Biggest Questions Cardinals Must Answer This Offseason

The second year of Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon's tenure ended with a 8-9 record, doubling the mark of his rookie season.

Taken alone, that is an encouraging stat and hopefully a sign that the culture and scheme that Gannon is implementing in the desert is taking root and will lead to some type of sustained success in the future. However, it is how the Cardinals got to 8-9 that is concerning for many fans.

After playing the Buffalo Bills within a score in Week 1, the Cardinals went 1-3 in the first four weeks and expectations of a 7-8 win season seemed reasonable.

This was immediately followed by a 5-1 stretch in which the Cardinals got to 6-4 and first place in the NFC West. At this point, expectations for the team were amended in the eyes of fans and the sports media world and the playoffs were a legitimate possibility, an amazing win for Gannon and his coaching staff in just their second year.

Sadly, the bye week sapped what momentum the team had and playoff hopes were dashed as the team was swept by the Seattle Seahawks and only managed two more wins after the Week 11 bye.

Now, in the offseason it is time for some diagnosis of what went wrong in 2024 and what the Arizona Cardinals need to do to address those problems and come back in a stronger version for 2025.

Pass Rush

zaven collins — Nov 3, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) is sacked by Arizona Cardinals linebacker Kyzir White (7) and Zaven Collins (25) in the second half at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

It is no secret that Gannon originally built his defensive reputation in the league by working with defensive backs for several years. However, it was his front seven and the sacks they generated in his scheme with the Philadelphia Eagles that won him an opportunity to become a head coach in the NFL.

In Philly, that was an easier task with names like Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat, and Brandon Graham and this all-star group managed to put together 69 sacks and significantly impact the success of the 2022 Eagles who made it all the way to the Super Bowl.

The 2024 edition of the Cardinals lacked any household names and consistently struggled to pressure opposing quarterbacks in meaningful ways. Zaven Collins was the team's sack leader with only 5 on the year and it took a total of seventeen players to manage 41 team sacks.

A metric called pass rush win rate measures how often a pass rusher is able to beat his block in 2.5 seconds or less which usually leads to QB pressures, hits, and sacks. This last season the Cardinals ranked 28th in the league in this metric and did not have a single edge or interior defender in the top twenty of this measurement.

Turning up the heat on quarterbacks is one of the most impactful things a defense can do as it impacts not only the front seven but takes some pressure off the secondary by reducing the time a quarterback has to read the field and throw the ball.

In order to succeed in 2025, the most important thing the Cardinals can do is improve their pass rush. This is not position-specific but will require reflections and improvement both on the defensive line and on the edge.

Interior Offensive Line

will hernandez — Oct 6, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals guard Will Hernandez (76) is helped off of the field by medical personnel after suffering an injury during the fourth quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Going into the 2024 season, the Cardinals offensive line was something of a question mark but hopes were high that a new starting lineup of Paris Johnson, Jr., Evan Brown, Hjalte Froholdt, Will Hernandez, and Jonah Williams would be a solid group.

Sadly, that grouping did not last more than one half of Week 1 as Williams suffered a knee injury in Buffalo that held him out more than half the season. That was followed by an even more devastating blow in Week 5 when Hernandez went down as well.

Even with these unfortunate injuries and a slew of lineup changes, the offensive line generally played well throughout the season, one of the silver linings of another lost year. However, there are questions going into next season.

Guards Will Hernandez and Evan Brown, the original starting right and left guards respectively, are not currently under contract and set to become free agents.

This forces the Cardinals into a few potentially difficult decisions. Do they bring back Hernandez who is coming off an injury with little idea of how it will impact his future play? Do they bring back Brown, who himself missed a few games with injury and was generally considered a cheap stopgap at LG to get through the 2024 season?

It is possible to bring back both players and hope to have the solidity at the position that was the plan last season, but of course it is also possible to try and use some combination of free agency and the draft to upgrade at those spots.

Rookie Isaiah Adams struggled at the beginning of the season when he was occasionally thrown into play but showed significant improvement as the year went on. Does Klayton Adams and the rest of the coaching staff believe in him enough to slot him in as a starter for 2025?

Does the front office want to pay what some of the top offensive guards like Trey Smith will be demanding in free agency?

Regardless of what the final decision is, the Cardinals have to be careful and diligent when tackling this question. Building the lines on both sides seems to be a priority for the team and protecting your most valuable asset, the quarterback, is critical to team success.

How to Use Marvin Harrison, Jr.

While the first two questions are inarguably the most important for a team looking to build future, sustained success the one most on the minds of fans is probably how to properly utilize Marvin Harrison, Jr. and see the sort of production out of him that many expected.

It's important to note at the top that Harrison, Jr. did not have a bad rookie season. He managed 885 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns in an offensive scheme that clearly did not really know what to do with him. It is only in direct comparison to some of the rookies of the past few years like Ja'Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson that he seems like a disappointment.

Still, the potential was there for a much bigger season a la Chase and Jefferson and the lack of that success does come down to offensive coordinator Drew Petzing's scheme.

The Cardinals are built to be a run-heavy team that utilizes a bruising back like James Conner to stay ahead of schedule and slowly but surely march down the field. This brings up a very valid question; if this is supposed to be the team's identity why did they spend the No. 4 overall pick in 2024 on Harrison, Jr. and what type of role can he carve out in that offense?

In a 55/45 passing-rushing team like the Cardinals there are already limited opportunites for wide receivers. Combine that with the team's leading catcher being a tight end in Trey McBride than there are valid questions about how Harrison, Jr's role is perceived by Petzing.

That being said, an element of rookiesm must be acknowledged by pointing out the connection struggles between the receiver and his quarterback. Murray did throw the ball to Harrison, Jr. a total of 116 times and he caught only 62 of those balls. A 53% reception rate is not going to cut it in the NFL. It is imperative that the quarterback to receiver telepathy improve this offseason.

Still, it is important that Petzing and Gannon take a self-reflective approach and see how they can involve their star receiver more in the passing game and improve the one-dimensional aspects of the Cardinals offense if they want to see more success and score more points in 2025.