5 NFL teams who could shatter expectations in the 2020 season

2. Arizona Cardinals

When the Arizona Cardinals decided to hire Kliff Kingsbury as their head coach ahead of the 2019 season, it was rather unexpected. Kingsbury is a well-respected offensive mind but after a losing season at Texas Tech, it wasn’t expected that he would then become an NFL head coach.

Then he and genera manager Steve Keim pulled off another surprising move by taking Kyler Murray at No. 1 overall in the draft and trading away Josh Rosen, who was the 10th pick by Arizona the prior season. Murray proved to be a good pick throwing for 3,722 yards with 20 touchdowns. Murray also ran for 544 yards with another four touchdowns.

Even with his performance, Arizona was just 5-10-1 on the year. However, they improved on both sides of the ball this offseason making them a team worth keeping an eye on.

Their biggest move was trading for wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins from the Houston Texans. Not only did they land a star receiver in that move but they also unloaded David Johnson’s over-sized contract, which was a win-win.

The only question marks seem to be the defense and their offensive line. Arizona had a chance to draft one of the big tackles in this class which would have helped but instead elected to take Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons. They were fortunate to still land Josh Jones in the third round who will be a potential starter down the road.

Overall, there were a lot of improvements for the Cardinals who suddenly look to be a team that can compete with just about anyone.