The Arizona Cardinals are a team that is looking to take another step forward this season. Did they enough in the offseason to continue the rebuild?

How improved is the edge rush?

The Cardinals were awful upfront last ear and they did a lot to change that. The question is how much of an impact can it make? They traded for Baron Browning late last year, they will be getting BJ Ojulari healthy after a strong rookie season, they signed Josh Sweat off of a big Super Bowl performance and they drafted Jordan Burch in round three. This is night and day compared to last year. 

How does the interior defensive line shake out?

Burch can slide inside to the 5-technique at times, too, due to his size. Meanwhile, Browning, like Zaven Collins is can drop into coverage as a linebacker. Their interior defensive line is equally as versatile. 

Darius Robinson could slide inside to the 3-technique and could slide all the way out to the edge. Calais Campbell built his career by being able to line up all over the front. They drafted Walter Nolan in round one, and one of his great strengths was rushing from multiple alignments. 

Dalvin Tomlinson is mostly the 1-technique in this defense, but he is athletic enough to slide around as well. What is more impressive about all of these names is that only Robinson was on the team last year, and he was a first-round rookie. Guys like Bilal Nichols, Justin Jones, and Dante Stills went from starters to afterthoughts on this front. 

Can Cody Simon start?

Cody Simon is a smaller linebacker who can blitz and play downhill. As we noted, the Cardinals are going to want to mix blitz looks and throw guys like Browning back into coverage while someone like Simon can blitz. He was drafted in round four but his competition is Akeen Davis-Gaither and Mack Wilson. He may start on day one. 

Can they get Marvin Harrison involved more?

The Cardinals were essentially all offense in the 2024 draft and all defense in the 2025 draft. This means that young offensive names have to take a step and includes Marvin Harrison Jr. He averaged just 1.63 yards per route run last year, but at his draft cost, he has to be the center of this offense. With Zay Jones and Michael Wilson as the only other notable receivers, if he does not take a step, they are going to stall out. What did an offseason do to change things?

Is running back the offensive line smart?

The most interesting note from the offseason is the Cardinals not touching the offensive line. One argument is that they underperformed. The other is that there was shuffling due to injuries, and that running the same five back brings continuity that they have not seen in years. The big question is about the interior. They did not do enough to provide depth here and need big seasons from all three starters.