NFL training camps are just two months away and teams like the Arizona Cardinals are still trying to evaluate what their rosters will look like. We are also taking a look at each team’s trending players. This is stock up and stock down for the Arizona Cardinals. 

Stock up 

Myjai Sanders, edge rusher: With 2022 sack leader J.J. Watt retired, the Cardinals need somebody to step up and help fill that void as a pass-rusher. Especially when the Cardinals were a bottom-10 team in sacks even with Watt. Sanders could be that player.

A third-round pick in 2022, Sanders showed a lot of potential as a rookie in a limited role and is going to have an opportunity to really shine as a starter this season. In 13 appearances and four starts the athletic edge rusher recorded three sacks, defended three passes, forced a fumble, and had three tackles for loss and five quarterback hits. He should get a push from second-round pick BJ Ojulari, but Sanders should have the upper hand for playing time and will have an opportunity to become a true impact player for a young Cardinals defense. 

Monti Ossenfort, general manager: In his first attempt to run the Cardinals’ draft, Ossenfort put on a clinic in making trades to help the Cardinals not only address a major need (offensive tackle Paris Johnson) but also stockpiling draft picks for his 2023 class and the future. The Cardinals made nine picks in 2023 and already have 10 picks for the 2024 class, including two first-round picks and three third-round picks. 

The most significant of those trades could be the draft day deal with Houston that secured him the Texans’ 2024 first-round pick. Given how bad the Texans are still expected to be that selection could be a top-five pick, which could either position the Cardinals to land another quarterback if Kyler Murray doesn’t progress, or to continue adding impact talent around him.  

Stock down 

Kyler Murray, quarterback: Even before his season-ending knee injury Murray took a significant step backward in 2022 and did not look like the big-money, franchise quarterback the Cardinals hoped he would be. Not only that, he now has to prove he can still be that player while coming back from a major knee injury that could limit him early in the season.

This feels like a big make-or-break year for Murray in Arizona, especially when the Cardinals could realistically have a pair of top-five picks in 2024 (their own pick and Houston’s pick) which could position them to take somebody like Caleb Williams if Murray struggles again.  

Isaiah Simmons, linebacker: Simmons arrived in Arizona as a top-10 pick in 2020 with huge expectations, but he has not yet matched them on the field. That already resulted in the Cardinals declining to pick up his fifth-year option, and could even put him on the trade block this summer. 

He has racked up a lot of tackles in the Cardinals’ defense, but he has not really been an impact player or somebody that a defense can be built around. If he was, the Cardinals would have jumped at the chance to secure his fifth-year option. He is another player in Arizona facing a make-or-break year, especially with a new coaching staff and front office that had no role in picking him.