3 biggest fallers after Arizona Cardinals offseason program

The Arizona Cardinals have intriguing young talent ready to step in and take over for veterans. Here are three players whose stock dropped in the offseason.

The Arizona Cardinals offseason program should be taken with a fine grain of salt. Players are practicing in shorts, so it’s tough to get a good read on who’s a contender and who’s a pretender for a prominent spot on the depth chart when preseason begins in August. 

But that doesn’t mean a few players’ stocks aren’t dropping. Below, we look at three players whose stock fell during the Cardinals offseason program. 

1 - Rondale Moore, WR

Given Michael Wilson’s overall size and the way he impressed in the offseason program, Rondale Moore could be out as a projected starter in the Arizona Cardinals receiving unit. Beyond potentially losing his job to Wilson, if Greg Dortch continues to outpace Moore on the field, then the third-year receiver could quickly fall out of favor in the desert.

Over the offseason, the Cards also added much-needed size to their receiving unit, signing the likes of Zach Pascal while taking chances on players like Brian Cobbs and Brandon Smith. This could put Moore further behind the eight-ball. 

2 - Kelvin Beachum, T

With D.J. Humphries cleared to take part in practice, we saw a lot of Paris Johnson swinging over to play right tackle instead of Beachum. Further, at age 34, it’s clear the 12-year veteran doesn’t fit in the Arizona Cardinals long-term plans. 

While Beachum signed on to stay in the desert for a pair of seasons, it doesn’t take away the possibility that his role on the field will diminish. It will be interesting to see if Beachum is with the starters throughout camp, and if so, how long he will remain in the lineup if the Cards ultimately decide to start the rookie Johnson at right tackle.

3 - Dennis Gardeck, EDGE

And finally, we got Dennis Gardeck, whose stock has already been dropping thanks to the serviceable performances from Cameron Thomas and Myjai Sanders in 2022. Gardeck’s stock further dropped when the Cards drafted B.J. Ojulari this past April, but it’s taken a further nosedive following the Arizona Cardinals offseason program. 

The reason? Zaven Collins’ emergence. While we’re not sure what Collins will look like at outside linebacker/EDGE when the pads come on later this month, we do know that if Gardeck wants to see the field, he’ll have to claw his way onto it thanks to Collins’ presence. 

At Raising Zona, we also listed the longtime Cardinals special teams ace and role player as a cut candidate. But thanks to his leadership ability, Gardeck may at least scrape out a place on the team’s sideline even if his playing time diminishes.