As the Arizona Cardinals prepare for their mandatory minicamp next week, there are a few expectations for them to meet.
Slowly but surely, we’re inching our way back to some meaningful Arizona Cardinals football. Their first mandatory minicamp starts on June 14th and runs through the 16th, three straight days.
Each year we say this, but this is another critical year for Kliff Kingsbury and the Arizona Cardinals. You can even through in Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim as well after a head-scratching contract extension.
So what are the three expectations for the Cardinals as they prepare for their first mandatory camp of the 2022 offseason?
Expectation number one: Kyler Murray MUST be at mandatory minicamp
After Kyler Murray was basically holding out of voluntary minicamp, he finally showed up and participated. Yes, he was gone the next day, but that’s nothing to worry about. At least he was there for one session.
If Murray is set on improving this team and his relationship with his wide receivers, then getting all the reps at the team facility with the entire squad is what’s best for the team. Everyone can work together in the offseason all they want and run routes on air, but there’s got to be some sort of ramp-up when it comes to practice.
This is where Murray’s emphasis should lie, and it hopefully will yield better results than the strategy the team took last year by reducing the number of OTA sessions from ten to three. A second-consecutive collapse in the latter half of the year was an indirect result.
Let’s hope all sides learn from that mistake and move on with the regular OTA schedule.