After three long weeks, filled with two-hour practices and 11-hour days, the Arizona Cardinals’ training camp is over.
As players and coaches headed off to Las Vegas for their preseason game against the Raiders on Thursday, Aug. 13, staffers packed up the team’s summer base camp at the Wigwam Resort. When the team returns, it will resume practices at its Tempe facility, not at State Farm Stadium.
To the coaching staff, this delineation means little. The goal of the next two weeks — before cut day on Aug. 30 — is to build the foundations for the regular season, much as it has been since training camp began.
But training camp, with its 12 full-speed practices, provided the clearest window yet into what Mike LaFleur’s Cardinals will look like in 2026.
That makes it a useful reflection point, as we look at five Cardinals who stood out over the past three weeks.
Head coach Mike LaFleur
It might seem odd to start this list with the head coach, but LaFleur has gotten his Cardinals’ career off to an encouraging start.
The most apparent theme of camp has been pass catchers finding space in deep and intermediate areas. That’s a testament to LaFleur’s offensive design. He wants to make heavy use of pre-snap motion, under-center looks and tight formations, all to create an effective marriage of the run and pass. So far, it’s working.
That’s not all. Everything LaFleur does — from the schedule of his practices to the use of replay technology — comes with a clear, logical explanation. And he’s been transparent on nearly every subject, including injuries. All of it is a refreshing change of pace, and it speaks to a coach who’s comfortable and confident as he approaches his debut season.
That’s not to say training camp has been perfect. There have been too many penalties, and all four quarterbacks have been inconsistent. The offensive line is a worry, as is the secondary.
But for a team with historically low external expectations — their over/under win total is a jarring 3.5 — it’s easy to feel better now than on July 23, when camp began. That’s not to say the Cardinals will push for a playoff spot, but could they win six games? Seven games? It feels possible, with LaFleur at the helm.
Tight end Trey McBride
Boring? Maybe. But it’s easy for Trey McBride to fly under the radar during training camp. He’s a known quantity, and this time of year lends itself to intrigue surrounding unproven pieces.
That shouldn’t be a reason to forget about the All-Pro tight end.
With a new offensive system in place, McBride was — once again — the Cardinals’ best player throughout training camp. He was used all over the field, with a heavy dose of underneath routes complemented by corner routes and seam routes to create explosive plays.
“It's like, okay, here was your route tree since you've been here,” LaFleur said. “What can we expand off it? ... I think he can have maybe a deeper intermediate route tree. Because he does have the speed and the body lean and the savvy to get there, point A to point B within the timing of plays.”
Despite uneven quarterback play, McBride excelled in that role, catching 33 passes on 43 targets across the Cardinals’ eight 11-on-11 sessions that were open to reporters. No one else had more than 20 receptions or 35 targets.
Linebacker Cody Simon
One of the highlight plays of training camp came last week, when Cody Simon worked toward the flat on a cover-3 look, before peeling off his responsibility and undercutting an out route from Marvin Harrison Jr. It was a linebacker understanding exactly where he needed to be and knowing what was unfolding all over the field.
It wasn’t an isolated moment, either. All spring and summer, Simon has earned praise from the coaching staff for his increased mental comfort, which allows him to be in the right place at the right time.
“Gosh, he's smart,” defensive coordinator Nick Rallis said. “There's not a detail that he would say, 'Oh I forgot that.' ... You've just gotta trust that knowledge that you have, that preparation you've put in. And when you see it, go get it. And I think he's done that.”
The result: Simon appears to have a firm grasp on the Cardinals’ second starting linebacker spot, alongside Mack Wilson Sr.
There’s a difference, of course, between playing fast and confident in practice compared to a game. But if Simon can become even an average producer, it would address a long-standing hole in the middle of Arizona’s defense.
Offensive tackle Jayden Williams
In Week 1, the Cardinals' starting right tackle will almost certainly be Elijah Wilkinson, the journeyman veteran they signed to a two-year, $6.25 million deal over the offseason.
But as the season progresses, watch for Jayden Williams, their seventh-round rookie. He has established himself as the second-string left tackle, and alternated with 2025 UDFA Josh Fryar as the starter when Paris Johnson Jr. missed one practice last week.
For a seventh-round pick, making the roster — as Williams almost certainly will — is impressive enough. Anything else would be a bonus, but it’s possible, both because there’s a clear path to playing time at right tackle and because Williams has consistently showcased why he’s earned the trust of the coaching staff.
In last week’s Hall of Fame game, he displayed his athleticism in the run game and his intelligence in picking up different flavors of defensive pressure. The next step is refining his technique, as he’ll aim to do over the course of his rookie season.
Safety Kitan Crawford
Ask those around the Cardinals who has impressed them during training camp and no name comes up more often than Crawford’s. One teammate, unprompted, described the second-year safety as having had an “A+ camp.”
And here’s LaFleur, when asked about Crawford this week:
“He is the epitome of play style,” La Fleir said. “He loves ball. You know how you just have some of those guys that you can look in their eyes, and you're like, man, he's got bad intentions in a good way?
“Cause you've gotta have bad intentions when you head out onto the football field. It's violent. And if you don't, someone that you're going against probably does. So he is made of all the right stuff.”
That goes a level beyond generic coach speak, and it hints at the excitement this staff has for Crawford.
The 2025 seventh-rounder will likely begin the season with special teams as his primary role, but there’s a path to legitimate playing time at safety if he can surpass Andrew Wingard and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson on the depth chart.
“I think he's carving himself out even more of a role on defense,” LaFleur said.
Honorable mentions
- Wide receiver Jalen Brooks has consistently made plays with the second-team offense and shined in the Hall of Fame game. He seemingly has the inside track on a roster spot.
- Wide receiver Tre Wallace, an undrafted free agent, may begin the season on the practice squad, but he’s earned the praise of those around the Cardinals. One day this week, he even saw a handful of snaps with the starting offense.
- Center Jon Gaines had one rough day of snapping early in training camp but bounced back to become one of the Cardinals’ most consistent performers. He should have a roster spot locked up as a versatile depth piece on the interior offensive line.
- Defensive lineman Darius Robinson was the most consistent presence in the offensive backfield throughout camp. But he’s had strong training camps before and hasn’t translated those performances to the regular season, so it’s hard to trust his growth until it shows up on Sundays.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 5 standouts from encouraging Arizona Cardinals training camp
