Will Johnson's "Surprise" Talk is Exactly the Problem with Arizona's Delusional Rebuild

Let me be direct about something that's going to make Arizona Cardinals fans uncomfortable. When cornerback Will Johnson says the team has "a good opportunity to surprise people," what he's really doing is admitting how low expectations have fallen for this franchise. And you know what? He's right to feel that way, but for all the wrong reasons. The Cardinals aren't going to surprise anybody because they're about to embark on another year of organizational mediocrity disguised as progress.

Here's the reality that everyone in Arizona needs to hear, and I don't care if it stings: the Cardinals are the worst team in the NFC West, and it's not particularly close. The division won more games last season than any other division in football. The Rams are the Rams. The 49ers are loaded. The Seahawks are competent. And then there's Arizona, sitting at the kids' table wondering when the adults are going to notice them.

Johnson's optimism is admirable. That's what you want from young players. They should believe. They should think they can compete. But when a team's best hope is that people are surprised by mediocrity instead of expecting mediocrity, you've got a fundamental problem with your roster construction and your coaching situation. This isn't about Johnson specifically. The kid got drafted to play corner and he should develop like any other high pick. The problem is systemic, and it starts at the top.

Let's talk about what Arizona actually did this offseason. They brought in Saquon Barkley? No, wait, that was Philadelphia. They traded for a young franchise quarterback? Nope. They addressed their secondary with Pro Bowl talent? Not really. What they did was shuffle deck chairs on the Titanic and call it a rebuild. Kyler Murray is still their quarterback, and while Murray has talent, he's also been injury-prone and hasn't demonstrated the consistency you need from your franchise player in 2024. That's not pessimism, that's pattern recognition.

The coaching situation is where Arizona really lost me. The front office is banking on a coaching staff to develop young talent and create a winning culture. But here's what concerns me: coaching matters, and Arizona doesn't have the infrastructure of winning coaches that you see in San Francisco or Los Angeles. They're trying to build from the ground up while their division rivals are competing for Super Bowls. That's a recipe for "surprised we only lost by three touchdowns" football, not actual competition.

When Johnson talks about surprising people, he's essentially saying that he understands the Cardinals are expected to be bad. And you know what? He's right. The market knows it. The analysts know it. The other divisions know it. The only people who seem confused about Arizona's place in the hierarchy are the Arizona Cardinals themselves. That's dangerous because it means the franchise might actually believe their own hype instead of acknowledging the work that needs to be done.

Let me give you a grade on Arizona's positioning heading into the season. The Cardinals get a D plus. That's not an F because they do have some young talent that could develop. Johnson is a legitimate prospect at corner. But "could develop" and "will develop" are two different things, and Arizona has a track record of not getting much out of their investments. The organization is perpetually two years away from being good, and two years never seems to arrive.

The verdict I'm giving you is this: Will Johnson will have a decent rookie season. He might even make the Pro Bowl someday. But the Cardinals as a team will disappoint again, and not in the way that surprises people. They'll disappoint in the way everyone expects. They'll be 6 and 11, or maybe 7 and 10 if things go well. They'll lose in their division more than they win. And Johnson will probably wonder why a kid with his talent can't get over the hump with an organization that doesn't know how to build a winner.

The real issue here is that Arizona is operating in a fantasy world where optimism and young talent are enough to overcome organizational dysfunction. They're not. You need a quarterback who's healthy and elite. The Cardinals have a quarterback who's talented but fragile. You need a coaching staff with a proven track record. Arizona has a coaching staff trying to prove itself. You need an aggressive front office willing to make bold moves in free agency and trades. Arizona's front office seems content to let everything happen organically through the draft.

That approach works when you're the 49ers with Jimmy Garoppolo's contract coming off the books and a defense that's already won football games. That approach does not work when you're Arizona, trying to convince people that Will Johnson's optimism means anything in a division where the Seahawks are the worst team and they're still better positioned for the future than you are.

I respect Johnson's attitude. I really do. Young players should be confident. They should believe they can compete. But confidence without execution is just noise, and Arizona has made a lot of noise over the last few years without backing it up with wins. The Cardinals are the perfect example of a franchise stuck in purgatory. They're not bad enough to get elite draft picks at the top. They're not good enough to compete in their division. They're just sort of there, taking up space and hoping something breaks their way.

So when Johnson says the Cardinals have an opportunity to surprise people, I'll give him this much: if they win seven games instead of five, that would surprise me. If they stay healthy and don't completely fall apart mid-season the way they have before, that would be surprising. But surprise the world? Make a playoff run? Show that Arizona is a contender? That's fantasy, and everyone knows it.

The grade for the Cardinals' overall direction is a D plus because they have youth and could stumble into something. The verdict is clear: Arizona will finish fourth in the NFC West, miss the playoffs, and Johnson will be back next year talking about good opportunities to surprise people. That's not a rebuild. That's a definition of insanity.