Donnie Druin: LB Zaven Collins

Collins enters the final year of his contract after the Cardinals declined his fifth-year option this offseason, and all eyes are on the edge room to take a massive step up in 2024.

There’s plenty of talk around BJ Ojulari – and rightfully so – but it’s Collins who truly needs to prove himself as somebody who can get to the quarterback consistently.

If that happens, Arizona could seriously be cooking on the defensive side of the ball.

Kyler Burd: LB BJ Ojulari

The Cardinals’ very own Nigerian prince (this is not a joke, look it up), Ojulari is part of a second-year class that will need to take a step up from solid contributing roles to legitimate starters. Ojulari’s four sacks in 2023 were the most by a Cardinals rookie since Markus Golden in 2016 and his pass rush acumen was highly touted coming out of LSU.

A condensed rookie offseason due to injury contributed to a slow start for the young linebacker last season, but his flashes of brilliance, particularly in the Week 10 victory over the Falcons, showed that the ceiling is high for the second-year pass rusher.

Ojulari coming on a true threat to opposing quarterbacks would go a long way to making life easier for a very young and untested Cardinals secondary.

Kevin Hicks: CB Max Melton

Much has been made about the tantalizing upside surrounding the offense – and rightfully so. But the defense has several questions across all three levels – and corner might be the spot with the most upside, but it also comes with the least experience/objective production.

Melton is in fact a rookie, but was also highly regarded by the league in the pre-draft process – his ability to be a lockdown guy was evidenced by shadowing now-teammate Marvin Harrison Jr. during his worst performance of the 2023 season at Ohio State.

Melton may not be thrust into a starting role right away, but attention should be on him as he has the most traits of a legitimate CB1 of any other players at the position on the roster – and stout showings from him could very well lead to a season of overachieving on that side of the ball.

Alex D’Agostino: RB Trey Benson

The Cardinals are going to run the ball in 2024. A lot. Obviously, James Conner is the workhorse, but Drew Petzing and Jonathan Gannon know they need a RB2, and Benson’s skillset makes him the perfect successor to Conner in the long run.

The question remains just how well Benson can transition to an NFL pace, and how much the Cardinals will ask of him in year one. Keep an eye out for some two-back sets, and what type of back Benson looks to be establishing himself as.

There’s not much risk at the moment of Arizona shifting to a committee in the backfield, but–depending on whether Benson emerges as more of a speedster or a bulldozer–the rushing attack has a chance to diversify its look before the season begins.

Jack London: CB’s Max Melton AND Elijah Jones

Ok I’m cheating a bit here – but one of these rookies (or both) will play an integral part of whether the Cardinals defense is not swiss cheese this year. Does the pass rush need a bit of work? Maybe – but defending the pass is paramount in today’s game, and Arizona simply didn’t do it at all last season – even when they were dropping eight.

Melton and Jones may not be the whole fix, but there’s a reason Arizona invested so much in the secondary this offseason – maybe Jonathan Gannon realized that was the team’s biggest weakness.

Richie Bradshaw: Michael Wilson

Wilson had a successful rookie season in a year that didn’t have much stability on offense. Where much of the unit was sputtering, Wilson provided some stability.

Now entering year two, the Cardinals have added Marvin Harrison Jr. to the wide receiver position and he’ll assume the role as WR1. This will give Wilson a ton of looks in single-coverage while MHJ commands the rest of the defense’s attention.

We could see Wilson flourish with those kids of opportunities and turn into one of the best WR2’s in the league. In a best case scenario, and shooting for the moon, he could be the Anquan Boldin to MHJ’s Larry Fitzgerald.