10 Arizona Cardinals Who Need to Ball Out in Preseason

Simmons is the talk of the town as a UDFA, which makes the preseason one of the most important three game stretches of his entire football career. The defensive line room is stacked, and Simmons has his work cut out to stick around. The good news is he should see no shortage of playing time. 

Greg Dortch

Zay Jones is listed as the Cardinals current starting slot receiver, and that means that Dortch has work to do. He may be a fan favorite, but he doesn’t have a clear cut role for the team as more of a gadget player. Dortch will need these next few weeks to show at least one specific skill and not just his talent to stick around, even in a thin receiver room. 

Kei’Trel Clark

Another injury to the cornerback position, this time Starling Thomas V, comes as an opportunity for a stacked room to find a roster spot. Clark entered the offseason as a player on the bubble, and he has a lot of teammates to fend off to stick around. But his chances are increasing as long as he makes the most of them.  

Owen Pappoe

Pappoe is a player I’ve highlighted before as someone who can leave exhibition play as a starter and be one of the team’s biggest winners. He’s in year three with plenty to prove, and the linebacker position is wide open for him to come in and start. 

Michael Carter Jr

The Cardinals' running back room has plenty of good players of all ages, and an OK back in Carter Jr won’t have an easy time securing his spot. At best, he would be the team’s RB3, and I’m not sure he stands out over younger, cheaper options at the moment. 

Clayton Tune

I’m not sure a Cardinals team looking to get back to the playoffs would be interested in keeping three quarterbacks, and Tune hasn’t done much to prove himself worthy of staying in the pros. Jacoby Brissett is the clear QB2 behind Kyler Murray, so Tune will need to be beyond exceptional to hang around. 

Bilal Nichols

The Cardinals spent decent money last offseason to sign Nichols and were rewarded with next to no production or game time. He’s playing for his job with the franchise this preseason and all of the moves the team made in the offseason have only made it more difficult. 

Justin Jones

You can basically copy/paste what we said about Nichols here for Jones. He was given decent cash last offseason and spent most of the year injured. He’ll be off the team unless he can find the field and standout. 

Christian Jones

Jones got lots of time to adjust to the pros last season and he is likely to see just as much time in 2025 in Kelvin Beachum and Jonah Williams both returned. However, neither are the long term solutions and Jones is hoping to audition for that role down the road. It starts now with a strong preseason. 

Kitan Crawford

It’s always a test for late day three picks to make the final roster for a team, and maybe ex-players can tell you being drafted never guarantees your spot on the roster even against UDFAs. Crawford is ultra-talented and athletic, but he will have to find any role he can to stay long term and prove himself.