One theme of the offseason for the Arizona Cardinals has been that of continuity. They have kept roughly the same offensive staff. They re-signed more than a dozen of their own free agents. The offensive and defensive schemes are the same.
However, in ESPN’s rankings of team continuity, the Cardinals actually rank in the bottom half of the league.
They come in tied for 18th, with 73.4% of their total snaps returning in 2020.
Offensively, 76.6% of their offensive snaps return and defensively 70.3% are back.
There were only two significant changes on offense from the end of last year. They have DeAndre Hopkins at receiver and Mason Cole replaces A.Q. Shipley at center. Shipley played almost every snap last season. Kenyan Drake also takes over as the starter at running back for the entire season. He was acquired midseason.
Defensively, gone are Tramaine Brock, Joe Walker and Terrell Suggs, although Brock and Suggs were cut late last season. Their core is the same but they upgraded in the front seven with the addition of Jordan Phillips, De’Vondre Campbell, Isaiah Simmons and Devon Kennard. The back end improves with Robert Alford coming back after missing all last season with a broken leg, and Patrick Peterson will not begin the season suspended.
The Cardinals do have a lot of continuity. They have it where it counts. They upgraded where they needed to. With the return of players from injuries, their returning snaps are lower than they could be.
They might rank lower in returning snaps but they still high in continuity entering 2020.
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