2022 Arizona Cardinals Betting Preview: Picks And Predictions

The Arizona Cardinals won their first seven games in 2021, including impressive victories against the Tennessee Titans, Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, and Cleveland Browns. Kyler Murray suffered an injury in a Week 8 matchup against the Green Bay Packers, and then the team never recovered – losing seven of their final 11 contests. In Kliff Kingsbury’s three years as the Head Coach of the Cardinals, Arizona is now only 7-14 from Week 11 until the end of the regular season. 

Heading into 2022, DeAndre Hopkins is suspended for the first six games, and the NFC West remains one of the toughest divisions in the entire NFL. Let’s break down this roster unit-by-unit to see if the Cardinals are capable of getting back to the postseason

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Quarterback

Depth Chart: Kyler Murray, Colt McCoy, Trace McSorley

From Week 1 to Week 7 last fall, Kyler Murray was firmly entrenched in the conversations for Most Valuable Player – throwing for 17 touchdowns against only five interceptions. However, a mid-season injury derailed his quest for hardware, and his 7-to-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio upon returning to the field did little to help the Cardinals win football games. Overall, Murray still managed to improve his passer rating, turnover-worthy-play percentage, and EPA/P for the third consecutive year – a sign that bodes well for continued improvement in 2022.

Notably, Murray has made tremendous gains in his performance against the blitz. During his rookie campaign, he posted an abysmal 76.6 passer rating in such situations. Last year, he finished with a 111.5 passer rating against the blitz, which was significantly better than the league average quarterback, who had a 96.3 passer rating. 

The absence of DeAndre Hopkins to begin the regular season will make life slightly more difficult for Murray, but he still has plenty of upside entering his fourth year in the NFL.

Running Back

Depth Chart: James Conner, Darrel Williams, Eno Benjamin, Keaontay Ingram

A lot was made of the fact that Murray struggled down the stretch in 2021, but often overlooked was the fact that he was not supported whatsoever by the run game. The Cardinals finished 22nd in rush yards per play last fall, with lead back James Conner averaging only 3.7 yards-per-carry on 202 attempts. A significant reason for the struggles in the ground game is attributable to an extremely poor offensive line. Unfortunately for Cardinals’ fans, the offensive line is likely to be a major weakness again in 2022 with Rodney Hudson, Will Hernandez, and Kelvin Beachum receiving a majority of snaps at three positions. This unit projects to be underwhelming this fall.

Wide Receivers

Depth Chart: DeAndre Hopkins, Marquise Brown, A.J. Green, Zach Ertz

In his first season with Arizona, DeAndre Hopkins put up 1,407 receiving yards, but was limited to only 572 receiving yards in 2021 due to injuries that forced him to miss nearly half of the schedule. The star wideout will be limited again in 2022, this time due to a suspension for testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance. When on the field, there are few options better than Hopkins, but his absence will be acutely felt during the early portion of the year. Attempting to fill the void, Marquise Brown was brought over from the Baltimore Ravens, where he caught 91 passes for 1,008 yards last season. He figures to headline a group of pass-catchers that also features A.J. Green and Zach Ertz. At 34 years old, Green is no longer a consistently elite contributor, but he did manage to have nine games with 50 receiving yards or more last year. Ertz played exceptionally well after a mid-season trade to Arizona last fall, racking up 574 receiving yards in 11 games to finish the year. Still, this is one of the weaker wide receiver rooms in football until Hopkins returns to action.

Offensive Line

Depth Chart: D.J. Humphries, Justin Pugh, Rodney Hudson, Will Hernandez, Kelvin Beachum

The offensive line is a major concern for Arizona. In 2021, this group finished 19th in sacks per pass attempt, despite having a mobile quarterback able to escape pressure at a higher than normal rate. D.J. Humphries and Justin Pugh both profile as strong run-blockers, but Rodney Hudson, Will Hernandez, and Kelvin Beachum are significant liabilities at their respective positions. On top of poor performance, it is also worth noting that the average age of these five starters will be over 30 years old when they take the field in Week 1. If Humphries or Pugh suffer an injury and are forced to miss games, this unit could quickly become one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL.

Base 3-4 Defense

Defensive Line

Depth Chart: J.J. Watt, Rashard Lawrence, Zach Allen

J.J. Watt’s return to the field will be of immense help to this group in 2022. Last season, his 18.3 percent pass-rush win rate ranked fifth among all interior defensive lineman with at least 100 pass-rushing snaps, per Pro Football Focus. Still, there are concerns as to whether Watt will be able to play the entire campaign. Since 2016, Watt has played in only 55 of 97 possible games. At 33 years old, it seems more probable than not that he is on the shelf for at least a portion of this upcoming campaign. Rashad Lawrence is a capable run defender, but makes little impact as a pass-rusher, having failed to record a single sack or tackle-for-loss in 2021. Zach Allen played 696 snaps on the defensive line last year, finishing the season ranked 88th out of 110 players at his position, per Pro Football Focus’ grading system. There are few defensive lines in the league worse than Arizona’s. An injury to Watt could hurt this group even more. 

Linebackers

Depth Chart: Dennis Gardeck, Zaven Collins, Isaiah Simmons, Markus Golden

Dennis Gardeck had an impressive 2020 campaign in a limited role, but has otherwise been forgettable during his NFL tenure. An undrafted free agent from the 2018 class, it would be unwise to suddenly expect him to turn into a star. Zaven Collins and Isaiah Simmons are both former first round draft picks, but a quick glance at their statistical outputs from early in their career would not lead one to that conclusion. Simmons managed 1.5 sacks and four tackles-for-loss in 2021, but there are few other positive notes to highlight from an otherwise disappointing year in the run game and in coverage. Markus Golden was a bright spot for this unit last fall, but he had an extremely underwhelming five-year span prior to his 11 sacks from a season ago. A repeat of last year’s dominance is far from a certainty. If Golden regresses significantly, there might not be a worse linebacker corps in football than in Arizona. 

Secondary

Depth Chart: Byron Murphy Jr., Jalen Thompson, Budda Baker, Marco Wilson

Per Pro Football Focus, the Cardinals finished 24th in team coverage grade in 2021. Perplexingly, the front office did little to address this area of concern heading into 2022 – having not added anyone notable via free agency, and spending only a seventh round draft pick on Christian Matthew out of Valdosta State. Byron Murphy Jr. is, arguably, the worst lead cornerback on any roster in the NFL. Even respectable play from their two safeties, Jalen Thompson and Budda Baker, is unlikely to make this a productive unit this fall. 

2022 Outlook

Arizona won 11 games in 2021, but everything about this roster screams pretender, not contender. DeAndre Hopkins will miss the first six games of the regular season. Poor offensive line play could once again stunt the running game, forcing Kyler Murray to be superhuman if this offense wants to be strong on a weekly basis. The Cardinals have one of the worst defenses in the NFL on paper, and are a J.J. Watt injury away from having no intimidating presence on the defensive line. Arizona is going to struggle to stop the run in 2022, and they stand little chance slowing down opposing air attacks either. The under makes a lot of sense in this spot, especially considering their strength of schedule.

PICK: Arizona Cardinals u9 wins (-140)