Cardinals training camp opens Saturday, and the team has a number of questions they'll need to answer in order to improve upon last season's 7-8-1 record.
Here are five key players, including four newcomers, who will play a significant role in deciding the Cardinals' 2017 fate.
1. Haason Reddick
The Cardinals haven’t been able to say enough good things about the 6-foot-1, 235-pound linebacker, who went from a walk-on at Temple to the No. 13th overall pick in this year’s draft. Reddick, who recorded 9.5 sacks and 22.5 tackles for loss during his senior season, will likely see first-team snaps right away with Deone Bucannon sidelined until at least the beginning of the regular season with an ankle injury. If he looks like the real deal during camp and preseason play, Cards fans should get very excited.
2. Chad Williams
Arians has a track record of drafting great wide receivers in the third round. Enter Williams, the Cards' 2017 third-round pick out of Grambling State. Williams was projected as a fifth- or sixth-round pick, but the Cardinals fell in love with his size, strength and “deceptive speed,” as Larry Fitzgerald put it. If he's as good as Arians believes he’ll be, Williams could make Cards fans forget all about Michael Floyd.
3. DJ Humphries
The offensive tackle and 2015 first-round pick didn’t see the field in his rookie season. He became a starter last year but struggled on the right side of the line, yielding nine sacks. This year, Humphries will move to left tackle, a position he played late last season and the position the Cards envisioned him playing when they drafted him. Arizona’s playoff chances will take a major hit if Humphries doesn’t show improvement in 2017.
4. Blaine Gabbert
The 27-year-old quarterback hasn’t had the kind of NFL career he envisioned when the Jaguars selected him with the 10th overall pick in the 2011 draft. But Gabbert has 40 games of experience as an NFL starter, more than three times that of Drew Stanton, who has backed up Cards starting QB Carson Palmer since 2013. A strong showing in training camp and preseason play could allow Gabbert to steal the No. 2 QB job from Stanton heading into the Sept. 10 regular-season opener.
5. Richie Leone
Punter is possibly the most boring position in football, but it’s a vital one. After finishing dead last in yards per punt last season (41.9), the Cards brought in Leone, who averaged a Canadian Football League-best 49.3 yards per punt for the BC Lions in 2016. Leone will have competition for the job, but if his punts travel as far in America as they did in Canada, he'll have no problem winning it.
