The Arizona Cardinals are done sorting through the noise of the offseason. Game week is here, the regular season is staring them down, and the first stop comes Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium.
With Mike LaFleur set and the roster evaluation wrapped up, the Cardinals have turned a summer full of open competitions into a lineup with real answers. A few of those battles were tighter than others, but by the time the preseason dust settled, the winners were clear.
At running back, there really wasn’t much of a fight in the end. James Conner landed on injured reserve, which pushed the picture behind Jeremiyah Love and Tyler Allgeier into focus.
Bam Knight and Trey Benson were the names tied to the spot, but Benson’s injury and Knight’s strong preseason ended the debate quickly. Knight kept his place on the roster, while Benson was waived/injured before the preseason even finished.
Wide receiver turned into one of the more crowded decisions. Arizona looked comfortable with five receivers locked in, but the question was whether anyone would force the team to carry a sixth.
Jalen Brooks and Simi Fehoko answered that by playing well enough to push the Cardinals into keeping seven. Ihmir Smith-Marsette had been out front early, but he lost ground as camp rolled on.
The offensive line picture had its own twist. Second-round pick Chase Bisontis was expected to make this a real conversation, especially after a strong preseason showing, but his MCL injury changed everything. Adams had been the slight favorite anyway with legal issues still pending, and now, with Jon Gaines as the only real possibility to shake things up, Adams has a clear path to start the season and likely hold that role beyond it.
Linebacker, though, never produced a clean winner. The Cardinals will use Gibbens and Simon differently depending on the opponent, the game plan and the week.
Gibbens looks set for the nickel linebacker role because of his frame and pass coverage ability, while Simon fits better in a run-stopping, early-down package. The spot opposite Mack Wilson Sr. remains open, and both players should see plenty of snaps until someone separates.
In the secondary, Garrett Williams is back in the slot, and Will Johnson has one boundary spot locked down. The other side belongs to Burke for now.
The Day 3 rookie made enough of an impression last season and carried that into camp, while the rest of the cornerback room failed to truly claim the job in preseason. Kei'Trel Clark and Max Melton remain the alternatives.
Safety brought one of the bigger surprises of camp. The expectation was that Dadrion Taylor-Demerson would step into Jalen Thompson’s role and start next to Budda Baker.
Instead, Wingard, the free-agent addition, grabbed the lead early and never let go. He heads into Week 1 as the starter, while Taylor-Demerson still hasn’t made the kind of push Arizona needed to see.
In Other News...
Cardinals Fans Have One Big Reason To Doubt Monti Ossenfort
The Cardinals are heading into the season with little outside optimism, and it is not hard to see why. FanDuel Sportsbook has them as 9.5-point underdogs in their opener, and the betting market also gives Arizona the worst playoff odds, a reminder of how far the roster still has to climb after only 15 wins over the past three years.
That backdrop is making the scrutiny on Monti Ossenfort even sharper. Fans surveyed were underwhelmed by the general managers draft work, and the concern stretches beyond the present with the 2026 class already carrying a red flag after Arizona will be without two top picks for that season. For a team trying to reset its trajectory, the lack of confidence around the front office is becoming part of the story, too. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Opener Suddenly Rests On One Huge Rookie Question
The Cardinals have spent the early part of camp trying to figure out how to steady the offense around Jeremiyah Love, and the bigger concern now is simply whether their third overall pick will be available when the games start to count. Love has been sidelined since suffering a high ankle sprain in preseason, and while he has not played since, head coach Mike LaFleur said there has been reason for optimism after seeing the rookie moving around in practice.
Arizona still has to wait for the official injury report on Wednesday, and the opener against the Los Angeles Chargers may come down to the wire. Love is shaping up as a game-time decision, which leaves the Cardinals balancing patience with urgency as they keep one eye on the long view and another on how much they can realistically ask from a rookie who has missed so much recent work. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Season May Come Down To A Few Risky Roster Bets
The Cardinals head into the regular season with a handful of roster choices that could end up carrying far more weight than they look like on paper. Under head coach Mike LaFleur, the team has tried to add flexibility on offense by bringing in versatile running back Love, while also keeping an eye on a quarterback room that still has questions because rookie Becks availability remains unsettled by injuries.
There is also the broader issue of whether enough was done to steady the other side of the ball. Arizonas pass rush still looks like a concern after limited improvement, and the offensive line has its own pressure points on the right side, where Elijah Wilkinson is trying to rebound from a rough year. For a team trying to build toward 2026, those are the kinds of bets that can quietly decide how far the season goes. [Read more 🡒]