Respected analyst makes an interesting take for the Arizona Cardinals in 2023

What would it take for the Arizona Cardinals to win anything in 2023, or to even end training camp on a positive note? Josh Weinfuss of ESPN might have the answer in their annual training camp preview. 

When outlining what would make the Cardinals camp successful, Weinfuss pointed to the offensive line. However, they also pointed to the fact head coach Jonathan Gannon is taking a major risk regarding the unit:

"“New coach Jonathan Gannon said throughout the offseason he won’t name the starting five offensive linemen until the first day of Week 1, instead of spending training camp working the same five linemen together. His argument is that by rotating the line, players will get more experience and exposure playing different positions, but Gannon has said he’s not worried as much about continuity.” "

- Josh Weinfuss

Source: Arizona Cardinals training camp preview: When will Kyler Murray return? by Josh Weinfuss, ESPN

With a young football team in place, you want to go into the season giving as many of your respective players experience as you can, especially when hordes of roster turnover was also a major factor at hand. Sure, starting and sticking to the likes of D.J. Humphries, Paris Johnson Jr., Hjalte Froholdt, Will Hernandez, and Kelvin Beachum (the projected starters) would do the Cardinals well, but the potential drop-off is a major risk when the inevitable injury occurs.

Arizona Cardinals offensive line will be the key to success in 2023

Weinfuss’ take matches a previous one that I made earlier in the summer when I stressed that the Cardinals purported run-first system would work wonders for this football team, regardless of who was playing running back. This stemmed from the fact that Arizona’s line was so rich with depth, hence the likely reason Gannon wanted to rotate the group. 

Besides the projected starting five mentioned above, Arizona also has Josh Jones, Dennis Daley, Elijah Wilkinson, Lecitus Smith, and Jon Gaines II as potential primary backups. This gives the Cards 10 names to continually rotate in and out in camp and in the preseason, and which would ultimately provide little drop-off should injuries hinder the unit. 

Overall, if the line comes together in more ways than just the projected starting five building chemistry, then they will take this offense a long way, even if starting quarterback Kyler Murray can’t return until midseason. So if you are following camp this year, keep an eye on that Arizona Cardinals front five, as they could be the X-factor for the offense achieving at least a respectable level of success in 2023.