What should be expected of Jonathon Gannon?
Setting Gannon's Goals for 2024
Moral victories are so last season.
If we were to grade Jonathon Gannon’s 2023 season on its stain removal ability, we’d be looking at a whole new level of detergent. Blood and mud soaked jeans? Ketchup on your shirt? Forget your Tide pods, simply soak in our brand new Gannon ‘23 formula for just 18 weeks and your denim will be looking, and feeling, better than ever.
Think back to roughly this time last year. Maybe 14 months ago. Jonathon Gannon was hired by the Cardinals in the aftermath of a Super Bowl defeat he was completely and utterly blamed for in Philadelphia, regardless of the fact that 14 of the Chiefs’ points can be ascribed to mistakes by the offensive and special teams units. He was criticised for focusing on his job interview with the Cardinals instead of the Super Bowl. He was at the bottom of the ‘prospective head coach’ power rankings. He was a joke. The Cardinals were coming off a truly embarrassing season. A seething culmination of years of mismanagement. A year of off-field drama and accusations, internal mistrust, increasing scrutiny. A roster so thin it would snap like an unnecessarily slight wafer. And a season on the field that was somehow even worse. It seemed Gannon and Arizona were made for each other. A joke and its punchline. Well, who’s laughing now?
The Bird’s Eye
The Cardinals announced the signing of Special Teams stud Markus Bailey from the Bengals. As these offensive and defensive units become ever more youthful and rookie-laden, it might be expected for the play on Special Teams to fall behind. But adding Bailey to the core of Joey Blount & Dennis Gardeck gives me high hopes the Cardinals can adapt and attack the new kick-off rule with a vengeance.
It’s early to be ringing the bells of victory, I know, but you’ll have to excuse my enthusiasm. With an utterly undermanned roster and without Kyler for most of the season, 2023 was all about moral victories. Putting up a good fight. Setting the culture. Building optimism. Hope. And it delivered. James Conner’s career year in a fun, multi-faceted run game. The Josh Dobbs surprise. The national media whispers. “Man, this Cardinals group plays really hard week-in-week-out”. “Have you seen this Cardinals run-game recently?”. The Trey McBride hurdle into stardom. That Kyzir White interception. Kyler returning with a game-winning drive. Garrett Williams in the slot. Greg Dortch skipping through that entire Eagles secondary. And as Head Coach, JG had his hand in all of it. The culture shock. The enthusiasm. The moments. The putting the pieces in place. But moral victories lead to 4-13 seasons. There’s gotta be a next step.
Putting a number on it wouldn’t be right. It’s not like I can say going 8-9 in 2024 would be excellent but finishing 7-10 would make me want to jump off a cliff. Or that 6-11 would leave me pining for Steve Keim. No. There are too many changeable factors for that. And the NFC West still looks to be a brutal division. But, as I see it, there is a minimum expectation for Jonathon Gannon this year, and it’s all about the kids.
What really needs to be shown in 2024 is the development of the young players on this team. The Cardinals have spoken about, and put on show, that they plan on building this team almost entirely through the draft. By my rough back of a napkin math, there’s a chance almost 50% of the Cardinals 53 man roster will have entered the league in either 2023 or 2024. And potential starters too. Dante Stills, Darius Robinson, BJ Ojulari, Max Melton, Garrett Williams, Marvin Harrison Jr, Michael Wilson, Isaiah Adams, Paris Johnson Jr, Tip Reiman. That’s ten expected impact players. And there’s a whole cabal more that could see significant snaps this season. The record of this team will be dictated by Kyler Murray, and the performance of its young players.
But by their very nature, rookies and sophomore players aren’t fully formed. They haven’t finished their development. They are still blobs of clay, ripe and ready for moulding. They need time, experience, mentors, coaching, direction. This is the job that Jonathon Gannon and his coaching team should be judged on. How many, and how well do these young players develop into real, bona fide pieces on this Arizona Cardinals roster. There’s a glut of potential, and it’s up to Gannon’s staff to make good on it.
And in particular. There are a lot. And I mean a lot. Of young defensive backs on this team right now. Corner in particular is a position the Cardinals have failed to address since the regression and departure of Patrick Peterson. But now we have a DB specialist as Head Coach, and a whole host of prospects to work with. Given his experience in playing and coaching the position, JG should be in a tremendous spot to find some gold amongst this group. Will it be ‘Mad’ Max Melton? Elijah Jones? Maybe Kei’Trel Clark takes a leap. Or an Ojemudia or Price. We’re not asking for top 10 play. Maybe just a footnote in a Mina Kimes podcast about the young and feisty cornerbacks on the Cardinals roster playing well above their weight. Just some hope that we might finally cover one Brandon Aiyuk seven route.
Am I just justifying more moral victories in lieu of actual victories in 2024? Maybe. But the single most important thing that the Cardinals need to figure out this year is this. Who is the core of this team? Who are we building around? Not depth pieces or spot starters. Who are the stars of this Cardinals team going forward? The players in the conversation for best at their position in the whole, lovely, big NFL. Can Paris Johnson Jr make good on his 36+ inch arms? MHJ his pedigree? Is Melton indeed the next Darius Slay? Right now we have Trey McBride. We have Kyler Murray. Then in the ‘if so, then not for long’ category there’s Budda Baker and James Conner. Then maybe Jalen Thompson? A nicely balanced roster of good players is good and all, but to compete in the NFC West, a few difference makers are needed. And the Cardinals need to make good on their plan to develop them in-house.
Take the 2022 Detroit Lions. A situation I’ve heard the current Cardinals compared to many times over the past 6 months. A team in the second year under new management. A team lauded for its new culture. A team coming off a 13 loss season. (A team that signed back-up center Evan Brown in free-agency). The Lions finished that year 9-8, missing the playoffs by a gnat’s whisker. This success was led primarily by their three young, developing, in-house stars. All at premium positions. Penei Sewell has become the highest paid tackle in the league. Amon-Ra St Brown, the second-highest paid wide receiver. And Aidan Hutchison may follow suit at edge rusher shortly. This is the calibre of talent and development needed.
Word from the Nest
When asked on his thoughts about the corners that were taken just before him in the draft, and sporting a large diamond necklace that spelled out ‘Mad Max’ across his chest, Max Melton declared, “opinions are like Gucci belts, everybody’s got one”. If that’s not the sign of the overwhelming irrational confidence a corner needs, then I don’t know what is. All-Pro rookie season incoming.
We can’t hold Jonathon Gannon to a definitive win/loss target this year. Or that he should lead us to the playoffs. But there should be an onus and an energy on finding who the core of this Cardinals team will be going forward. Who are the burgeoning stars that might one day lead us back to the playoffs. The dirt and the stains are mostly gone, let’s see if JG can now add some sparkle and pop to the mix.
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