/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67185922/usa_today_13984848.0.jpg)
The turnaround from 2017-2018 is unbelievable to say the least.
The Arizona Cardinals under 25 talent was awful just three years ago when they ranked in the bottom five in the NFL in talent under 25.
There was barely anyone to hang their hat on and the outlook for the future was bleak.
Fast forward to 2020 and Football Outsiders has the Arizona Cardinals talent as the third best in the NFL.
According to Football Outsiders via ESPN+ they have one of the most valuable assets in football:
3. Arizona Cardinals
Blue-chip players: Kyler Murray, QB; Budda Baker, SS; Isaiah Simmons, OLB
Notable graduated players: Haason Reddick, LB
No team has made as dramatic a rise up the under-25 rankings as the Cardinals in recent seasons. The team had already finished in the bottom five of the rankings in 2017 and 2018 when they traded away three draft picks to move up and subsequently select quarterback bust Josh Rosen. GM Steve Keim and head coach Kliff Kingsbury deserve a ton of credit for understanding the concept of sunk costs and not letting a selection of a failed franchise quarterback set them back for multiple seasons. Instead, the Cardinals used the No. 1 pick that Rosen’s poor play helped earn them on another franchise passer, Murray. His neutral rookie efficiency of a -3.1% DVOA and 55.7 QBR in 2019 puts him on a star trajectory, and his four remaining years of inexpensive team control put him on the short list of most valuable assets in football...
The Cardinals ability to move on from Rosen, which was hotly contested at the time and even called out repeatedly, to Murray who looks like he will be a star was ballsy but worked out.
With Budda Baker already getting lose and hopefully Isaiah Simmons not far behind, the Cardinals have a chance to really take off.
Steve Keim should get some credit for that after being the reason the team was so bad just three years prior.
What do you think of the Cardinals ranking?