5 strengths and weaknesses for the Arizona Cardinals heading into the 2021-22 season

The Arizona Cardinals have a single goal in 2021: make the playoffs. The roster is talented but has seen its expectations undermined over the past two years by its own mistakes. Anything other than playing in January will be a disappointment for the franchise.

Five strengths of the Arizona Cardinals

#1 - Kyler Murray

Murray is one of the most electric players in the league, producing both over the air with his strong arm for deep passes, and in the running game with his speed and agility. He worked through his inconsistency in 2020 and is expected to continue his development this season, emphasizing the enormous talent that made the Cardinals pick him with the first overall pick.

#2 - Wide receivers

The Cardinals' receiver group's quite complete. DeAndre Hopkins is the superstar and competes for the crown of the NFL's best, but there's no lack of depth with the incredible AJ Green arriving in Arizona this season and youngsters Rondale Moore, Christian Kirk and Andy Isabella in the fray. There are too many good targets for the team's Air Raid.

#3 - J.J. Watt

Since we've mentioned DeAndre Hopkins, we have to talk about the other superstar who migrated from Houston to Arizona. Watt was released by the Texans after the season and settled with the Cardinals for the season, with his pass rush abilities becoming a huge problem for the offensive coordinators. If they choose to focus on stopping Watt, they'll have problems, because…

#4 - Chandler Jones

…Chandler Jones is also part of the team, and he cannot be overlooked even after losing most of the 2020 season to injury. Jones is a pure pass rusher with a lot of strength and agility to get around opponent tackles, producing 97 sacks in his nine-year career. If healthy, he and Watt will be very difficult to stop.

DL within striking distance of joining the 100 sack club in 2021. Only 35 players in NFL history have gotten there.- Justin Houston 97.5- Chandler Jones 97- Cameron Jordan 94.5- Calais Campbell 92- Jason Pierre-Paul 89- Carlos Dunlap 87.5- Aaron Donald 85.5 👀

— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) July 6, 2021

#5 - Linebackers

An underrated group of the team are the linebackers, who they got with the last two first-round picks. Arizona also has the experienced Jordan Hicks to mentor Isaiah Simmons and Zaven Collins.

Because of the Cardinals' defensive system, Simmons and Collins are two players who need to show a lot of speed to cover from sideline to sideline and still get close to the box in running plays. When they rack up some experience, they'll be one of the strongest duos in the NFL.

Five weaknesses of the Arizona Cardinals

Detroit Lions v Arizona Cardinals

#1 - Kliff Kingsbury

Right now, Kingsbury is a problem for the Cardinals. Last year, we saw him stepping out of Air Raid's offensive principles and surprisingly calling an offense that lacked creativity, as well as showing deficiency and inexperience managing in-game situations like the one against the New England Patriots. He urgently needs to show something in his third year or his position will be in jeopardy.

In CBS Sports’ rankings of all 32 NFL head coaches, Kliff Kingsbury is ranked even behind a new head coach. https://t.co/Tbp3Xj2BO6

— TheCardsWire (@Cards_Wire) June 30, 2021

#2 - Tight ends

It's true that Kingsbury is a coach who likes to use ten players in his Air Raid a lot, so tight ends aren't that important in the Cardinals offensive system. But the talent deficit in the position is considerable. None of them are effective receiving passes, and that needs to change for when Arizona's offense demands some variation.

#3 - Offensive line depth

Since we are talking about sectors that need reinforcements on offense, the offensive line cannot be forgotten. The arrival of Rodney Hudson is important to reinforce the interior, but there are still holes to be filled in the right tackle and right guard positions.

#4 - Defensive line depth

Another group that needs reinforcements to complement the starting names is the defensive line, which doesn't have much more than J.J. Watt's dominance in the 3-4 base. Leki Fotu and Zach Allen are young players who can benefit from Watt's experience to evolve, and the Cardinals badly need that quality leap.

#5 - Strong safety

The final weak spot on the roster is strong safety. Budda Baker received All-Pro honors in 2020 but Arizona doesn't have an ideal answer for this pair in the deep part of the field. Charles Washington is projecting himself as the starter at the moment. His inexperience makes him an unknown factor in the Cardinals defense, a problem for a team that aims to reach the playoffs.