I’m not sure exactly what Mike LaFleur has in mind for Arizona’s offense, but it’s a safe bet there will be a significant uptick in rushing production.
The Cardinals had essentially no running game last year. They weren’t very good at running the ball, and at times they simply didn’t make much of an effort to even try. Only the Raiders ran for fewer yards.
Arizona seemingly entered the season with a nice one-two punch of running backs – James Conner and Trey Benson. But plagued by injuries, neither played in more than four games. Conner averaged only 3.0 yards per attempt. They also in October lost Kyler Murray, who would have provided some rushing out of the quarterback position.
Ultimately, the only two backs with more than 50 carries were both guys who weren’t even on an NFL roster at the start of the season – Michael Carter and Zonovan Knight. Emari Demercado had the 71-yard run capped with the infamous fumble and averaged 5.6 yards on his other 43 carries, but they didn’t have much interest in using him – he finished with only 312 rushing yards.
Ultimately, Cards go down as the only team in the last five year without a 400-yard rusher.
Carter was their team leader, with 333 rushing yards. That’s the 2nd-lowest total by a team leader in the last 25 years.
This is very much a “nowhere to go but up” running game.
I will be interested to see what Trey Benson (pictured) looks like in the preseason. They took him in the second round in 2024, and maybe he can develop into something. But with him having not done enough so far, I expect they’ll be adding another viable back.
James Conner is currently under contract for one more year, with a base salary of $6.4 million and a cap hit of $9.8 million. He’s 30 and trying to come back from a serious foot and ankle injury. Spotrac.com indicates releasing him would leave a dead cap number of only $2.3 million.
| TEAMS WITHOUT A 400-YARD RUNNER | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Rushing leader | Att | Yards | Avg | TD |
| 2019 | Miami | Ryan Fitzpatrick (QB) | 54 | 243 | 4.5 | 4 |
| 2025 | Arizona | Michael Carter | 92 | 333 | 3.6 | 1 |
| 2008 | Denver | Peyton Hillis | 68 | 343 | 5.0 | 5 |
| 2012 | Arizona | L. Stephens-Howling | 110 | 356 | 3.2 | 4 |
| 2016 | Detroit | Theo Riddick | 92 | 357 | 3.9 | 1 |
| 2013 | Cleveland | Willis McGahee | 138 | 377 | 2.7 | 2 |
| 2000 | San Diego | Terrell Fletcher | 116 | 384 | 3.3 | 3 |
| 2011 | Detroit | Jahvid Best | 84 | 390 | 4.6 | 2 |
—Ian Allan
