Arizona Cardinals

Arizona Cardinals: Predicting the 53-man roster

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Arizona Cardinals have completed the preseason and now must trim the roster to 53-players

The Arizona Cardinals finish the preseason 1-3, getting a victory over the Denver Broncos 38-17 on Thursday evening. Tough decisions now loom for the Cardinals as they must trim their roster down to 53-players by Saturday afternoon.

Some players may have changed the course of their immediate destiny with good performances on Thursday. Others, poor performances did them in. Here is the predicted 53-man roster.

Offense:

QB (3): Carson Palmer, Drew Stanton, Matt Barkley

RB (4): David Johnson, Chris Johnson, Andre Ellington, Stepfan Taylor

WR (6): Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd, John Brown, Jaron Brown, J.J. Nelson, Jaxon Shipley

TE (4): Darren Fells, Troy Niklas, Jermaine Gresham, Ifeanyi Momah

OL (8): Mike Iupati, Evan Mathis, Cole Toner, Jared Veldheer, D.J. Humphries, A.Q. Shipley, Evan Boehm, Earl Watford

The Cardinals easily could keep six running backs, eight receivers, and ten offensive linemen. Unfortunately there just sin’t the room for everyone. The offensive line is going to be interesting to see how it plays out over the next two days. It is possible the Cardinals would add another in lieu of a third quarterback or fourth tight end.

Defense:

DT (7): Robert Nkemdiche, Calais Campbell, Red Bryant, Rodney Gunter, Corey Peters, Ed Stinson, Josh Mauro

OLB (4): Markus Golden, Chandler Jones, Alex Okafor, Shaq Riddick

ILB (4): Kevin Minter, Gabe Martin, Lamar Louis, Alani Fua

NT (1): Xavier Williams

CB (3): Patrick Peterson, Brandon Williams, Justin Bethel

S (6): Tyrann Mathieu, Tyvon Branch, Deone Bucannon, Tony Jefferson, Marqui Christian, D.J. Swearinger

Special teams:

K (1): Chandler Catanzaro

P (1): Drew Butler

LS (1): Kameron Canaday

The defense is very hard to figure out. Cornerbacks like Harlan Miller and Trevon Hartfield may have made the team in past seasons. The safety position though is deep and guys like Mathieu and Bucannon can slip up to the corner position if need be.

The defensive line will also have a couple of tough decisions. Between Ed Stinson and Frostee Rucker, one of them is likely not going to make it unless the Cardinals make another cut at safety instead.