Opponent Scouting Report: Cardinals Wide Receivers
By Andrew Ites
The Cardinals don’t have a ton of big names in their receiving corps, but they could give a depleted Colts secondary some trouble on Sunday.
Larry Fitzgerald is a sure-fire Hall of Famer, but he’s surrounded by a bunch of players that are pretty unrecognizable to the average NFL fan.
Fitzgerald led the league in receptions last season with 107, but at age 34 he reportedly contemplated retirement over the offseason. The 10-time Pro Bowler is still Carson Palmer‘s favorite target connecting for over 1,000 yards in each of the past two seasons.
Fitzgerald continued to be the go-to guy against the Lions in Week 1 hauling in 6 of his 13 targets for 74 yards. He provides a major mismatch for this young secondary, and he could have a big day on Sunday if Palmer can be accurate enough to get him the ball.
John Brown is normally the Cardinals’ number-two option, but he’ll be on the sidelines for this game with a quad injury.
Jaron Brown and J.J. Nelson will have to pick up the slack in John Brown’s absence.
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They’re both smaller and speedier wide receivers with Nelson being especially undersized at 5′ 10″ 156 pounds. Nelson had a career-high in receiving yards last season with 568, but Jaron Brown will have to take on a bigger role than he’s ever had with John Brown on the bench.
None of these players’ performances will matter in the passing game if Palmer throws 3 interceptions like he did last week. The Colts will again be without Vontae Davis, and the Cardinals receiving corps could all have career days like the Rams receivers did in Week 1.