With the NFL offseason in the midst of the only truly slow spot in the calendar, it’s a good time to start taking a look ahead to next season. There’s a lot of optimism around this team lately, so I thought I’d add to it by taking a look at players poised for a breakout in the 2024 season.
Breakouts come in all shapes and sizes. You could have an undrafted player make huge contributions out of seemingly nowhere (think Dennis Gardeck’s 7-sack season back in 2020). Or you could have a young player put it all together like David Johnson back in 2016. Or even an established starter become a star like Kyler Murray making his first Pro Bowl (also in 2020).
I won’t try to predict any “out of nowhere” breakouts—those are so fun precisely because you *can’t* predict them—but I’ve identified a few young players who could be ready to become big contributors and some established starters ready to become stars. Let’s start with a couple players on the defensive side of the ball ready to really contribute to this team.
Note: I’m not considering rookies in this article, as you can’t really “break out” if you haven’t played yet, right?
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Young Players Ready to Make a Leap
LB Mack Wilson Sr.
Wilson has taken an interesting path to the desert. He was a 5th-round pick by the Browns in 2019 and started 14 games as a rookie. But he quickly fell out of favor there and has spent the last two seasons mostly playing special teams with the Patriots. But a lot of scouts liked what they saw out of him on defense, and he certainly caught GM Monti Ossenfort’s eye, as he gave him a 3-year deal worth almost $13M (with $6.5M guaranteed). He figures to slide into one of the starting LB spots, where he’ll bring a unique blend of experience and potential (he’s only 26) to the front seven. Could he be the missing piece DC Nick Rallis has been searching for?
EDGE BJ Ojulari
This one is almost too easy. Ojulari, a 2nd-round pick last year, dealt with some injury problems last offseason and took a while to get going. He played sparingly until Week 8 (less than 33% of the defensive snaps), but from that point on he played more than 50% of the snaps on defense and totaled 4 sacks (tied for second on the team for the season), 5 TFLs, 6 QB hits, and 1 pass defended without starting a single game. With a starting gig, a fully healthy offseason, improved D-line talent around him, and natural improvement in Year 2, he looks like a double-digit sack guy waiting to happen—something the player himself is already targeting.
WR Michael Wilson
Here’s another 2nd-year player ready to break out. Unlike Ojulari, Wilson was a starter from the get-go. He played well in his rookie season, even if his final numbers weren’t all that impressive: 38/565/3 TDs. Of course, his QB was Josh Dobbs for most of the season, and then he was injured in a few games when Kyler came back. It took him a couple games to get healthy and click with Kyler, but he went 10/130/1 TD over the final two games of the season. That’s an incredibly small sample size and these numbers shouldn’t be taken entirely seriously as he’ll have more competition for targets this season, but those numbers prorate to 85/1100/9 TDs over a full 17-game season. I don’t think we’ll pass enough for Wilson to really challenge those numbers, but something like 65/900/5 could certainly be obtainable.
Established Starters Ready to Become Stars
TE Trey McBride
This is another no-brainer. And if you wanted to argue that McBride has already broken out, I wouldn’t argue too much. He went 81/825/3 TDs last season with Dobbs, Clayton Tune, and a recovering Kyler throwing him the ball. The 81 receptions are a Cardinals franchise record, and the 825 yards are the second-most in franchise history (behind Jackie Smith’s 1,205 way back in 1967 when the team was in St. Louis). So he’s already one of the best tight ends in Cardinals history. But he should be even better this year with a fully healthy Kyler and an improved offensive ecosystem around him. Many fantasy analysts have him the third TE off the board, and he should challenge for his first Pro Bowl berth this season. McBride is on the very cusp of stardom, and he’ll fully get there in 2024.
LT Paris Johnson Jr.
Yep, another second-year player—that Ossenfort guy must’ve had a pretty good first draft as GM. Johnson’s play wasn’t especially impressive in his rookie year (an average 60 PFF grade, for whatever that means to you), but he did play every single offensive snap, which *is* quite impressive. He also played most of the season at RT instead of LT, which was his projected position coming out of college. Well, he’ll be switching to LT this year and is saying all the right things. The man wants to be the next D.J. Humphries, which is hopefully his floor. If we can get steady LT play for the better part of a decade, we’d take it. But PJJ could—should?—be even better than Hump. And that will hopefully start with him fully coming into his own this year in an all-around improved Cardinals offense.
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Final Thoughts
If all of these players break out like they could, it could be a good season of football in the desert. Especially if we get one or two of those “out of nowhere” breakouts. It’s a good time to be a Cardinals fan.
Speaking of which, it’s time for you to weigh in. What do you think of these breakout candidates? Do you have any others in mind? Vote in the poll and drop a comment.
Poll
Which Cardinals player do you think is most ready to break out in 2024?
A self-described Arizona social media “villain” was arrested after he filmed himself allegedly spraying bed bug killer on groceries inside a Walmart as he boasted to police about his prank videos.
Charles Smith, 27, is accused of grabbing a can of Hot Shot Ultra Bed Bug and Flea Killer and unleashing the pesticide on a series of perishable items in the Mesa, Ariz. megastore around 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 19.
In the now-deleted video, the influencer filmed himself wearing a black hoodie and pink bandana while spraying the toxin on bananas, acorn squash, potatoes, lemons, green apples and Roma tomatoes at the store — located in a neighborhood southeast of Phoenix.
Charles Smith was accused of spraying a bed bug killer on groceries inside a Walmart. ImTheMainCharacter/Reddit
Police claim the TikTokker, who goes by the username WolfieKahletti, intentionally went to the store to film pranks for his channel.
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Smith identifies as an online “troll,” according to court documents viewed by Az Family. He has more than 300,000 followers on TikTok.
The troublemaker allegedly told police that he makes between $6,000 – $10,000 per month filming his provocative prank videos.
”I think social media has got people doing crazy things out here,” Walmart shopper Xavier Griego told the outlet. “It’s unfortunate that somebody would mess up their whole life, potentially, for something on social media for views.”
Smith voluntarily turned himself over to police on Dec. 21.
The prankster reportedly posted the video on his TikTok page with over 300K followers. ImTheMainCharacter/RedditWalmart claimed it removed the contaminated items and cleaned the areas that were hit. ImTheMainCharacter/Reddit
He faces charges of introducing poison (a felony) as well as three misdemeanors that include criminal damage, endangerment and theft.
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A spokesperson from Walmart told AZ Family that store employees removed the directly impacted products and cleaned the affected areas of the store.
It’s not clear if any customers were injured from eating the contaminated items.
Smith voluntarily turned himself over to the police on Dec. 21. ImTheMainCharacter/Reddit
“This incident underscores the potential dangers of reckless actions disguised as social media pranks,” the Mesa Police Department said in a statement.
Other videos posted online by Smith include the posts of him seemingly mixing in bacon and eggs in a stranger’s load at the laundromat as well as locking people inside a different grocery store.
Smith is charged with a felony and three misdemeanors. ImTheMainCharacter/Reddit
The spray is “harmful if swallowed” and “prolonged or frequently repeated skin contact may cause allergic reactions in some individuals” per HotShot’s website.
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Suspects convicted of tampering with consumer products face up to 5 to 20 years in prison.
In 2022, an Arizona man was sentenced to 10 years of probation after being convicted of adding harmful chemicals to food at several retail stores in the Phoenix area.
David Lohr was ordered to pay restitution to a grocery chain for $390.42 and ordered to participate in a mental health evaluation and any additional recommended treatment.
There were no reported injuries or illnesses associated with the tampered items during the 2018 stunt, prosecutors said.
Lohr was accused of tampering with products at stores in California one year later and sentenced to a 51-month prison term followed by three years of supervised release with mental health services.
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Caleb Love matched his season-high with 24 points to help power Arizona to a 94-41 rout of Central Michigan on Saturday.
The Wildcats (6-5) won back-to-back games for the first time since beating Canisius and Old Dominion to open the season.
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The Chippewas (5-6) scored the game’s first three points but Love knocked down three 3-pointers and scored 18 first-half points to put Arizona firmly in charge at intermission, 44-23.
Arizona shot 54.5% from the field, including 10 of 29 from distance, and got 44 points from its bench. K.J. Lewis hit 4 of 8 from the field and 5 of 5 from the line for 13 points to lead the reserves. Tobe Awaka added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Wildcats dominated the boards, outrebounding the Chippewas 45-27.
Central Michigan struggled from the field, hitting just 14 of 54 (25.9%), including just 3 of 16 from distance. Cayden Vasko hit 4 of 13, including 2 of 5 from 3-point range, to lead the team with 10 points.
Arizona opens Big 12 Conference play at home when it plays host to TCU on Dec. 30. Central Michigan will look to snap its three-game losing string on Dec. 30 when it plays host to Cleary.
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After getting hired as Arizona’s offensive coordinator, Seth Doege said his scheme is one that can be effective through the air and on the ground. And now he’s added a playmaker who has shown the ability to produce in both areas in a similar system.
Former Texas State running back Ismail Mahdi has committed to Arizona, giving the Wildcats a versatile ball carrier who can also catch passes out of the backfield.
BREAKING: Texas State star transfer RB Ismail Mahdi has Committed to Arizona, he tells @on3sports
The 5’9 187 RB led the nation in All-Purpose Yards in 2023 (2,169)
2x All-Sun Belt 1st Team & 2023 1st Team All-American
The 5-foot-9, 185-pound Mahdi ran for 2,322 yards and 14 touchdowns in two seasons with the Bobcats, adding 44 catches for 470 yards and three TDs as well as a score off a kick return. He has more than 3,500 all-purpose yards the last two seasons, with another 900 and five scores from the 2022 season at FCS Houston Christian.
Texas State runs a spread attack similar to what Doege used at Marshall, one that averaged 37.1 points and almost 475 yards per game this fall.
Ismail is Arizona’s 10th transfer pickup, fifth on offense and third at a skill position along with former New Mexico receiver Luke Wysong and ex-Washington State receiver Kris Hutson.
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