The first year of head coach Jonathan Gannon's era with the Arizona Cardinals resulted in surprisingly competitive games and two big upsets (Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers) but also a lot of losses. Despite a 4-13 record last season, the team has reasons for optimism for the 2024 season.
A fully healthy Kyler Murray
The Cardinals have one of the league's biggest wild cards at quarterback, the most important position in the sport.
Murray, who threw for 1,799 yards and 10 TDs in 2023, missed the first half of last season due to his recovery from a torn ACL and spent the second half working his way back up to game speed in a new system with a new coach and a sub-par roster around him.
When he is healthy and playing to his full potential, he has the ability to be a top-tier, dual-threat quarterback who can beat teams with his arm and his legs.
The Cardinals went 3-5 with him as their starter in 2023, beating the Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles and aforementioned Steelers while losing one-score games to the Houston Texans and Seattle Seahawks. With a fresh start and a fully healthy season, he could dramatically change things for the Cardinals.
Marvin Harrison Jr. and a revamped WR group
Part of the reason for optimism with Murray isn't just about his health and ability. It is also about the players he is going to have around him, including a revamped wide receiver group. The most notable of those changes is the addition of No. 4 overall pick Marvin Harrison Jr.
Harrison Jr., the top wide receiver in the draft, brings the type of big-play potential the Cardinals have lacked recently. The Cardinals ranked 29th in the NFL in yards per attempt (6.2) in 2023.
Gone is Marquise "Hollywood" Brown, who never became the big-play target Arizona envisioned when they acquired him from Baltimore in 2022. Harrison Jr. should change that.
Along with Harrison, the Cardinals added in free agency Zay Jones, a former Jacksonville Jaguar. He was limited to just nine games in 2023, but he caught 82 passes for 823 yards and five TDs in 2022.
Tight end Trey McBride is ready to become a star
While Harrison Jr. has the potential to become a star, the Cardinals have a returning player in McBride who is already on his way to becoming one.
A second-year player in 2023, McBride started to hit his stride in the second half of the season, catching 69 passes for 655 yards and three touchdowns over the final 10 games of the regular season. He also had three 90-yard receiving games (and two 100-yard games) during that stretch.
For the season, McBride caught 81 passes for 825 yards.
With improved talent on the outside and a potential big-play receiver in Harrison, the Cardinals will aim to draw coverage away from the middle of the field and open up even more avenues for McBride.
