The Arizona Cardinals are in their offseason and looking ahead to 2025.
But while we are in the offseason, it is time to look back at the 2024 season and give some recognitions for player performances.
On the podcast, we discussed player awards and superlatives. Now we will put our picks in written form.
We continue with the team’s biggest disappointment in 2024.
Who was the Cardinals’ biggest disappointment for 2024? Howard Balzer and I give our picks.
Cardinals’ biggest disappointment of 2024
Jess Root: DLs Justin Jones, Bilal Nichols
The Cardinals committed over $50 million to Jones and Nichols in free agency in an attempt to bolster the defensive line. Nichols had not missed a game in four seasons and Jones in the previous two.
Both suffered season-ending injuries. They combined for 14 tackles and as many sacks as I did (zero). The disappointment wasn’t about their play, as we saw struggles for a while in stopping the run after they got hurt.
But when they were added to be a big boost to the defensive line and they ended up giving you virtually nothing on the field, it is disappointing.
The Cardinals made a big investment in the offensive line, adding Jones and Nichols and then drafting Darius Robinson in the first round. With injuries to all three, the Cardinals got virtually nothing on the field from all three.
That is disappointing.
Howard Balzer: WR Marvin Harrison Jr.
Disappointment is in the eye of the beholder, but that’s what happens when you’re the fourth overall pick in the draft and one of the more heralded pass-catchers to enter the league in years.
The numbers weren’t bad, but the frustration was high because of what might have (should have?) been. It raises the stakes in 2025 for Harrison to get on the same page more often with quarterback Kyler Murray. Make a list of things that have to improve for the team to reach double-digit victories and that’s near if not at the top.
As for those numbers, it is important to note that although his 62 receptions tied for 49th in the NFL, the 14.3-yard average per catch was eighth in that group of 50 players. Only eight players had more than Harrison’s eight touchdowns.
Still, he averaged only 3.6 receptions per game and 52.1 yards game. Another two catches per game gets him to 96 and 6.8 yards per game gets him to 1,000 for the season. The surest way to reach those levels is improving on the percentage of 116 targets caught, which was 53.4 percent.
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.