All eyes are on Kyler Murray as he rehabilitates from a torn ACL, but the Cardinals also have several other key offensive players returning from serious injuries in 2023.
Here is a look at that quartet, with insight from Doctor of Physical Therapy Edwin Porras of FantasyPoints.com about the level of concern for more injury issues moving forward.
WR Rondale Moore
2022 Injuries: Hamstring, Groin, Finger
Games Missed: 9
Concern Level: Moderate
Moore is electrifying on the field but has been hit hard by the injury bug both in college and the NFL. Porras isn’t too concerned with the fluky dislocated finger that landed Moore on injured reserve, but a litany of soft tissue issues are concerning.
Porras, though, is intrigued by Arizona’s investment in the athletic training staff this offseason, as the team has beefed up the group and taken a heightened level of interest in sports science.
“If they can hone in on some specific profile stuff Rondale presents, and they can keep him on a maintenance program throughout the season, I don’t see why he can’t make a bounceback,” Porras said. “I think it’s too soon to write him off.”
Porras believes there is the possibility of Moore playing in 15 or 16 games this year if the Cardinals take care of him throughout the season. A history of hamstring and groin issues is concerning, but it’s not a guarantee another injury-plagued season awaits.
“There is definitely some hope that this can make a significant change in his trajectory,” Porras said. “It’s fascinating to me they did just invest in sports med. It seems like it was something obviously on their radar. Even just having this conversation, I’m more optimistic about it.”
QB Kyler Murray
2022 Injuries: Wrist, Hamstring, ACL
Games Missed: 6
Concern Level: Low
No one knows when Murray will be back on the field following a January 3 surgery to repair his ACL and meniscus. However, the latest signs are “really encouraging,” Porras said, as the star quarterback is straight-line sprinting and has not suffered any setbacks.
The big decision for Arizona will be whether or not to put him on PUP to start the season, which would sideline Murray until Week 5 at the earliest.
Porras doesn’t think it’s a given based on Murray’s current trajectory.
“What can we be relatively certain of (based off the straight-line sprinting)?” Porras said. “He’s doing pretty well. He’s running at this point. We don’t expect him to be doing lateral cuts yet. We don’t expect him to be doing side-shuffling quite yet. It’s not an issue yet. It sounds like he is exactly where he should be.
“When Week 1 rolls around, it’s going to be like eight months and a week from his surgery date. I’m starting to think he may not even start the season on PUP. He’s obviously going to start training camp on PUP. It’s going to come down to what the Cardinals want to do with him and what that whole situation is like. I think he has a legitimate chance at that. I don’t think there’s a reason why he couldn’t come back in the eight-and-a-half, nine-month mark.”
The Cardinals are projected to be the worst team in the NFL and the organization may choose to be cautious, but Porras said not to discount Murray’s fervor for getting back on the field, and how that may affect the calculus.
“These dudes want to compete,” Porras said. “I work with high-level athletes and they are all egomaniacs. They think they are going to be the difference-maker.”
Porras said Murray’s past hamstring issues must be considered because compensation injuries are a legitimate concern. That being said, Murray’s age and athletic profile could mean a quicker return and more successful season than projected.
“In the spaces that I’m in, the conversation is, ‘He’s going to miss eight weeks,’” Porras said. “I don’t think that’s the case. I don’t think Week 1 is the safest bet, but maybe Week 3 or 4ish? I’m more optimistic on him this year than a lot of people are.”
TE Zach Ertz
2022 Injuries: Calf, ACL
Games Missed: 7
Concern Level: High
Ertz suffered his torn ACL in November, so should return earlier than Murray, but age is working against the one-time star tight end.
He will be 33 this season and Porras said major injuries to older players tend to expedite a career fall-off.
“You don’t love this for Zach Ertz at all,” Porras said. “I’ve heard he’s a really good dude so this is unfortunate. It was a clean ACL, so there’s a chance he can contribute a certain amount, but I would really put a cap on expectations. I’ll tell you where my brain’s at: for fantasy I was thinking Trey McBride could be a pretty decent value. This could be a passing of the torch.”
Porras said we will know more when training camp begins next week, where there will be a better idea on Ertz’s progress.
“If we get reports that he’s on the field at seven months, straight-line running and doing some nice lateral cuts, then maybe there is some hope he can start the season and be at least a semi-productive player for the Cardinals,” Porras said. “But I think we should temper expectations. You worry about soft tissue stuff for an older guy after an injury like this, you worry about their explosiveness, and just the amount of time that it takes to come back at almost 33 years old.
“I don’t think it’s the end of the world. The sky isn’t falling. I don’t expect a Logan Thomas-like season, a catastrophe because his knee exploded. For Ertz, it’s just ACL/MCL, but I don’t think we should expect anything over-the-top for him.”
WR Hollywood Brown
2022 Injuries: Hamstring, Foot
Games Missed: 5
2023 Receiving Yardage O/U at DraftKings: 800.5
Concern Level: Moderate
Brown is unique among this group in that he missed a chunk of the season but then returned to finish the year on the field.
Even so, his early-season fracture continued a pattern of issues with his foot.
“Maybe a person without the history of a Lisfranc wouldn’t have had that small re-fracture, maybe they would,” Porras said. “It’s hard to say. I remember the injury specifically, the mechanism, and it was pretty brutal. It is something you worry about. You worry about the integrity of his ligaments, you worry about his ability to hold up when he’s coming down from a contested catch.”
Brown is the Cardinals’ clear-cut No. 1 pass-catching target when he’s on the field. But he will likely have to deal with a Murray-less quarterback situation early on, and then aim to stay healthy as well.
“For fantasy, I would place him in the middle or the low end of the yellow tier — like green, yellow, red — because there is a chance he could have another recurrence,” Porras said. “He’s at a higher risk than guys who haven’t had a recurrence.”
Brown is on an expiring deal and the foot history could be a reason for the Cardinals slow-playing any extension talks.
“Marquise Brown is really the first of his kind to have the (Lisfranc) surgery early in his career and continue to play,” Porras said. “I think that he’s at an increased risk, for sure, because of his foot. Since it was a re-fracture, I would love for him to get through 2023 without more issues, without missing games. That would make me a little more confident moving forward.”
