Vikings at Cardinals Depth Chart Preview 2021
Sept 17, 2021 21:02:24 GMT -6
Funkytown, Purple Pain, and 3 more like this
Post by Danchat on Sept 17, 2021 21:02:24 GMT -6
After a woeful Week 1 game against the Bengals, the Vikings get thrown into the fire against a hot Cardinals team. Can the Vikings get back into the groove with a big win, or repeat the start to the 2020 season?
Cardinals
RT Beachum - Questionable
OLB Kennard - Out
Vikings
DE Griffen - Out
CB Hand - Out
LB Barr - Out
LT Darrisaw - Out
LB Kendricks - Questionable
Line: Cardinals -3.5 (63% of money on ARZ)
My Thoughts
QB - Kyler Murray appears to be the midst of emerging into a top 10 QB. After ripping open the Titans' defense in Week 1, he faces up against an already banged-up Vikings offense. Murray has all the traits of a franchise QB minus the height, but after a rough rookie year, he's improved in all categories. I don't know how the Vikings are going to stop him. Murray did toss 12 picks and fumble 9 times last year, so pressuring him into turnovers is their best bet.
RB - After letting Kenyan Drake go, the Cardinals are sporting Edmonds and Conner as their RB duo. Edmonds has been an efficient runner with strong receiving skills, but isn't anything special. Conner had a poor 2020 season, but when healthy he is a strong runner who is more agile than he looks. I suspect the Cardinals will opt for a pass-heavy game script, unless they take a big lead like last week.
WR - Arizona has geared up the WR room and is willing to go 4 wide all the time, similar to Buffalo. Hopkins was stolen in the 'Houston Heist', and is a dominant #1 WR. They paid AJ Green to be their #2 guy, but he was abysmal in 2020 and still looks washed up. Christian Kirk has been a solid yet unspectacular receiver who PFF doesn't like for some reason. Kyler does like to go deep with him, even if his strong suit is in the intermediate part of the field. 2nd round rookie Rondale Moore is an electric playmaker who will see more snaps than you'd expect. They'll try to match him up on a dime CB or a third safety.
TE - The Cardinals have three blocking TEs on their roster. Maxx Williams turned out to be a disappointment as a receiver, but PFF loves his blocking. They will mainly use one TE for blocking.
OL - It took several years, but the Cardinals have fixed their O-line. Humphries is a good example of a 1st round LT whose career started out in the "bust" category, but overcame injuries to become a decent blind-side blocker. Pugh has never quite been worth his FA deal, but he's at least average. They upgraded on center big-time with Hudson replacing Mason Cole, though Hudson did begin to regress with the Raiders last year. 2020 3rd rounder Josh Jones projected as a LT/RT, but they're trying him at RG. Last week was his first start and it didn't go well. RT Kelvin Beachum is serviceable, though always hurt.
DL - There's not a whole lot here, as the unit mostly revolves around Watt. He's not playing at a Hall of Fame level anymore, but he's still going to be a pain to block. Allen and Lawrence are 3rd and 4th rounders who haven't gotten many chances yet.
ED/OLB - Chandler Jones had 5 sacks last week, which topped his 1 sack in 2020. That came in 5 starts, then a torn ACL. Jones seems to be back after dominating Titans' LT Taylor Lewan. Markus Golden is a decent #2 rusher, though he's 30 and two years removed from a 10 sack season. With Kennard hurt, they could opt to use Zaven Collins in a pass rushing role despite being a off-ball linebacker.
ILB - Isaiah Simmons was billed as a top-notch prospect, but the versatile phenom had a hard time in coverage and shedding blocks in both the run and passing game. If he unlocks his full potential, he will be force to be reckoned with. Jordan Hicks has staved off Collins for the other ILB spot, filling in as a middling run stopper. Collins is a similar player to Simmons, being able to theoretically play multiple spots (he reminds me of Anthony Barr). Perhaps the Cardinals need to stop drafting multi-positional players...
CB - This might be the worst CB room in the NFL. Malcolm Butler retired a couple weeks back, leaving Byron Murphy as their top CB. Murphy had a solid sophomore year after a disastrous rookie season, but he will have troubles with Jefferson and Thielen. Robert Alford is the unquestioned #2 CB despite not playing in the NFL since 2018, and even back then he was mediocre. 4th round rookie Marco Wilson is the slot CB. He had a horrid year at Florida before graduating. The Cardinals will play a heavy amount of zone coverage and let their pass rush take over the game.
S - Budda Baker is ascending as one of the better safeties in the league, and like Harrison Smith will rove around and play some LB and will even blitz at times. SS Jalen Thompson is a passable starter who is a strong tackler.
Prediction: Cardinals 34, Vikings 27
I am tempted to call this one a blowout, but I expect the Cardinals were not quite as good as they looked last week and the Vikings will play a bit better as well. Their defense has plenty of holes to exploit, allowing for our offense to hang around, but I don't see this newly constructed Vikings defense being able to contain Kyler and his many receivers.
Any thoughts?
Cardinals
RT Beachum - Questionable
OLB Kennard - Out
Vikings
DE Griffen - Out
CB Hand - Out
LB Barr - Out
LT Darrisaw - Out
LB Kendricks - Questionable
Line: Cardinals -3.5 (63% of money on ARZ)
My Thoughts
QB - Kyler Murray appears to be the midst of emerging into a top 10 QB. After ripping open the Titans' defense in Week 1, he faces up against an already banged-up Vikings offense. Murray has all the traits of a franchise QB minus the height, but after a rough rookie year, he's improved in all categories. I don't know how the Vikings are going to stop him. Murray did toss 12 picks and fumble 9 times last year, so pressuring him into turnovers is their best bet.
RB - After letting Kenyan Drake go, the Cardinals are sporting Edmonds and Conner as their RB duo. Edmonds has been an efficient runner with strong receiving skills, but isn't anything special. Conner had a poor 2020 season, but when healthy he is a strong runner who is more agile than he looks. I suspect the Cardinals will opt for a pass-heavy game script, unless they take a big lead like last week.
WR - Arizona has geared up the WR room and is willing to go 4 wide all the time, similar to Buffalo. Hopkins was stolen in the 'Houston Heist', and is a dominant #1 WR. They paid AJ Green to be their #2 guy, but he was abysmal in 2020 and still looks washed up. Christian Kirk has been a solid yet unspectacular receiver who PFF doesn't like for some reason. Kyler does like to go deep with him, even if his strong suit is in the intermediate part of the field. 2nd round rookie Rondale Moore is an electric playmaker who will see more snaps than you'd expect. They'll try to match him up on a dime CB or a third safety.
TE - The Cardinals have three blocking TEs on their roster. Maxx Williams turned out to be a disappointment as a receiver, but PFF loves his blocking. They will mainly use one TE for blocking.
OL - It took several years, but the Cardinals have fixed their O-line. Humphries is a good example of a 1st round LT whose career started out in the "bust" category, but overcame injuries to become a decent blind-side blocker. Pugh has never quite been worth his FA deal, but he's at least average. They upgraded on center big-time with Hudson replacing Mason Cole, though Hudson did begin to regress with the Raiders last year. 2020 3rd rounder Josh Jones projected as a LT/RT, but they're trying him at RG. Last week was his first start and it didn't go well. RT Kelvin Beachum is serviceable, though always hurt.
DL - There's not a whole lot here, as the unit mostly revolves around Watt. He's not playing at a Hall of Fame level anymore, but he's still going to be a pain to block. Allen and Lawrence are 3rd and 4th rounders who haven't gotten many chances yet.
ED/OLB - Chandler Jones had 5 sacks last week, which topped his 1 sack in 2020. That came in 5 starts, then a torn ACL. Jones seems to be back after dominating Titans' LT Taylor Lewan. Markus Golden is a decent #2 rusher, though he's 30 and two years removed from a 10 sack season. With Kennard hurt, they could opt to use Zaven Collins in a pass rushing role despite being a off-ball linebacker.
ILB - Isaiah Simmons was billed as a top-notch prospect, but the versatile phenom had a hard time in coverage and shedding blocks in both the run and passing game. If he unlocks his full potential, he will be force to be reckoned with. Jordan Hicks has staved off Collins for the other ILB spot, filling in as a middling run stopper. Collins is a similar player to Simmons, being able to theoretically play multiple spots (he reminds me of Anthony Barr). Perhaps the Cardinals need to stop drafting multi-positional players...
CB - This might be the worst CB room in the NFL. Malcolm Butler retired a couple weeks back, leaving Byron Murphy as their top CB. Murphy had a solid sophomore year after a disastrous rookie season, but he will have troubles with Jefferson and Thielen. Robert Alford is the unquestioned #2 CB despite not playing in the NFL since 2018, and even back then he was mediocre. 4th round rookie Marco Wilson is the slot CB. He had a horrid year at Florida before graduating. The Cardinals will play a heavy amount of zone coverage and let their pass rush take over the game.
S - Budda Baker is ascending as one of the better safeties in the league, and like Harrison Smith will rove around and play some LB and will even blitz at times. SS Jalen Thompson is a passable starter who is a strong tackler.
Prediction: Cardinals 34, Vikings 27
I am tempted to call this one a blowout, but I expect the Cardinals were not quite as good as they looked last week and the Vikings will play a bit better as well. Their defense has plenty of holes to exploit, allowing for our offense to hang around, but I don't see this newly constructed Vikings defense being able to contain Kyler and his many receivers.
Any thoughts?
Although with a defensive middle looking that weak, it might actually work for once.
Although with a defensive middle looking that weak, it might actually work for once.
