What's Cardinals Biggest Question Ahead of 2024?

The Arizona Cardinals have a massive season ahead - what's their biggest question?

Arizona Cardinals linebacker Kyzir White (7) celebrates their 28-16 win over the Dallas Cowboys at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Sept. 24, 2023. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY

ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals hope to improve on their 4-13 record from last season, though there's still some massive questions the team will have to answer on both sides of the ball before they can take the next step.

It was a productive offseason for the Cardinals under the second year of general manager Monti Ossenfort, who again plugged holes via free agency while investing through the NFL Draft.

What the Cardinals did was impressive - though there's still a handful of questions the organization must answer before they hit the grass at State Farm Stadium.

The Athletic recently said Arizona's biggest question was their rush defense:

"They gave up the NFL’s most rushing yards per game in 2023. Unsurprisingly, teams also ran against them at the league’s highest clip. They drafted a handful of rookies and signed unremarkable veteran tackles Bilal Nichols and Justin Jones, but their long-term prospects are bleak if star safety Budda Baker — who requested a trade last offseason — leaves at the end of 2024."

- The Athletic

Arizona's rush defense certainly was suspect in 2023, as their 143.2 yards per game on the ground indeed ranked at the bottom of the NFL. The Cardinals' 26.8 points per game ranked 31st, too.

Free agent additions such as Bilal Nichols and Justin Jones - on top of first-round pick Darius Robinson - hope to provide a better attack up front, which will hopefully clog running lanes and allow talented linebackers in Kyzir White and Mack Wilson to run free.

The Cardinals' rush defense is likely the biggest question, though a close second would be their secondary.

Sean Murphy-Bunting arrived via free agency and looks to be the lone veteran in the secondary. Under him, the Cardinals have six total players that either are rookies or have just one year's worth of experience.

Defensive coordinator Nick Rallis is a fan of how his defense is shaping up moving into training camp:

"We've improved in a lot of different ways. I love what Monti [Ossenfort] was able to do over the course of the offseason and improve really the depth and the competitiveness of each position," Rallis said.

"I would say, individually, the players, there was a lot of improvement I saw from guys that were here last year going into this spring. From the start of spring to the end of spring, guys committed to it and put a lot of work in and got better from a schematic standpoint, technique standpoint, physical, psychological, health, all of it."

Camp begins next week for Arizona.