Arizona Cardinals: Despite goals, team is young
By Scott Allen
The Arizona Cardinals have a lot of youth currently on their 90-man roster
The Arizona Cardinals have many goals, winning a championship amongst them this season. They have some veteran leadership but what they also have is youth.
Amongst the 90 players on the roster, 46 of them have two years or less of experience. The Cardinals currently have 25 rookies on the roster.
If any of them turn out to be something special, and some of them very well could, then the future does look bright. That doesn’t mean Super Bowl contender immediately after guys like quarterback Carson Palmer and receiver Larry Fitzgerald retire.
What it does mean is that the Cardinals aren’t in trouble when it comes to personnel. Running back David Johnson, who could be a great one for years, is entering just his third season.
The question of course is who will lead the Cardinals after Palmer? Many have written him off after 2017. Hold the phone on that idea though. He may not walk into the sunset that quickly.
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The team is young though, make no mistake. Some of those young guys will go through growing pains. It would be nice to see a guy like quarterback Trevor Knight make something of his opportunity and maybe get himself a practice squad spot.
If not, the search will continue. The Cardinals still have 20 players with six years of experience or more. So not all is lost.
Some of the youth will end up in starting positions, so don’t expect perfection in 2017. What you should expect is a fast team. You should expect a team eager to show what they can do.
How many of the rookies, first year and second year players actually make the 53-man roster remains to be seen. However the Cardinals are trying hard to ensure their future starts getting experience now. The goals remain the same though, just win.