Quarter-Season Grades: Cardinals' Offense Massively Disappointing

Quarterback: B

Two things can be true at once, Kyler Murray has not put the team on his back and forced a win in the past two close losses to San Francisco and Seattle but neither has he been the reason the Cardinals lost those games.

Evaluating quarterbacks is difficult because they are the on-field leader of the offense, getting credit when they play well and getting all the blame when the play poorly.

In these two losses, Murray didn't play out of his mind but he also was not the reason for the loss. In fact, he played fairly efficient football, doing the job given to him by his play-caller and doing it pretty well considering the poor offensive line play and his receivers dropping several important passes.

Compared to other quarterbacks around the league, Murray is doing fine statistically. He ranks tenth in passing yards (742), fifth in passing touchdowns (6), ninth in big-time throws (4), and first in scramble yards (130).

Offensive Line: C

Very rarely have you seen an offensive line with such a wide gap between their ability to pass block and their complete inability to run block. In averaged PFF scores for the whole position group they rank 4th in the NFL in pass blocking and 20th in run blocking.

Overall, they have been giving Murray time to throw the ball, an average of almost three seconds, but they have not found any true success in the ground game which is one of the key factors in why the Cardinals offense has seemed so out of sync in 2025 so far.

The Drew Petzing scheme relies on a power run game that established ground dominance with a strong running back and great gap blocking. The offensive line has not been able to consistently open those holes the running backs need and without that to kickstart the whole system it all falls apart rather quickly.

The single element that, if fixed, could see the Cardinals gain some steam as the season goes on would be this position group figuring out how to get back to their 2024 levels of run blocking efficiency.

Running Back: B-

Another position group a bit difficult to judge because only half of the success of a team's running game is due to the running back itself. The offensive line is not putting this group in a position to succeed.

Sadly, the Cardinals lost star running back James Conner in their Week 3 matchup against the 49ers so it will be the Trey Benson show from here on out.

Benson has shown that homerun ability he was known for at Florida State with a few big runs this season, including a 49 yarder, but he needs to work on his Conner impression and learn to hit holes with force instead of bouncing around looking for things to open up.

Tight End: A

A position group that includes Trey McBride will get an A more often than not. He continues to be a true superstar and oftentimes seems like the only truly reliable skill position player on this side of the ball. So far he has accounted for 14 first downs, the most among all tight ends in the NFL and is the team's leading pass catcher with 234 yards.

Tip Reiman has continued to be an effective run blocker and has opened up some as a pass catcher and former wide receiver Elijah Higgins has provided a bit of receiving juice as well, catching a few important passes in the win against the Carolina Panthers in Week 2.

Wide Receiver: D

Easily the most disappointing group on the offensive side of the ball are the wide receivers, highlighted by the disappointment of seeing last year's No. 4 overall draft selection look like he is not living up to the hype.

Marvin Harrison, Jr. was widely considered a generational, "can't miss" prospect coming out of Ohio State University in 2024. In college, he was one of the best receivers of this millennium but in his tenure with the Arizona Cardinals he has so far fallen short of expectations.

Yes, the expectations were probably too high to begin with and his rookie season taken in totality was not a failure, but instead of looking like he took a massive step from year one to year two it looks like Harrison, Jr. has regressed. A drop problem has popped up that seems to have gotten in his head and he continues to have communication problems on routes.

These disappointments could be mitigated if other receivers on the team stepped up as reliable targets, but so far in 2025 that has not happened. Watching tape, it is apparent that these skill position players are simply not getting open enough for Murray to feel comfortable throwing to them and the issue with drop is not contained to Harrison, Jr. Zay Jones also dropped a critical pass in Week 3 that would have secured a road victory for the Cardinals but instead ended with a one point loss.

Offensive GPA: 2.54

The Cardinals will not find much success in 2025 without a significant bump in this GPA. Fixing the run blocking issues with the offensive line and the wide receivers stepping up will go a long way toward that solution.