Welcome everyone to 32 Beat Beyond the Tweets.
ZH: My name is Zach Hiduk and today I’m very excited to bring you a great conversation with Cardinals beat writer Tyler Drake. Now before we get started I did want to say thank you to all of our patrons out there. You have been flooding in recently and we really appreciate each and every one of you.
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ZH: Hey everyone today I have with us beat writer Tyler Drake. Tyler is a writer and editor covering the Arizona Cardinals for Arizona Sports at arizonasports.com and you can also hear him on Arizona Sports Radio 98.7 locally or of course for most of you on the Cardinals Corner podcast.
If you’re looking for him on Twitter you can find him @TDrake4Sports. Welcome to the show Tyler.
TD: Hey hey, glad to be a part of it.
ZH: Yeah so if you don’t mind just to start off tell us a little bit about yourself and how you came to cover the Cardinals if you could.
TD: Yeah yeah definitely. So I’m originally from Northern California a small town called Kelseyville. I graduated in 2010 and came down to Arizona. I’ve been here ever since and you know went to U of A first and was in a completely different major and realized that I was pretty good at what I was talking about and sports wise. So how could I make that into a career? So decided to transfer up to ASU and go to the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and there I interned with Arizona Sports and actually made that into a full-time job. So that’s really what it was about and really you know my passion was to be in football and you kind of football so you know I did a little bit of ASU football but then was luckily able to jump up really quickly and really start I would say 2020 was about when I really started getting more I guess availability with the Cardinals and then 2021 I took on full-time so this is my third I guess full-time season covering the Cardinals but you know really since 2019 I’ve been kind of in there but not in there so it’s been good to actually be able to go to every practice and be able to do all that so yeah but yeah I started from a really small town and now I’m just trying to survive in the desert because it is a scortcher out here right now.
ZH: Yeah I’ve seen things up to like 120.
TD: I think we’re like at 17 straight days of over 110 and I think I think one more day we tie a record that is shouldn’t be something you should tie.
ZH: Yeah I grew up out west in Colorado for a while but I don’t think it ever got anywhere near that hot that’s insane so yeah good luck surviving than that. And you know, honestly, to move on to survival, Kliff Kingsbury has moved on from your Cardinals here, whether willingly or otherwise. And they have brought in head coach now, Jonathan Gannon, who’s first time head coach from the Eagles, a previous defensive coordinator over there.
And obviously defensive oriented as opposed to the last regime. So they made it a point to bring him in after the Super Bowl there. And there was some shenanigans of some sort, I suppose they made good with the Eagles right prior to the draft.
But just taking all of that into account with the changes, and we’ll get to the Kyler injury, which I’m sure everybody wants to hear about. But what position overall is this team in now? And what do you think their general goal is for the season?
TD: Yeah, yeah, I think for now, I mean, like you just said, defensive mind, they really flipped the flip the switch on what they wanted to bring in. They were completely offensive minded with Kliff Kingsbury.
He was the offensive coordinator, if you will. And now it’s yeah, you know, they got head coach, John Gannon, who you get a little bit of a degree of separation now as the defensive minded guy, he brings in OC and new OC and Drew Petzing. And, you know, where they’re at now, it’s about improvement. It’s about really setting the foundation for this year.
I honestly, I can kind of kind of consider it a redshirt year, just because there are so many wrongs that they’ve got to write just from the old regime, there’s old contracts they had to get off of Hopkins as an example. And I’m sure we’ll get into that later. But just they really this year is really about setting the culture, setting that foundation to really go into 2024 and beyond and really hit it hard. And I think that’s really the thing is show improvement. You don’t need it in the wins and loss column, like that might not be very pretty. But if you can show, you know, noticeable improvement on those playmakers that you’re going to need five years down the line, two years, three years down the line, that’s really going to be the important thing moving forward, especially with his bachelor rookies. Because this batch of rookies, they all have that same type of football character. So now it’s how can they translate that to the field.
So for me, it’s really just about can you show improvement from the guys that you’re going to be relying on down the line? Right. Yeah, no, I you had mentioned Drew Petzing.
ZH: And that wasn’t really a name that I knew from an offensive perspective. Is he going to be calling plays or obviously Jonathan Gannon probably is not going to be calling offensive plays.
TD: Yeah, it sounds like Petzing is going to be the guy. And honestly, you’ve got to take him account where he came from Cleveland Browns.
He was a quarterback’s coach there. But you know, in Arizona, I very much think it’s going to be a very run heavy offense, especially with Kyler situation and not knowing really when he’s coming back. But you know, I think it’s really going to be one of those, you know, we saw it with Nick Chubb, he got a ton of carries last year.
I can see some kind of model like that with James Conner, and especially just because of what that running backs room looks like. So yeah, it’s going to be really interesting. It’s going to be I mean, first year guy, he’s going to have a lot of a lot of eyes on him, especially just of what this team is coming off of and how bad they looked coming out of 2022.
ZH: Yeah, and you had mentioned coming from the Browns there and just seeing a general overall improvement. I think, as you know, a lot of our followers and a good amount of our listeners are kind of interested in the fantasy angle of things. So you mentioned Conner in that light from a running perspective and Nick Chubb, I’m sure is making some of them excited. But you mentioned Murray, and that’s of course, the big question. So with the ACL that he suffered, I think it was week 13 against the Patriots, the game, I was actually watching that live and you can just tell like as soon as it happened, like, oh, yeah, season’s done. Just one of those classic went down without anybody touching him.
But the changes and struggles with the end depth on the roster. And then the coaching staff, it appears that you mentioned that they might be kind of up for a rough season and then maybe a high draft pick. Now they have the Texans draft pick. So my real question is, even if he’s healthy, which I don’t know when you think that might be, what motivation does Kyler have to actually play this season? And what motivation does the team have for actually playing him?
TD: Yeah, yeah. So, you know, for me, If I had to put it so head coach John Gannon, Monti Ossenfort, they don’t like to put a timeline on it They’re not gonna give us a timeline don’t expect the timeline anywhere else, so really it’s kind of where he’s at. There was a recent episode from the Cardinals called Cardinals flight plan where they dove into a little more of his mental aspect And I think he’s there mentally I think now it’s just about getting him healthy physically if I had to put a number on it I’d say like week five week six would be the starting point If I really had to put a number on it week eight would kind of. That would be enough time I think from the injury to where you could bounce back enough and not be really rushed back because that’s also you got to take that in account too is the guy just signed a contract.
It’s a lot of money. You don’t want to rush him back and get injured. So I guess for me, it’s you know for him. It’s about right now. He’s doing everything right. He’s out there. He’s rehabbing. He’s also taking it upon himself to be with the position groups, talk with Drew Petzong and really get the ins and outs for OTAs and minicamp. He was out there all the time more than I’ve seen him out there. You know, he’s been in the building more. I mean DJ Humphries is seeing a new Kyler Murray basically He hasn’t seen this side of him before him a funnier side, you know, he’s in the circle kind of thing So it’s really interesting there and I think it’s more Tyler’s got it’s it’s a it’s a job interview Really if you really want to think about it You can’t shy away from knowing that this team might get a high-draft it either it’s their own or the Texans That ranking right there. Yeah Marvin Harrison Jr. Is gonna be up there no matter what but you know, there’s a quarterback sitting at the very top No matter what at one of those picks if that’s the case. So right that’s something that they have to look at as the Cardinals You would be you if you’re the GM and you don’t look at that that would be a failure I think in my eyes.
So it’s really it’s you just have to cover all your bases there. So Kyler it’s about showing “Hey, this is what I’ve got” and for the team it’s “Hey, what do we have in this guy still” like because let’s be real It’s probably gonna take a couple games before you really see what the new Kyler is on the field just with the ACL getting ready football game, you know game shape. So for me, I think it’s both sides really need to see the other side perform.
So it’s like Kyler Murray needs to get out there to really prove To the team that he is who he is The organization needs to see that he can do that or they need to be ready to pull the trigger and move on. So it’s really there is a lot of sides, but but at the same time. So there’s a third to this thing, too. You don’t plan you don’t give anybody the chance to see what he’s looking like and then if you have to try to trade them You don’t diminish that trade value if that’s the case. So I guess that’s your option you have to consider. But for me, I think both sides you want to get them out there. So if anything you can make the full concerted effort of, hey, we need to move on, we’ve seen him on there. It’s not a, we’re just a guessing game because if you go somewhere else and balls out, that’s gonna look even worse on the Cardinals.
ZH: Right, so it sounds like you’re pretty confident and then it would make sense that they play him a certain amount but that they might also take it easy to see that he’s fully recovered and they’re not gonna tell us when that’s gonna be.
TD: So yeah, I think there’s gonna be, I think it’s five, six games sample size at the minimum should be what they’re both shooting for. That’s my own eyes, yeah.
ZH: Okay, and you said that you would assume that it’s not gonna happen before week five then, okay.
TD: No, I just, I don’t think so.
ZH: Yeah, yeah, especially if they’re taking it easy and there’s no reason to rush him. And honestly, maybe they’re just-
TD: And they’ve taken it easy with Murray before too. I mean, even the old regime is taking it easy with him before too and training camp and everything else. So it just seems like if they’re gonna pay him that much money, they’re gonna make sure everything, he checks every box for a week straight before they even think about throwing him out there for practice, let alone trying to get him out there for a game. That’s just my opinion, I think just being around the team, they are very cautious on letting their guys back. I mean, Zach Ertz is another guy, we really don’t know when, but it’s just gonna come down to when they really feel like they can give him the green light.
ZH: Okay, yeah, I appreciate hearing that from you because there’s some speculation from people outside the team from my knowledge that are like, well, you know, maybe they’ll push him back and he’ll get started at the beginning of the year.
And if that’s not the case, that’s a very big difference.
TD: I mean, that’s the thing is just we’ve gotten no indication either way, but I mean, here’s one example that I went off of, you know, Hollywood Brown’s birthday, I think that was during like the second or third week OTAs, they have that picture on the boat. You can see two different legs there on Tyler Murray. I think his legs still very much, like he’s, he still needs a lot of work on getting, you know, the proper cuts. I think really right now, he can only run straight line. So there’s still, there’s still a ways to go for him in his recovery and it’s not saying that I don’t think he could be like, I shouldn’t say it’s not impossible for him to be back by week one, but if he does, he’s gonna prove me wrong.
He’s will prove a lot of people in this state wrong for sure if that’s the case.
ZH: Okay. All right. Well, that’s good to know. And yeah, I hadn’t seen that picture, so I’ll have to look that up afterwards.
But if Murray isn’t starting then, who’s that gonna be? I mean, guys just on the roster, you’ve got a, like I think almost 37 year old Colt McCoy, you’ve got two former Detroit Lions guys and Jeff Driskel and David Blough who had a minute there.
And then a guy I guess I’m really curious about is fifth round rookie Clayton. Is it Thune or Tune? I don’t know.
TD: Tune, yeah.
ZH: There you go.
So who is it gonna be? Because I think McCoy was injured. I had some problem with his wrist, right?
TD: Yeah, yeah. So he, it seems like he’s back to good. So he should be good at this point.
I think it was about middle of the off season was when I think he was kind of ramping back, or ramping things back up. So he should be good. He should be the leader of the clubhouse, no doubt for weak one.
That’s my own opinion, but I’m not gonna be surprised if we see it Clayton Tune get thrown out there early. Just to be honest with you. He’s a more mobile quarterback. He could fit into the offense a little more. And I think you give Petzing more of a look of what he could be getting with Kyler just because you might be able to run a player too that you might not be able to get with David Blpugh or Colt McCoy or Jeff Driskel who aren’t gonna run as much. So in my eyes, I think, you know, I think Colt McCoy is my guy that’s gonna start week one, but a couple of weeks in, if you really, if you’re seeing it from a lopsided losses, why not throw the rookie out there and see what you can get.
So that’s just my personal thing. And, and you know, Tune is, you know, he’s, I would say he’s not necessarily raw, but you can tell there’s some things he’s got a grasp just from the little things that I’ve seen from rookie mini camp OTAs, and, you know, veteran mini camp, but also he’s got, you know, it looks like he’s got the intangibles and especially, you know, in the interview room, man, he really holds himself as a, you know, professional quarterback. So it’s gonna be really interesting to see how many, you know, reps he gets with the ones even a training camp because I’m, it’s not out of the question that we could be seeing that just for them to get a better idea of, hey, if we’ve got to drop Kyler in, does this play work or does this play work? Whereas like you’re throwing Colt McCoy in there and Jeff Driskel in there, David Blough. You’ve got to take some things out of the playbook. I think with Clayton Tune, you can keep things in there that you’re gonna implement with Kyler down the line. So why not see that now? So that’s a little bit easier with transition when you can drop Kyler in.
ZH: Okay. And this is kind of a scheme question, kind of an offensive line question, I guess. They drafted Paris Johnson in the first round, I think was it six overall. Sharp Football Analysis has them, I think, placed 26th in the league as far as offensive line is concerned. And so I’m curious if you think it’s good enough to do what they want it to do, even just maybe even trusting bringing Murray back.
It sounds like you think that’s the case. So how do you see that this season and does it influence their run game? You mentioned the Stefansky style. How does that look…look this year?
TD: Yeah, yeah, you know, for me, it’s going to be really interesting to see where exactly Paris fits well. He played a lot on the outside through the soft season, but I think they’re going to try to move them inside to during training camp, see what they got there. So right now, I mean, left guard and center are the two biggest needs for this line. And I think Jon Gaines is another rookie could be very well in that mix.
Hjalte Froholdt who is coming over from the Browns has a good relationship with Petzing. He’s been, you know, I think the lead man at center right now. So I think this line is getting a little not enough credit, I would say they’ve got some veteran guys back, you know, they got Kelvin Beachum, him on the right side, if he ends up starting, you move Paris to the left guard, I mean, you’re pretty much set there with Will Hernandez on the as the other guard, and you’ve got DJ (Humphries) on the left side. And you just have I would imagine Froholdt would probably be the center.
And if not, be John Gaines or Lecitus Smith. So, you know, I think they’re getting I think it’s it’s underrated. I think they’re going to be underrated this year because the veterans that are back, they’ve all played together for a while now. So, you know, I’m going to be interested to see how it all gels when we get out of training camp, because like I said, you know, Paris Johnson, where exactly can he fit because the guy’s versatile, he can play that left guard, he can play right tackle.
So, you know, if it was a perfect world, I think he’d slide a minute left guard because you’ve got Kelvin Beachum, him as a veteran on the right side, you get froholt in the middle and you kind of see it you go from there. But that that grouping right there is pretty solid in my eyes. I think they’re pretty underrated just from that ranking.
I would put them, you know, maybe not top 10, but I put them top 15, top 20, I think just because I think they’re going to be able I think they’re more run oriented to they all love to run the ball. So, I think I mean, obviously, we’ve got to see it happen. We’ve got to see this play, you know, the scheme all come together. But my eyes, how they’re shaping up and they’ve got Josh Jones as a backup, you know, if Kelvin does get moved as a backup, that’s a heck of a backup to have. So then really from there, you know, you try to move gains over or somebody like that. So there’s a lot of different combinations that I don’t think I don’t think they have the versatility in past years with this group. So now they’ve got a little more wiggle room. So I’m really interested to see it.
I think they’re a little underrated right now.
ZH: Okay, we’ll have to monitor that going forward there in the first couple weeks, like you mentioned.
With Hopkins being released, you had talked about him earlier. We just see now that he’s in Tennessee. And that perceivably makes Hollywood Brown, Marquis Brown, the number one wide receiver there. He had 709 yards, three touchdowns through 12 games before I mean, he dealt with a foot fracture and a hamstring pull the foot fracture, I believe ended…not ended this season, but put a big dent in the middle of it.
What production do you see from him early on? And then once Kyler returns?
TD: Yeah, yeah. So you know, I think he’s gonna get peppered with targets. I think they’re really gonna look at him at you know, I think tight ends are gonna be a big part of this offense just because of how much they’re gonna want to run the ball. But he’s gonna get a lot of looks, I think with whoever’s playing, it’s gonna be more of the shorter variety, you know, just get the ball out quick. I think when Kyler comes back, we’ll start to see him stretch the field a little bit more. But you know, those first couple weeks, I he was a legit number one when the Hopkins was off the field. And you know, he got hurt, I think in week six or seven and miss it right when Hopkins is coming back, he got hurt. So we never really got to see that all together with Kyler.
So it’s a little bit of a bummer on that side. But you know, I think he’s got the potential to do it. He’s just got to stay consistent. And he’s got to be able to reel in the easy ones.
I think that’s really what comes down to the Hollywood game. I think, you know, he’s definitely got the drive to do it. I think he really likes this, you know, the team.
And I think he likes this game. And yeah, if you know, I think he’s gonna get peppered early on. But I think once Kyler comes back, and they can get that report going, we’ll start seeing some, you know, stretch the field type plays some longer shots down the field, for sure.
ZH: Okay, and if he’s gonna be the main guy, I think I was looking up the roster earlier and they’re all like I mean if you look at Rondale Moore and Greg Dortch, they’re both 5’7″, 175 and Rondale, you know can be kind of an electric player, but the one guy who stood out seemed to me to be Third round wide receiver Michael Wilson.
He’s 6’2″ maybe 213lbs omewhere around there. What type of production do you expect to see from the guys behind Hollywood then?
TD: Yeah, yeah, so that’s the that’s the you know He’s the dark horse for me in that while wide receivers room right now Michael Wilson, and he’s really When he showed up he was quickly you quickly saw like this dude belongs in the league Like he’s got the intangibles to do it It’s just can you stay healthy and I think that’s really the question with you know Rondale Moore to My memoirs got the potential to be the number two guy, but can he stay on the field and I think you know Don’t be surprised when Michael Wilson’s one of those you know training camp highlight reels for the entirety of the camp Because that’s just kind of what he brings to the table He’s like you said he’s a bigger guy right that really helps break up these smaller wide receivers in this in this room That all can fall out, but you’ve got to have that way so him Zach Pascal, you know, I think it’s really gonna come down to Who can stay on the field and who can really separate themselves and training camp because there’s a very real possibility that Michael Wilson could be a number two guy I mean especially just given Rondale Moore’s injury history and just nothing against the guy But you know you’ve got to play I mean availability is the biggest You know one of the biggest factors in this game especially on the fantasy side, so I think Michael Wilson’s just a spark Like I think he’s gonna be a spark plug one of those guys that you know It might take him a little bit into getting a couple games under his belt before he really starts being consistent But I think we’ll start I think very early. We’ll see a couple you know shots where he kind of shocks a couple people like “whoa this guy was what pick?” so…that’s why I’m at I mean even Ganon he said he’s light years ahead of where he was from rookie mini camp when we were at a mini air I think OTAs the last OTAs or right at the beginning of that’s in any camp so Really really interested to see if he can really keep that progression going in a training camp because Ronda Moore did the same kind of trajectory And we saw that early on as a rookie. He just again just got to stay healthy
ZH: Yeah, who would be his main competitor for targets? Would that be Pascal because they have a similar body type or?
TD: He’s playing a lot…I mean he he told us straight up He said he played a lot of the X throughout the offseason So I think it’s gonna be really I think it’s gonna be between more and Pascal It’s gonna be his main competition because you can really move more anywhere just and we’ve seen that the past years Just because he’s five foot something doesn’t mean you can’t move around obviously he’s a better slot guy I think than outside, but I definitely think that it’s gonna be between those two guys.
ZH: Okay You mentioned the tight ends being used heavily in the offense. I don’t know if that’s more of a Stefanski thing maybe coming with Petzing there. Ertz you also mentioned before at the Kyler conversation. We don’t know maybe when he’s coming back, it sounds like from what you’re saying. He had the ACL and the MCL. If it’s not gonna be him for I don’t know the first five or so games as well…Who’s behind him is that Trey McBride? I mean there’s not much else behind him, right?
TD: No, yeah, it’s Trey McBride and it might be a Mr. Outside Hire you know. I think honestly, I think it’s gonna be I think Noah Togiai if I’m saying that right is probably gonna stick around. This is a better blocking TE for what they want to do But for a playmaking standpoint, it’s gonna be it’s Trey McBride and I would assume, you know, they’re probably gonna get a look at this training camp cuts down the line when it’s 53 man roster here at time so Trey McBride seems like he’s he’s taking that step, but yeah, it’s really an unknown when Ertz is gonna come back.
You know, he’s obviously targeting week one that they put everybody that’s wanting to come back from an injury He’s gonna target the first week back But sure really don’t know exactly if he’s gonna be back to obviously he’s got a little bit better of an outlook than Tyler Just because he got hurt earlier in the season, but still I don’t think they’re gonna rush him back So if they’re gonna prolong that I definitely think McBride is gonna be the way to go for if you know, and it might not be a every week starter for fantasy wise, but he could be a streaming option for sure.
ZH: Okay Are they gonna use a lot of two tight end sets then?
TD: Yes, or I would imagine I would imagine
ZH: Okay If that’s the case like you mentioned, they’re probably gonna be running the ball a lot James Connor I mean he had a Pro BowlI when I look back at this I was kind of surprised he had a Pro Bowl season in 2021 with 18 total touchdowns. I don’t know how I forgot 18 But last year Last year he did have a thousand scrimmage yards and 8 touchdowns, but. So it sounds like they’re gonna use him a lot because there’s not a lot else behind him.
You have Keaontay Ingram, Corey Clement from the Eagles a couple seasons back. Who’s his backup and how do you think the touches get split between all those guys?
TD: Yeah, Keaontay Ingram’s gotta be number two. You know, they didn’t really they didn’t address it. You know, Eno Benjamin last year was the number two guy and then he got that mysterious cut that really nobody really knows why still. That’s still one of those, you know mysteries that are just gonna lie in the desert. I guess but Yeah, you know, it’s Keontae Ingram and then I think it’s Corey Clement and Four touches I would assume it’s gonna be like 80 20 85 15 I think it’s gonna be the James Conner show unless you know, they go out and sign somebody who knows but For now and I think for what they’re doing and for what they see and their blueprint of moving forward I don’t think they want to spend the extra money for the running back for another running back Where it’s get through this year with who they got and then maybe try to re re-evaluate in 2024.
ZH: Yeah, it sounds like if they’re taking a long game perspective. They’re just gonna run what they have and at the ground from a veteran perspective and try to see what they have in the rookies when they get a shot.
Now I try to give everybody a soapbox to stand on of their choosing. So I’m not sure what you’ve had to think about but is there, tell us something that you feel isn’t brought up enough about the team. Or something you feel that people generally get wrong about them or maybe just something that you take issue with.
TD: Oh Man yeah, so I’ve had it I’ve been trying to think about you know what what this might be You know, and I think I think for me is it’s the it’s the long game for the Cardinals right now I think obviously the NFL is a business you need results But for where this team was and what they did I mean, I could probably tell you for if you if we have this show and they didn’t make any moves I could probably tell you four or five things I had wrong with this team But the fact that they went through and you know the GM took the leave of absence resigned whatever you want to call it That was you move in the right direction firing clip Kingsbury move in the right direction giving a guy That’s not an offensive minded coach to where you’ve kind of got a everyone’s kind of got to look at themselves more Hey, this is a real reset, you know Making sure that the GM and the head coach or or you know what are in lockstep with each other You know, they’ve done a lot of right where I feel like a lot of people give them a lot of credit or not credit, but I think a lot of people discredit them a lot, but I think for what the moves are, we’re not going to see very many wins.
Let me tell you straight away. If we see more than four wins, I will be very surprised with how this team is currently constructed right now. If they win more than four games, I will be surprised. But what they’re doing, I think people need to realize there’s more than just the wins and losses.
It’s just like the example I like to bring up is the Detroit Lions. Did they make the playoffs last year? No. Were they a fun team to watch? Did they have made the playoffs? Did they really show a year over year under Campbell improvement? Yes. That’s what I think people need to realize with this team is if they can just show that they’re moving in the right direction, that’s the type of progress that might catapult them back to relevancy sooner than later.
Until then, people got to give them a little bit of a break, I think.
ZH: Okay. Yeah. Well, and it sounds like from what you’re saying, maybe if you’re paying attention to Vegas there, take the under on the overall season wins. I think it’s that four and a half for the season.
TD: Take the other.
ZH: All right. Well, hey, Tyler, thanks so much for joining us.
Before I let you go here, though, tell us where we can find your work. If you don’t mind. Yeah, definitely.
TD: Yeah. So you can find all my work at a arizonasports.com. We actually have an app too, the Arizona Sports app. And then you can hear me on Arizona sports 98.7 FM. And then also I co host Cardinals Corner, which is an all everything Cardinals podcast that we try to do weekly. We’ll be ramping up and hopefully we’ll get some more, you know, airtime on the on the radio waves. And also if you’re more of the print person, you can find me in Lindy’s.
I actually have, I did the whole Cardinals section for the Lindy’s magazine. So there’s also the place you can find me if you want to check it out there.
ZH: All right. Well, awesome. That’s great to hear. And thanks again for joining us to our listeners.
Definitely make sure to check out his work for all of the things you need to know Cardinals. And thanks again for joining us, Tyler. Hopefully we’ll have you on in the future.
TD: Yeah, no problem. You know what to find me, man.
ZH: All right, welcome to the Fantasy Fallout where we discuss a little bit of the fantasy implications from the interview with our beat writer. In my opinion, all of this comes down to Kyler Murray, whether he’s playing or whether he’s not. And according to Tyler, it sounds like he’s not going to be playing for a while. He used the week eight mark. Now that’s really scary to me if I’m drafting anybody else on this team or drafting Kyler at all.
Currently, I would be interested in Hollywood and James Connor where they’re going right now. But again, it all comes down to Kyler. And if you’re going to be waiting until week eight for him to get on this plain day roster, I don’t know how that makes you feel. Hollywood right now is wide receiver with 33 with an ADP near Tyler Lockett, Mike Evans, the rookie JSN, Jackson Smith-Njigba. And honestly, I’d probably take all of those guys in front of him.
James Connor, he’s right around that same exact area. And I do think it’s a fair price. And both of these guys, if you’re thinking about it, are a guarantee at volume. And frankly, Tyler said as much.
The thing is, and the bottom line is that although Hollywood and James Connor are guaranteed to have a big slice of the Cardinals pie, that pie just may not be a very tasty one, frankly. I don’t really want anyone else in redraft or best ball on this roster. Maybe you can take a shot at Zach Ertz in the last round of a best ball draft.
You could also take a shot maybe at Trey McBride. They’re going right around that last round there. And you can do that if you feel like it. But just without Kyler being there, you’re not going to get any real upside.
If we’re talking dynasty, I’d definitely be interested in Michael Wilson. He does offer something that nobody else on that roster really can offer you. He’s bigger, and he’s heavier. Yeah, he’s just taller overall. Maybe you can get him cheap right now or as a throw in, I don’t think that you see a lot of production, especially at the beginning of the season, particularly without Kyler.
But if you see some flashes, he could definitely pay off for you in 2024, especially if Kyler stays with the team.
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