For a team that saw four of its five projected Week 1 starters on offense exit the 2025 season on injured reserve, the sight of every single Cardinals player in the building for Monday's mandatory minicamp carries significant weight.
According to AZCentral, the Arizona Cardinals are the healthiest they have been all spring. After listing more than a dozen players on the injury report during May's OTAs, the number of players designated as Questionable on the ESPN and CBS Sports injury reports has now shrunk to five as the team begins its final phase of offseason work before training camp.
The five players listed as Questionable are running backs James Conner and Trey Benson, offensive tackle Valentin Senn, defensive tackle Walter Nolen III, and cornerback Garrett Williams.
Conner played only three games in 2025, managing 95 rushing yards and a touchdown before landing on injured reserve. That marked the lowest output of his seven-year career outside of his rookie season in Pittsburgh. Benson, the 2024 third-round pick, appeared in four games and carried 29 times for 160 yards before his season was cut short.
Having two running backs on the injury list, neither of whom has played a full 17-game season since Benson entered the league, creates a familiar challenge for the Cardinals. The franchise has not had a running back play every game in a season since David Johnson's 2016 campaign. This durability issue in the backfield is a pattern stretching back over a decade.
To contextualize, Arizona has used at least seven different primary starters at running back over the last ten seasons. When healthy, Conner has been the most productive back the Cardinals have had since Johnson's 2016 season. But Conner has never played more than 13 games in any of his three seasons in Arizona. This instability at the position was a factor in the Cardinals drafting Notre Dame's Jeremiyah Love with the No. 3 overall pick in April.
Senn, a 2025 draft pick, did not see game action as a rookie last season. Garrett Williams missed time due to a knee issue after a promising sophomore campaign. Nolen, a second-year defensive tackle out of Ole Miss, was the Cardinals' top interior disruptor in 2025 but was limited late in the year.
A bright spot as minicamp commenced was cornerback Starling Thomas V, who tore his ACL in 2025 but was on the field and actively participating. The Cardinals' secondary finished 26th in passing yards allowed last season, so Thomas's return after a full offseason of rehab cannot come soon enough. He is the type of rotational cornerback who could push for a starting role opposite second-round pick Will Johnson, who was the team's top defensive addition in the 2026 offseason.
Notably absent from the injury report is Marcus Williams. At safety, Budda Baker, entering his 10th NFL season, remains the heart of the defense. Baker missed four games last year with a hamstring injury -- his first significant absence since 2019. Kitan Crawford, added through the 2025 draft, and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, returning for his third year, provide youth at the position. Taylor-Demerson told reporters at the start of minicamp that the offense has started showing looks in practice that usually wouldn't appear until the season begins in September -- exactly the kind of challenge a defense wants to see early in the offseason.
From a financial perspective, the Cardinals currently carry $35.14 million in cap space with $73.32 million in dead money, according to Over the Cap. This cap flexibility allows General Manager Monti Ossenfort to add a veteran at any position that may not be healthy by September. However, Ossenfort has expressed a preference for building through the draft, and with nine rookies or second-year players projected as starters or primary rotational pieces, the roster is very much built with youthful legs ready to contribute.
Among the 2026 draftees, quarterback Carson Beck -- the third-round pick from Miami -- has generated significant buzz. Beck told reporters on June 2 that he feels confident in the offense and that the speed of the game is the biggest adjustment for a rookie quarterback. He is expected to see significant playing time during the minicamp quarterback rotation as the team invests real practice reps in grooming him, even while incumbent Jacoby Brissett returns. Brissett threw for 3,366 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2025 and is entering his 10th NFL season. He has started every game he has been healthy for since taking over as the Cardinals' starter, but at age 33, the clock is ticking on his tenure. Beck could be the bridge to a future without the need for a high first-round quarterback pick.
For now, in Tempe, the story is about availability rather than absence. For the first time this spring, nearly everyone is on the field and participating.
The Cardinals will break from minicamp on Thursday. Training camp opens in late July, and the ultimate test will be whether Conner, Benson, Nolen, Williams, and Senn can stay healthy and earn their spots on the active roster come September.
While history suggests betting on consistent health at these positions is risky, the shrinking injury list is an encouraging sign for Arizona as they prepare to move forward into the next NFL season.