Cardinals Mailbag: Playoffs, Training Camp Battles and More

The Arizona Cardinals are going into a short lull before training camp - let's answer some questions.

Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker (3) during organized team activities at the Dignity Health Arizona Cardinals Training Center in Tempe on June 3, 2024. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY

ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals are in the beginning of their dead period before training camp, which is set to begin on July 23.

While the players try to figure out what to do with their time before State Farm Stadium welcomes everybody to the mix, us in the media (and fans alike) will try to find anything to fill the void until then.

As such, mailbags are a great way to bridge that gap. Thanks to everybody who submitted questions.

Q: In your opinion what are some winning behaviors? - Cardinals Update

Q: What's your favorite Donut? - Tyler Drake

I'm never shedding the Donnie Donuts label, huh?

Arizona Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon is a confirmed not a donut guy.

“That’s non-winning behavior in our building.”@DonnieDruin brought in donuts for rookie minicamp. pic.twitter.com/GE5lHVKp4N

— Bo Brack (@BoBrack) May 10, 2024

Q: It sounds like they had a very productive mini camp. My only question is, can they make the playoffs? - CG Sports Fan

Can they? Absolutely. The NFC is still not as packed as the AFC, and the Cardinals were a few unlucky bounces from being a six-win team rather than their 4-13 record.

The health of Kyler Murray and improved weapons on offense give this team the most hope, though there's still plenty of questions that need to be answered before the Cardinals can be serious postseason contenders.

Admittedly so, I feel like I'm higher on the Cardinals than most. I think with Murray in the mix, they'll blow past their four-win mark from 2023.

Is a playoff push likely? Probably not. But it's the offseason, and wishing is free.

Q: What position battle do you find the most intriguing? - Mando1121

This is the most big guy answer ever (maybe I really am not shedding the donut thing) but the battle at left guard has my full attention.

I feel like there's not many spots truly up for grabs with numerous candidates that can occupy the spot, but at left guard there's a variety of names.

Evan Brown seems to be the outside favorite after minicamp concludes, though previous guys in Elijah Wilkinson and Trystan Colon started at the spot last season and returned. Third-round pick Isaiah Adams hopes to make some noise early in his career and some believe Jon Gaines can make a push despite coming off major injury.

All eyes will be on that fifth and final piece along the line, and I wouldn't be shocked if Gannon rotated those guys when training camp arrives.

Q: Aside from the obvious 1st round draft picks, which rookies do you think will ball out in training camp and make a serious push to be named a starter? - Mando1121

Mando with two questions, shoutout to you my man!

Like stated above, I'm not counting Adams out of the mix when it comes to the guard competition.

It's easy to say guys such as Max Melton and Trey Benson will earn good playing time this season, too. For what it's worth, the Cardinals should use Tip Reiman early and often too.

Out of the remaining guys, I'm watching Xavier Thomas. The Cardinals didn't do much to their edge room this offseason, which leaves the door open for a guy like Thomas to earn some serious snaps if he can piece things together early in his career.

Q: Who do you think is gonna shine during training camp and be posed to make that giant leap forward? - Ryan Wagner

We touched on some rookies in the question above, so I'll target some second-year guys.

All eyes are on BJ Ojulari, who came on strong last season and is poised for that sophomore leap. There's a lot of buzz surrounding after camp. He was considered more raw than some other edge rushers with superb traits. With a year's worth of experience now under his belt, Ojulari is all but set to make that jump.

Offensively, I think Greg Dortch is going to seriously eat out of the slot. So much other attention will be given to Arizona's other playmakers, and Dortch can win one-on-one matchups with the best of them. I think he's in store for a nice season if he can stay healthy.

Q: How much of a chance does Xavier Weaver have of making the 53 man roster? - Brian Piccione

I won't lie, he's really got to embrace being a special teams player to make this roster.

It's a pretty top heavy roster in the desert. After the top four names (Harrison, Wilson, Dortch, Jones) veterans in Zach Pascal and Chris Moore - among others - are on the team. Tejhaun Palmer is the likely candidate between he and Weaver to make the roster, but I'm not in love with Palmer's chances either.

That's absolutely no slight to Weaver. The Cardinals signed barely any UDFA's and really liked the guys they got. I think Arizona might try to keep Weaver (and Palmer if he doesn't make it) on the practice squad.

It will be interesting to see how the kickoff change impacts roster-building, and I think that's the best path for Weaver: stand out on special teams.

Q: Where would you rank the offensive core of Kyler, MHJ, McBride, Conner in the NFL? - Conner Dreos

Without diving too deep into the rankings of each team, I think Arizona can easily finish with a top ten offense.

That relies on a few things - mainly Kyler Murray staying healthy, the offensive line improving and Marvin Harrison Jr. really making an impact on the offense early on.

All that being said, this offense is incredibly talented. There's firepower at every position and if everybody (including OC Drew Petzing) improves, it should be some fun Sundays ahead at State Farm Stadium.

Q: Has there been anybody new that came in and started showing signs of leadership within the group? - icyhotyci

This is a great question - yes.

Justin Jones has already established himself as a leader within the defensive line room. Sean Murphy-Bunting has welcomed the role as a veteran leader in the cornerback room despite being on the younger side himself, too.

In terms of recent draft picks, Paris Johnson has taken it upon himself to be "a guy" entering his second year in the league with his fellow offensive linemen.

Gannon emphasized guys with "high football character" entering the building, and that's absolutely been the case thus far with most new faces brought in, though the aforementioned names are most notable to us in the media.