{"id":137947,"date":"2023-01-31T09:00:45","date_gmt":"2023-01-31T14:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=137947"},"modified":"2023-01-30T21:12:25","modified_gmt":"2023-01-31T02:12:25","slug":"arizona-cardinals-offseason-preview-cornerback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2023\/01\/31\/arizona-cardinals-offseason-preview-cornerback\/","title":{"rendered":"Arizona Cardinals Offseason Preview: Cornerback"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Arizona Cardinals<\/a> had a disappointing 2022 season by all accounts. Despite a strong roster at the start of the year, injuries decimated their depth chart. By the end of the season, the Cardinals thin depth at cornerback was truly exposed. This offseason, Arizona will need to look to rejuvenate their secondary with new GM Monti Ossenfort at the helm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What makes Ossenfort\u2019s job easier is Arizona\u2019s youth at cornerback, and support from safety. The Cardinals currently have Marco Wilson and Byron Murphy Jr. around, two young and promising cornerbacks. Supporting them is arguably one of the league\u2019s best safety tandems. Budda Baker was the Cardinals most valuable player in 2022 and Jalen Thompson is highly underrated. Thompson was also among one of the few players that played the full season for Arizona.<\/p>\n

With this in mind, Ossenfort may have a large task ahead, but reconstructing Arizona\u2019s cornerback room should be easy enough. Both the New England Patriots<\/a> and Tennessee Titans<\/a> value the cornerback position more than Arizona recently have. This suggests that Ossenfort could look to put extra focus here, depending on the head coach appointment of course.<\/p>\n

This is quite different to Steve Keim\u2019s approach from before. In 2022 and 2021, Arizona\u2019s cornerback spending accounted for less than 4% of the cap in both years. With less than $7 million spent at the position, the Cardinals were placed in the bottom two of cornerback spending. This figure was higher in 2020 and before the Kliff Kingsbury era<\/a> due to Patrick Peterson\u2019s huge salary. However, even then, Keim was constantly under fire for his inability to find an adequate cornerback partner for All-Pro Peterson.<\/p>\n

Arizona Cardinals Offseason Preview: Cornerback<\/h2>\n

On the Roster: Marco Wilson<\/h3>\n

Wilson was a starter for the Cardinals in both 2021 and 2022. A fourth-round selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Cardinals gambled on Wilson\u2019s athleticism and raw traits as Keim opted to trade up to select him. In his rookie year, Wilson struggled. He exceeded expectations but was still the weakest link in the Cardinals secondary. This was something that teams exploited, especially in the redzone. On the whole, Wilson\u2019s rookie year was positive for the fact that he was thrust into a starting role and flashed his potential. He was, however, liable to rookie mistakes and was clearly targeted by opposition quarterbacks.<\/p>\n

2022 started disappointingly. Wilson looked like he had suffered a severe regression from his rookie year. However, in a strange turn of events, Wilson stepped up after Murphy\u2019s injury. From Week 6, Wilson only had one below-average performance. Outside of that week, Wilson performed as good as any top-15 cornerback in the league, notching PFF grades above 60 in both defense and coverage in most matchups. His year was highlighted in Week 16 with a two-interception performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a>. In this game, he intercepted Tom Brady on two separate occasions. He was also the NFC\u2019s Defensive Player of the Week for Week 7 after a pick-six against Andy Dalton and the New Orleans Saints<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Tom Brady \ud83c\udf81 Marco Wilson
pic.twitter.com\/Q1JeVBEa9X<\/a><\/p>\n

— PFF (@PFF) December 26, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n