Early NFL Power Rankings Prove Cardinals Will Have to Earn Respect

The Arizona Cardinals need to prove themselves to the rest of the NFL.

Arizona Cardinals new head coach Mike LaFleur at a news conference on Feb. 3, 2026, at Arizona Cardinals training center in Tempe. | Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Arizona Cardinals' placement is roughly right where they should be in ESPN's early 2026 NFL power rankings, falling at No. 28.

Not quite very bottom of the barrel, though the Cardinals still have plenty of work to do after finishing the 2025 campaign with a 3-14 record.

Arizona, now under the guidance of new head coach Mike LaFleur, will have to prove themselves to the rest of the league.

And, as ESPN's Josh Weinfuss puts it, the Cardinals need to reset and reboot:

"Arizona hit the reset button on its rebuild yet again by firing Jonathan Gannon and hiring Mike LaFleur. That means everything is up in the air, including what the Cardinals will do at quarterback," said Weinfuss.

"Either LaFleur will be allowed to decide if he wants to work with Kyler Murray, or that decision will be made for him by the powers that be. Regardless, LaFleur will have to place his fingerprints all over the building, from his roster to the culture and everything in between, restarting another timeline for an organization that just came off a three-year span that was supposed to result in a rebuild."

The Kyler Murray question is a big one, though 2026 very much feels like a season where Arizona will have to lay the groundwork on LaFleur's iteration of the Cardinals.

Regardless if Murray stays or goes, it feels like next season will very much be a learning curve for LaFleur's offensive system and whoever will be calling the defense, as the Cardinals have yet to hire a defensive coordinator.

The good news? Arizona's roster is in a much better spot than the last time the Cardinals opted to fire a head coach. There's seriously talented playmakers on both sides of the ball for LaFleur and his staff to work with.

On top of that, the Cardinals should have plenty to spend in free agency and own premier capital in the 2026 NFL Draft which includes the third overall pick.

However, Arizona still clearly has work to do before they can even think about competing for a playoff spot in a tough NFC West. That road doesn't seem to be far off, however.

The unknown of what 2026 will look like with Murray and a first-time head coach is weighing Arizona down in these power rankings, but even if we had answers to both questions, the Cardinals clearly need to win some ball games before the national landscape will take them seriously.