Expect the Arizona Cardinals to run a more pro-style look in 2023
By Sion Fawkes
Under former head coach Kliff Kingsbury, the Arizona Cardinals offense ran almost-exclusively from the shotgun, giving it the feel of a college offense.
Under new head coach Jonathan Gannon, look for the Arizona Cardinals offense to look dramatically different from what we’ve seen over the previous four seasons. Kingsbury was an “Air Raid” guy, where offenses throw the ball at least two-thirds of the time. The quarterback lines up a few yards behind center, and you often see at least three receiver sets.
While you can still expect Murray to line up in the shotgun at times, look for him to line up under center far more often than we’ve seen him do between 2019 and 2022. Sure, this marks a dramatic shift in the offense, but at the same time, it’s going go force defenses to account for far more than they did during the Kingsbury era.
Under Gannon, the Arizona Cardinals will be far less predictable
One major downer to the Kingsbury-era Cardinals is that there was little variation to the offense and it seemed like opponents caught on during the second half of each of his four seasons at the helm. Throughout 2022, the Arizona Cardinals struggled offensively, and much of it had to do with them running similar looks on offense, which played into opposing defenses’ hands.
The added dimension will provide more variety to the Cards’ offense. And when you have a fully-healthy dual threat quarterback like Kyler Murray seeking to prove the NFL universe he’s better than he played last season, it’s going to be a change for the better. At least on paper.
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Overall, despite the mounting roster turnover set to hit the Cardinals, a new regime, and an overall new look and system, the added variety on offense should give the Red Sea a reason to get excited for 2023. Even if it’s still just February.
Article Source: Kyler Murray expected to play under center more, in shotgun less by Kevin Zimmerman, ArizonaSports.com.
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