With a preseason game now complete for the Arizona Cardinals, we are a step closer to the team having to cut the roster down to 53 players. There are many decisions to be made.
With offensive lineman Will Hernandez back in the fold, how does that change the 53-man roster?
Below are my latest 53-man roster predictions for the Cardinals.
Nothing has changed to make anything different here. The Cardinals have only carried two quarterbacks on the roster since Jonathan Gannon became head coach.
While Dallas fumbled twice on Saturday, Gannon has referred to him as a "war daddy" in the locker room. He is a tone-setter. This group seems locked in, although Dallas maybe is a little less than a lock. Zonovan Knight probably has a way to go catching up, but he was an elite kick returner in college.
Fehoko's quad injury kept him from making his Cardinals debut. Xavier Weaver looked good both on offense and had a nice punt return, but I think they have to keep five receivers to start and Fehoko and his $1 million guaranteed salary gets the edge, at least for now.
This also feels like a locked-in group, although Reiman appears to have passed Higgins on the depth chart.
I project Hernandez will start the season on PUP, which means he won't count against the 53 and will become a future problem to worry about. We have to see about Gaines' thumb injury and Jones' knee injury from the game. But for now, we keep 10 linemen to keep Conner and Jones both on the roster, although neither will likely play except for an injury this season.
Until things change, I'm going to project that Walter Nolen will start the season on PUP because of his calf injury, and I don't believe Bilal Nichols will play this season. This solves the numbers problem at this position.
Ojulari's status makes this difficult. Will he come off PUP soon? If so, he will make the team. If not, Xavier Thomas will earn a spot. Burch really impressed in his preseason action, although the stat sheet said zero sacks. He had two negated by penalties.
Mykal Walker gets bumped here, but to keep an extra defensive back.
Elijah Jones still is the odd man out. Keeping six cornerbacks is a tough ask.
The Cardinals go with five safeties to protect Crawford and Blount.