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.
The Arizona Cardinals must figure out the secondary depth chart and sign a veteran at the position
The Cardinals’ tragic loss of Jeff Gladney was hard to take, and his absence will be duly noted when looking at the depth chart. Unproven corners behind him, such as Marco Wilson and Antonio Hamilton (plus whoever else gets added on before training camp), are not the guys you want getting big playing time.
There’s a case for Wilson, who got the “Byron Murphy treatment” due to Robert Alford being injured- but still, Wilson struggled as all rookies do. Alford remains a free agent, but does he have another chance left with the Cardinals after missing two straight seasons with season-ending injuries?
As crazy as it was, Alford was the team’s best corner, but once again, the injury concerns cannot be overlooked. Arizona would be wise to find another veteran in free agency or trade for someone who can be an above-average player from the start.
The depth chart will most likely be finalized in the preseason, but the rough draft needs to be completed for the Cardinals so they can act accordingly by means of adding a veteran.
If the Arizona Cardinals don’t have Zaven Collins and Isaiah Simmons starting, then what’s the point?
Another roster expectation here as the Cardinals have infuriated their fans for the past two seasons by not really playing either one of their last two first-round draft picks. Simmons basically got a pass in his rookie year due to COVID, and Collins didn’t make enough of an impact to get on the field.
Or it was just Vance Joseph doing his niche skill better than anyone else: not playing rookies unless injuries require it. But, of course, after releasing Jordan Hicks, the Cardinals will have no excuse not to play Collins.
The investment must find a way to pay off; otherwise, Keim is in hot water for picking a player that didn’t live up to his first-round status. So this is the time where the rubber meets the road. Let’s hope that these two can show the skills that made them first-rounders in the first place as starters for the Cardinals in 2022.