Arizona Cardinals’ receiver Jeremiah Braswell was arrested for DUI

After finishing with an abysmal 5-10-1 record last season, the Arizona Cardinals are hoping for a fresh start in 2020 to help get the organization back to an elite level. The latest news involving one of their young receivers surely won’t help in that department.

On Friday, rookie wide receiver Jermiah Braswell, a former standout at Youngstown State, was arrested for DUI in Put-in-Bay, Ohio. To make matters even more concerning, the speedster was arrested after he drove his Camaro into Lake Erie. What?

The driver of this Camaro is facing a charge of OVI after crashing into Lake Erie off Put-In-Bay. Police have identified him as Jermiah Braswell, a Central Catholic graduate and NFL player for the Arizona Cardinals. FULL STORY: https://t.co/hiKzOOQu97 pic.twitter.com/Ing0mrMYhm

— WTVG 13abc (@13abc) June 28, 2020

Police say Cardinals’ receiver Jermiah Braswell was slurring his words after driving car into lake

How does one even try and explain this situation to the Cardinals front office? Braswell already had a mountain to climb in making Arizona’s roster, and this won’t make things any easier. After not being selected in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Cardinals took a shot and signed Braswell as an undrafted free agent.

Given his 6-0, 210-pound frame and quickness, Arizona clearly thought he could have a shot at making plays catching the ball from Kyler Murray. However, an offseason arrest like this is surely cause for concern. According to the police report, witnesses saw him drive off an embankment and into Lake Erie.

Once the police arrived to the scene, Braswell was slurring his words and tried telling the cops he was stuck and didn’t know how he got in that situation.

Put-in-Bay PD confirms the man who crashed his Camero into Lake Erie earlier today is Jermiah Braswell, a Toledo native who played football at YSU & recently signed with the Arizona Cardinals. Police say he was drunk & speeding when he flew off an embankment into the lake. pic.twitter.com/PhurCfX3KY

— Misty Stiver (@mistystiver) June 28, 2020

It goes without saying, but this is a terrible look for Braswell. We’ll see if the Cardinals decide to cut him or not, but right now, things aren’t looking bright for his NFL future.

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Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray spoke to reporters on Wednesday about ongoing anti-racism protests. 

Kyler Murray plans to take a stand against racism and injustice during the 2020-21 NFL season by taking a knee during the national anthem.

On Wednesday, the Arizona Cardinals spoke to reporters via video conference about the anti-racism protests that have swept the nation in the past few weeks. We’ve seen people both in and out of sports moved to action. NASCAR banned the Confederate flag. The Premier League will be wearing kits that say ‘Black Lives Matter’ for the rest of the season. The NFL commissioner even admitted that the league had made mistakes in the past and solidified his commitment to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Murray says he is optimistic that the world really is changing.

“I hope so,” Murray said. “There is a lot of hate in the world, but at the same time, what’s happening and what we’re seeing right now, it’s huge… The peaceful protests I think they’re great. They’re amazing. I think that’s just the start of it.”

Murray was asked directly whether he would be kneeling during the national anthem, a form of protest that Colin Kapernick and others used in 2016 to bring attention to police brutality.

“Yeah, I’ll be kneeling,” Murray said. “I stand for what’s right… I’ll definitely be taking a knee.”

Who else could we see taking a knee in the 2020 season?

Kyler Murray isn’t the only player in the NFL who has said, or suggested, that he will take a knee during the national anthem. And unlike the protests in 2016, the current chorus of voices includes white players.

J.J. Watt suggested on Twitter over the weekend that he might kneel during the anthem. After a fan tweeted “pretty sure you won’t see J.J. Watt taking a knee,” Watt responded and said that the fan didn’t speak for him. He also pointed out that kneeling during the anthem was not disrespectful to the American flag or the military.

Baker Mayfield also made headlines this week when he said that he would be taking a knee this season. When a fan confronted him on Instagram and said “Please tell Browns fans you’re not going to be kneeling this season,” Mayfield responded, “pull your head out. I absolutely am.”

And Texans coach Bill O’Brien, who supported his players protesting in 2016 and 2017, said he was prepared to take a knee alongside his players. “Yeah, I’ll take a knee,” O’Brien said. “I’m all for it.”

“They’re not taking a knee because they’re against our flag,” O’Brien said. “They’re taking a knee because they haven’t been treated equally in this country for over 400 years.”

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What if Kliff Kingsbury overtakes Sean McVay as the NFC West’s offensive wunderkind?

Two offseasons ago, everybody wanted to hire the next Sean McVay.

Of all the NFL teams looking for a new head coach, the Arizona Cardinals made a few bold moves heading into 2019. They punted on former head coach Steve Wilks and former first-round quarterback Josh Rosen after one season. Arizona was atrocious in 2018, allowing it to hire Kliff Kingsbury as head coach and take Heisman Trophy-winner Kyler Murray with the top pick.

Murray was the first quarterback under 6-feet to be taken in the first round of an NFL Draft since Ted Marchibroda went No. 5 overall to the Pittsburgh Steelers back in 1953. Kingsbury failed leading his alma mater’s Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Big 12. It was all offense and no defense whatsoever, as the Red Raiders were the epitome of an Air Raid Big 12 pillow fight.

Flash forward a year or so and the Cardinals are poised to contend for a playoff spot in the deep NFC West this season. Though they only went 5-10-1 in Kingsbury’s first year on the job, the future looks incredibly bright for the Arizona offense. Could the proud Mike Leach Air Raid disciple overtake McVay as the best new school offensive-minded head coach in the NFL?

Will Kliff Kingsbury create something better than Sean McVay ever did?

In an interview with Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic, Kingsbury said he’s using this period of great isolation to his advantage to really tap into the “mad genius” label he’s been given as an offensive-minded coach.

Believe it or not, he’s made early returns of the collegiate Air Raid work in the NFL with his hand-selected superstar quarterback in Murray.

“Yeah, it’s definitely allowed me to dive into a lot of the college game a little more,” said Kingsbury. “I’ve always tried to study some of those top offenses, guys that I’ve had a ton of respect for and liked the way that they operated, but it’s really allowed me to watch a lot more of that. There’s a lot of great minds at that level, so it’s definitely a deeper dive into offensive football this offseason.”

The NFL game is taking on college concepts more than ever before. Not only is the college game incredibly innovative, but the NFL’s CBA severely limits practice time, and therefore hinders offensive line development. By assuming up-tempo spread concepts, NFL offenses can go no-huddle more readily without the most complex of zone or man blocking schemes.

What McVay brought to the table in Los Angeles was an offshoot of the Jon Gruden and Mike Shanahan offensive philosophies. Those offenses are predicated on running the ball and opening up the play-action pass. The Shanahan zone blocking scheme is nothing new, but McVay put fancy window dressing on the offense with a ton of pre-snap motion and adept use of the headset.

Truth be told, it was more smoke and mirrors than we’d ever want to let on. McVay was giving his quarterback Jared Goff all the answers at the line of scrimmage before only 15 seconds were remaining on the play clock. Opposing defenses figured that out quickly and all the Rams were doing was 11 personnel-ing its opponent to death under the disguise of pre-snap motion.

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Arizona Cardinals all-time Mount Rushmore

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Ultimately, the Rams’ Super Bowl window is closed after getting to the big game only two years ago. Surely, they’ll re-emerge in some time under McVay’s tutelage, but he’s got to show the NFL he’s more than a Chip Kelly one-trick pony on the offensive side of the ball. As for Kingsbury, there’s a chance he could be a deeper offensive-minded coach than we all originally thought.

“Kliff is one of the more mad-genius, offensive-minded guys in this league because of how he can put players in different positions to go out there and be successful and use your raw, natural ability to mirror up with the things the offense works best at,” said Cardinals running back Kenyan Drake.

“I have no idea what he could be coming up with, but I know once this season gets going and we get out there running around a little bit more, everybody’s going to get into a good flow and…we’ll score points and win more games this year.”

With Murray at quarterback, Drake as his bell-cow and a wide receiver trio of DeAndre Hopkins, Larry Fitzgerald and Andy Isabella, Arizona could have one of the most exciting offenses we’ve ever seen. Of course, protecting Murray is paramount, something the Cardinals have struggled at historically with keeping their quarterbacks upright. However, this season does feel different.

What will be the most interesting development of the Cardinals offense is how the running game factors in all this. We know Murray’s dual-threat playmaking abilities will be glorified in this system, but how Drake and the rest of the running back room manages will go a long way in seeing how good this Cardinals team can be. It might make us forget about McVay all together.

If his offseason film study pans out, we will have our next offensive guru head coach in Kingsbury.

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Larry Fitzgerald #11 of the Arizona Cardinals. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Larry Fitzgerald may be the best Arizona Cardinals player ever, but who else should join him on the Arizona Cardinals Mount Rushmore?

The Arizona Cardinals franchise dates back to the first year of the NFL, as the Chicago Cardinals. They shared the Windy City with the Bears through the 1959 season, then they were the St. Louis Cardinals from 1960-1987.

The Cardinals moved to Arizona for the 1988 season, as the Phoenix Cardinals before becoming the Arizona Cardinals in 1994.

Between the 1948 and 2008 seasons, the Cardinals won one playoff game. They didn’t make the playoffs a lot, with appearances in 1974, 1975, 1982 and 1998 over that span, which only points to being a patently unsuccessful franchise.

The stretch under head coaches Ken Whisenhunt and Bruce Arians from 2008-2015 was different with four playoff appearances and two trips to the NFC Championship Game. But a reset came when Arians left after the 2017 season, with two head coaches (Steve Wilks and Kliff Kingsbury) and an 8-23-1 record over the last two seasons.

The future looks bright in Arizona now though, with may lead to some players becoming all-time greats for the franchise. But right now, here is the all-time Mount Rushmore for the Arizona Cardinals.

Honorable Mention: Dan Dierdorf, Patrick Peterson Anquan Boldin and Larry Centers

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Here are the five players who must be great for the Arizona Cardinals this year.

Steve Wilks was allotted just one season as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals in 2018. After a 3-13 record, he was let go. Coaching with a roster that lacked talent, and playing rookie quarterback Josh Rosen in 14 games, the firing seemed to be unwarranted.

Then, Kliff Kingsbury was hired. Pegged an offensive guru, he selected former Heisman winner Kyler Murray out of Oklahoma with the first-overall pick in the NFL Draft.

Murray and Kingsbury linked up and did some sound work. They were 16th in points scored, and Murray won AP Offensive Rookie of the Year. Defensively, this is the area that dragged the team down.

In 2020, expectations will be higher after a rather steady offseason. These five players must be great for the team this upcoming season.

5 players the Arizona Cardinals need to be great in 2020

Patrick Peterson, CB

Whenever the discussion about who the best cornerback in the NFL is, or has been, the name Patrick Peterson has not come up enough. Since being drafted with the fifth-overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, he has made eight Pro Bowls and was named an All-Pro three times.

Yes, Peterson has eight Pro Bowls on his career resume, and he has been in the league nine years. However, last year there was a steep drop off in his play. Albeit, he was battling an injury and served a six-game suspension, resulting in him playing just 10 games in 2019.

Peterson is still a valuable asset for the Cardinals. On a defense that lacks some play makers in the secondary, he brings stability and experience. If he is fully healthy in 2020, Peterson can be the number-one corner he has been for the majority of his career.

Last season, opposing offenses exposed the team’s defense. The Cardinals conceded the second-most passing yards (4,510), second-most passing scores (38), and the unit only scraped together seven interceptions.

At age 29, Peterson regressing a bit athletically is expected. Although, he can make up for that slight, potential regression with his football IQ and experience. If 2020 is a bounce-back year for Peterson, this team has strength at the back end of the defense.

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The Arizona Cardinals are going to be an explosive offense in the desert, led by second-year quarterback Kyler Murray.

Every year, there’s one team in the NFL which shocks the world. Don’t be stunned if it’s the Arizona Cardinals in 2020.

After going 5-10-1 behind the rookie head coach-quarterback tandem of Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray, the Cardinals loaded up this offseason.

Without losing any notable players, Arizona added All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins in a one-sided trade with the Houston Texans. In free agency, the Cards landed defensive tackle Jordan Phillips on a three-year deal. Last season, Phillips led the AFC for interior defenders with 9.5 sacks.

Finally, the 2020 NFL Draft yielded a steal in linebacker/safety Isaiah Simmons along with former Houston Cougars offensive tackle Josh Jones in the third round. Both figure to start immediately for Arizona.

Why Kyler Murray is primed for a huge second season with the Cardinals

Behind a porous offensive line in 2019, Murray earned NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors with 3,722 passing yards and 20 touchdown passes against 12 interceptions.

Now, the Heisman Trophy winner is surrounded by Larry Fitzgerald, Christian Kirk and Hopkins on the outside along with running back Kenyan Drake in the backfield. The Cardinals still need upgrades along their front, but Kingsbury showed he can scheme in his first year, and should only improve with better chess pieces in 2020.

While Arizona plays in the league toughest division alongside the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams, there’s reason for optimism. None of those three possess an elite secondary, and the 49ers went from 4-12 to Super Bowl participant last year.

Getting to Super Bowl LV is a stretch for where the Cards are in their development, but contending for the playoffs behind a high-powered offense? Certainly within reason.

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DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals was a great trade, but what if he’s not as good as he was with the Houston Texans? Is he a regression candidate?

DeAndre Hopkins is a top-three receiver in the NFL today. He has the best hands and thrived in a chaotic situation for years that was the Houston Texans. While one would think him joining an up-and-coming offense led by quarterback Kyler Murray with the Arizona Cardinals, is there a chance he regresses as a fantasy player in his first year in the Valley of the Sun?

The Fantasy Footballers are Cardinals fans but are afraid Hopkins will be overdrafted by many teams in fantasy leagues this fall. Andy Holloway is the highest of the three on the Hopkins addition, while Jason Moore and Mike Wright have him as a fringe WR1 at best. Moore has him as low as WR15 overall, meaning Hopkins is a high WR2 in most leagues. What gives?

Check out The Fantasy Footballers for all their advice

There are a few factors going against Hopkins entering his first year with the Cardinals. The first is he’ll be playing in a new offense orchestrated by Air Raid disciple Kliff Kingsbury as head coach. It may be an incredibly passing-centric offense, but it is different than what he played in for years under Bill O’Brien‘s watch in Houston. An unprecedented offseason league-wide only adds to this.

Another factor to consider is there may not be as much volume readily available for a receiver as talented as Hopkins is to take advantage of. Murray didn’t have as many pass attempts as a rookie as Watson did in year three out of Clemson. Let’s not forget Arizona likes to go three and even four-wide in Kingsbury’s offense, allowing the spread offense to be used most effectively.

Though Murray will find his No. 1 receiving option Hopkins often as he did with CeeDee Lamb in college at Oklahoma, the Cardinals have a deep and talented receiving corps already, one featuring future Pro Football Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald, Christian Kirk and Andy Isabella. Simply put, Hopkins won’t be the only wide receiver Murray trusts in this Cardinals offense.

So is Hopkins a low-end WR1 or a high-end WR2 this year? Potentially, but overlooking his talent and production from when he starred in Houston doesn’t seem right. The guys do believe a player like Brandon Marshall could be a blueprint for success for him now on his second team. Marshall had no issues getting involved in the passing game, no matter what team he played for.

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This year, the Arizona Cardinals face an interesting schedule. How will they do in Kyler Murray’s sophomore campaign?

The Arizona Cardinals feel like one of those teams that could make a major jump next season. The big problem here is the team plays in the NFC West. It might be the best division in all of football, and the Cardinals on paper look like the clear-cut last place team. The Cards could go 8-8, and still be the worst team in the division.

The schedule doesn’t fall in their favor, with six games against their own division. However, they do face the AFC East and NFC East for the rest of their schedule, two of the weakest divisions in the entire league. It could provide the right situation to build confidence for themselves overall. So, how will their schedule fall out?

Weeks 1-4

Final

Arizona Cardinals

20

San Francisco 49ers

30

The Cardinals had one of those days here where things don’t seem to go right. Murray fumbled on a sack that he should have thrown away. Chase Edmunds tripped over his own feet before taking off for a big run. Byron Murphy Jr. dropped an interception. It was just a bad day.

Final

Washington Redskins

17

Arizona Cardinals

28

It becomes clear that the Cardinals are a team good enough to beat up on the little guy, and struggles with the big matchups. Seems obvious, right? Well, they take it to another level. They are just so talented, that an offense surrounding Dwayne Haskins has no shot.

Final

Detroit Lions

20

Arizona Cardinals

27

The start of last year’s downfall for the Detroit Lions was when they tied the Cardinals in Week 1. Sure, they won two games after that, but that was only to eventually hit them like a ton of bricks. The Cardinals win the game on a surprisingly balanced offensive attack, with Kenyan Drake rushing for over 100 yards.

Final

Arizona Cardinals

29

Carolina Panthers

15

We see the Carolina Panthers being a pretty terrible team, even though we like Teddy Bridgewater overall. Matt Rhule is a good coach, but this roster just has too much turnover, and the offseason was already spun on its head by the COVID-19 pandemic. Losing Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly is too much at once, and they are going to limp through the season.

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The Arizona Cardinals have finished last in the NFC West each of the last two seasons. What are the five key games on the schedule this year?

It proved to be a rollercoaster season for first-time NFL head coach Kliff Kingsbury as he led the Arizona Cardinals to two more wins than they had the previous season. Regardless, this franchise finished last in the NFC West for the second consecutive year, despite some encouraging signs – especially on the offensive side of the ball.

After failing to win a game in their first four outings of 2019, the club reeled off three consecutive wins and looked to be turning the corner. But things headed downhill quickly as the team dropped six in a row and tumbled out of contention. But there was a convincing win at Seattle in Week 16 that gave the Cardinals hope for the future.

Arizona’s improved attack was led by 2019 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Tyler Murray. But the Cards allowed the most total yards in the league and the second-most passing yards in the NFL. So did general manager Steve Keim do enough to fix this unit this offseason? And what five games on this year’s schedule are crucial to Kingsbury and company?

5.  Away vs. Carolina Panthers

It’s been a spell since the Cardinals and Carolina Panthers collided. And Arizona will be making its first appearance at Charlotte since 2016. In reality, it wasn’t all that long ago that the teams were meeting in the postseason in consecutive years. In fact, the Cards’ last playoff game came in 2015 at Carolina, a humbling 49-15 loss to the Super Bowl-bound Panthers in the NFC Championship Game.

Now the latter is under the command of new head coach Matt Rhule, who inherits a 5-11 squad that dropped their final eight games this past season. Like Kliff Kingsbury, Rhule comes right from the college ranks. And his first year with this club could be a trying experience and one the Cardinals may be able to take advantage of.

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The Arizona Cardinals haven’t had a winning season since 2015. With a new-look offense, how well can the team do in 2020? Here’s the schedule for this season.

Carson Palmer was the quarterback, Bruce Arians was the head coach and Larry Fitzgerald led the team in receiving the last time the Arizona Cardinals had a winning season in 2015.

That year, the Cardinals won the NFC West with a record of 13-3 and eventually lost to the Carolina Panthers in the conference championship game.

Since then, Palmer and Arians have moved on and the Cardinals have finished .500 once. Fitzgerald is still around, and he looks to make one last run.

Building off of last year, the Cardinals will be an interesting team to keep an eye on. Kliff Kingsbury went 5-10-1 in his first season as the team’s head coach. Kyler Murray also threw for nearly 4,000 yards and won Offensive Rookie of the Year.

This past offseason was a big one for the Cardinals. Management went out and made a blockbuster deal with the Houston Texans. The trade saw David Johnson go to Houston and DeAndre Hopkins come to Arizona.

Hopkins is one of the best receivers in the NFL, and he will look to form a dynamic partnership with Murray. Kenyan Drake might also be back in the fold as the team’s featured back as well.

Addressing the offense wasn’t the only thing the Cardinals did this offseason. On defense, outside linebacker Devon Kennard and defensive tackle Jordan Phillips were signed in free agency.

The NFC West still features at least two teams built to contend with the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers. The Los Angeles Rams are a hard team to judge, but they will still be competitive too.

Therefore, it is unfair to expect the Cardinals to jump from five wins to suddenly competing for the division in one year. Yes, teams have made that leap before, but a Wild Card spot may be the team’s ceiling in 2020.

Here is the full 2020 schedule for the Cardinals. They play the AFC East and NFC East, as well as the usual six games against the NFC West division. Also, matchups with clubs from NFC North and NFC South.

Arizona Cardinals 2020 NFL Schedule

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