hand-wringing on the Tyrann Mathieu release.
It is hard to see the Cardinals being the worst team in the league, and this is before the draft, free agency finishes and we have the schedule, but it seems like the stats don’t like the Arizona Cardinals heading into 2018.