5 offseason winners for the Cardinals
It has been an up-and-down offseason for the Arizona Cardinals to this point. They made a splash move by acquiring former Ravens receiver Marquise Brown to pair with the already explosive passing offense. Outside of that, however, the team has done little to replace the free agents that departed.
There are always winners and losers of every offseason. Front office moves can directly help or hinder a player on the roster.
Let’s take a look at the winners of this offseason for Arizona.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
Latest show:
Previous shows:
and
RB Eno Benjamin
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Benjamin was selected in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft. The local ASU product was a fan favorite selection and the former Sun Devil was excited to stay home in the valley.
After a sort of redshirt rookie season, Benjamin had some decent playing opportunities in 2021. Fans might remember his highlight real play against the 49ers where he trucked Dre Kirkpatrick into the ground.
Benjamin has received plenty of compliments from Kliff Kingsbury this offseason, which may indicate an expanded role going into his third year.
“Eno Benjamin has been tremendous,” Kingsbury said Tuesday. “(He is) another guy who never had an offseason and he’s out there and looks like he could be a starting running back.”
WR Rondale Moore
Rob Schumacher-Arizona Republic
Moore had a frustrating rookie season in that he started the season off hot. He made the most of his few targets and turned them into highlight-reel plays. As the season went on, however, Moore did not get many opportunities and was limited in the deep passing game.
This year, however, Moore is slated to take over a full-time role in the slot. Following the departure of Christian Kirk to the Jaguars, Moore should play most offensive snaps.
Similar to Benjamin, Kingsbury has been very complimentary of Moore. He hinted at an expanded route tree for the second-year receiver and mentioned some of the limited plays they had for him last year.
LB Dennis Gardeck
Dennis Gardeck had an explosive 2020 campaign seemingly out of nowhere. Following the season-ending injury to Chandler Jones, Gardeck received playing time at edge rusher, to which he compiled seven sacks in a limited number of snaps.
Last season was tough for Gardeck, as he struggled to work his way back from an ACL tear from December. He has recently stated his knee feels great and he finally feels recovered.
The Cardinals signed Gardeck to a three-year, $10 million contract in March. He will be around long-term as both a special teams ace and perhaps a key piece to the pass rush once again.
OL Will Hernandez
Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Will Hernandez had a rough end to his Giants career. The former second-round pick played on a few bad New York teams and struggled to build off a very promising rookie season.
He comes to Arizona, where his college coach Sean Kugler will give him the best opportunity to regain the high level of play from his rookie year.
Hernandez has a real chance to win the starting right guard position, as he and Justin Murray are the two front runners for that spot. There’s a real chance he gets to start Week 1.
WR Hollywood Brown
Last but certainly not least is Marquise Brown.
Brown had long been frustrated with the Ravens’ heavy rushing offense and the lack of targets he was receiving. He had apparently requested a trade last year, concerned with the lack of chances to get him WR1 statistics and money.
He lands in arguably the best possible landing spot. Kyler Murray and Brown were electric together as college teammates. Kliff Kingsbury’s offense is very pass-heavy and he benefits from playing across from DeAndre Hopkins.
1
1
