A look at where the Arizona Cardinals rank in new NFL power rankings based on level of interest.

We are in the dead of the offseason in the NFL, when we are simply waiting for training camps to start. It is a good time for more lists and rankings.

AZCentral Sports’ Bob McManaman put together NFL power rankings for all 32 teams, but based on interest level.

Where do the Arizona Cardinals fall?

As you can probably imagine, it is near the bottom. They find themselves in the tier of “watch at your own risk,” which includes the five lowest-ranked teams. The Cardinals come in at No. 30.

Who’s going to emerge as the starting quarterback and will it even matter? At some point, rookie Carson Beck is going to get his shot and by then, the season might already be heading toward a disaster. Stay tuned to learn how rookie Jeremiyah Love and the running backs will split time, how the defense hopes to rediscover itself and how first-year coach Mike LaFleur plans to get things off the ground.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — A missing and endangered child from Arizona was found at the homeless encampment known as “The Jungle” in Olympia, after investigators received information that the child may have been a victim of sex trafficking. U.S. marshals said.

The girl had been reported missing to the Mesa, Arizona, Police Department in May, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

On June 18, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children notified the agency that the child was potentially being sex trafficked in Washington state.

A deputy U.S. marshal assigned to missing children investigations in the Western District of Washington developed a lead that brought authorities to the 3200 block of Martin Way East, a 20-acre homeless encampment known as “The Jungle.”

The agency described the area as having high rates of violence and community safety concerns. Back in 2023, a woman was found dead at the homeless encampment.

The city’s estimate of the number of people at the encampment generally ranges from about 100 to 250 people, with additional visitors sometimes coming to the site during the day. Overall, the number varies throughout the year, Olympia city officials said.

City staff visit the site several times each week, while service providers offer food, water, clothing, sanitation services, and other basic assistance.

On Thursday, U.S. marshals, assisted by the Washington State Department of Corrections, canvassed the encampment and found the missing child. The female juvenile was transferred to the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families and the Olympia Police Department for treatment and victim assistance.

“Protecting our nation’s children is of the highest importance,” Acting U.S. Marshal Donrien Stephens said in a statement. He credited local, state, and community partners for helping safely recover a youth at elevated risk of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.

A photo of an Olympia homeless camp, where a man was arrested by police after allegedly throwing “softball-sized rocks” at firefighters who were responding to an active fire. (KOMO News)

The U.S. Marshals Service said the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 expanded its authority to help law enforcement recover endangered missing children, regardless of whether a fugitive or sex offender is involved, and led to the creation of its Missing Child Unit.

Since the law’s passage, the agency said it has contributed to locating or recovering 5,281 missing children.

The child’s exact age was not made public by U.S. marshals, just that she had been found safe.

The Marshals Service asked anyone with information about wanted fugitives to contact the nearest U.S. Marshals office or the agency’s Communications Center at 1-800-336-0102.

Arizona’s growth is landing hardest where there is still land to build, road to widen, and a job within commuting distance. The state added about 97,000 residents between mid-2024 and mid-2025, with Maricopa and Pinal counties taking the largest share. The pressure keeps pushing out from Phoenix into the West Valley and Pinal County while southern and rural Arizona stay flat or shrink. Housing supply and commuter access and big new master-planned communities are deciding where people land. The result is a growth map led by Buckeye and Queen Creek and the fast-rising cities of Pinal County.

Buckeye

Buckeye is one of Arizona’s biggest growth stories because it still has open desert to fill west of Phoenix. The city jumped about 37% since 2020 to roughly 125,400 residents, one of the largest numeric gains in the state. The pattern is housing first, access second. There is more room here than in the older Phoenix suburbs, and I-10 keeps it tied to jobs across the West Valley and central Phoenix. The city has projected more than 2,900 new homes for 2025 alone, which is most of the story. Verrado, Sundance, Tartesso, and the corridors along Watson and Yuma roads are where the change shows on the ground. Buckeye grows because West Valley demand keeps moving farther out.

Queen Creek

Few Arizona towns have changed as fast as Queen Creek. It grew more than 50% since 2020 to about 89,800 residents, one of the steepest rates among the state’s larger places. The town sits where Maricopa and Pinal County growth meet, part bedroom community, part job corridor, part family-housing magnet. New subdivisions, retail, schools, and road work have all chased the population up. The town is planning for a build-out near 150,000, so this is not a short-term bump. The change is loudest around Queen Creek Marketplace, Ellsworth Loop Road, the town center, and the neighborhoods spreading toward San Tan Valley.

Maricopa

Maricopa shows how much of Arizona’s growth is now spilling into Pinal County. The city climbed about 35% since 2020 to roughly 76,700 residents, ranking among the state’s largest city-level gainers year over year. Housing is the draw, but the commute defines daily life. Most residents rely on State Route 347 to reach jobs in Chandler, Tempe, Phoenix, and the wider Valley, which is exactly why the SR 347 widening has become such a fight. Copper Sky, the city center, and the commercial growth along John Wayne Parkway give Maricopa more services than it had in earlier boom years. The city keeps growing because families keep finding homes there, even as the roads work to catch up.

Goodyear

Goodyear has become one of the West Valley’s major growth centers. The city rose about 30% since 2020 to roughly 118,200 residents, again among the state’s largest numeric gainers. Its growth runs on a mix of housing, jobs, healthcare, logistics, and freeway access. Goodyear sits along I-10 with newer neighborhoods spreading south and west while employers cluster around the business parks, industrial areas, and the airport. It ranks among the country’s fastest-growing cities above 50,000, with more than 20,000 acres of parks and trails feeding a family-and-retirement appeal. Estrella, Palm Valley, Goodyear Civic Square, and the Loop 303 area give the city several growth points instead of one.

Surprise

Surprise keeps gaining as the northwest Valley builds out. The city reached about 167,600 residents in 2025, up roughly 22% since 2020, and it added more people year over year than any Arizona city except Phoenix. The growth is housing and retail finally catching up to each other. Newer subdivisions, retirement communities, spring-training crowds, and expanding shopping mean fewer trips deeper into Phoenix for everyday errands. Surprise City Center is filling in while the Prasada area has become one of the northwest Valley’s busiest retail zones. The Surprise Stadium area, Bell Road, Asante, and the northern neighborhoods each show a different side of the build-out.

Casa Grande

Casa Grande is at the center of the Pinal County shift between Phoenix and Tucson. The city grew about 30% since 2020 to roughly 69,800 residents, one of Arizona’s fastest gainers. What sets it apart is that it is not only a commuter town. Casa Grande has turned into a manufacturing and logistics hub, with Lucid Motors, Kohler, Frito-Lay, and Abbott Nutrition tied to the I-10 and I-8 corridors. Lucid alone has put about $2 billion into the city and created some 2,500 jobs. Downtown, the Promenade, the industrial parks, and the new subdivisions show jobs and housing climbing together, which makes Casa Grande a regional center rather than a midpoint.

Coolidge

Coolidge is smaller than most of this list, but its growth rate stands out. The city grew roughly 48% since 2020 to just under 20,000 residents, among the fastest in the state. The reasons are location and cheap land. Coolidge sits in central Pinal County, close to Casa Grande, Florence, Queen Creek, and the wider Phoenix-Tucson corridor, right in the path of the industrial and logistics growth spreading across the county. New housing and job access are turning a former farm town into a connected piece of central Arizona’s map. The land around Arizona Boulevard and Coolidge Avenue gives the city room for both homes and employers.

Marana

Marana is southern Arizona’s clearest entry here, the only Pima County city among the state’s ten fastest-growing since 2020. The town grew about 26% over those five years to roughly 65,500 residents. The push comes from Tucson’s northward spread. Marana has I-10 access, master-planned communities, schools, and new development along Tangerine, Cortaro, and Twin Peaks roads. A planned downtown is in the works on about 60 acres near the Ed Honea Marana Municipal Complex. Marana adds residents because it offers Tucson-area households newer housing and desert scenery without pulling them far from the metro economy.

Where Arizona’s Growth Is Heading

Arizona’s growth is still anchored in the Phoenix region, but the pressure is spreading outward rather than filling the old urban core. Maricopa County still adds the most people by number, while Pinal County has become the state’s fastest-growing county by rate. That puts housing, roads, schools, water, and local services at the center of the next decade in places like Buckeye, Queen Creek, and Casa Grande. The cities that do well will be the ones that add homes and jobs together, so daily life does not turn into a long commute between subdivisions and services.