What Defines Success for 2023 Arizona Cardinals?
When it comes to defining success for the 2023 Arizona Cardinals, you'll get a few different answers.
The Cardinals approach this season with little expectations after an obvious rebuild got underway in the desert, which will certainly bode well for 2024 and beyond.
Yet everybody is seemingly counting out Arizona under first year head coach Jonathan Gannon, who inherits a roster that lost several key names on top of waiting for Kyler Murray to return from ACL rehab.
There's a lot of moving factors and different bars to measure Arizona by this season, and Good Morning Football's Mike Garafolo broke down three things the Cardinals need to see to have a successful 2023 campaign:
1. Jonathan Gannon
"Jonathan Gannon, he got a ton of flack in Philadelphia from a fan base that was just never sold on him because he just didn't blitz enough at times, and then the performance in the Super Bowl. Then there was the tampering thing, then you had that video clip early that went viral of sorts of him taking shots [at the Eagles]. Listen. if you're gonna make a snap judgement of a head coach based on what you see early from a press conference or an interview, just remember what we thought about Nick Sirianni after his press conference - Gannon used to work for Sirianni, how's that working out?"
2. Kyler Murray
"I want a happy Kyler. I want Kyler to feel good about this regime moving forward because there's just been so many bad vibes for him the last couple of years. So far this coaching staff, this new regime, they showed up at his statue unveiling. They want to make sure they understand they are behind him, they support him, offensive coordinator Drew Petzing is going to set him up in a position to succeed. I don't know when he's gonna be on the field, but I want him leaving 2023 feeling good about this regime and everything moving forward.
3. Paris Johnson
"Finally: They'll always have Paris. Paris Johnson - their left tackle they traded for - this is a guy that Kyler Murray on Johnson's visit, Kyler went up to him and said, "I'm telling these guys we got to draft you!"
"He wanted some protection on his offensive line, he got Paris. If he turns in an excellent rookie season, they'll say we've got ourselves a left tackle of the future moving forward."
In a recent All Cardinals mailbag, we were asked a similar question. Here was our response:
- You see Kyler Murray healthy and able to operate in a new offense. Regardless of record, if you see Murray upright and flashing what he once did, that's a win.
- You also want to see players develop and improve over the course of the season, which is something that didn't really happen under Kliff Kingsbury. That's not a direct shot at him, but if Gannon and his staff can make visible strides with this roster from Week 1 to Week 17, the Cardinals have to feel good about where they're heading in the future.
- Finally, Arizona can a worst show they're competitive in a lot of these games. This sort of ties into the player development point, but if the Cardinals can prove they're more than what people took them for, fans should be excited for a more talented roster coming in the following years. This - in my opinion - is similar to what you're seeing right now with the Detroit Lions.
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