The Cardinals drafted three wide receivers last weekend, in the second, fourth and sixth rounds. Kliff Kingsbury is going to run an up-tempo offense that will flood the field with pass catchers, and he needs players to develop. But it's also a reminder that Larry Fitzgerald's Hall of Fame career is nearing the end.
Fitzgerald will return for the 2019 season, but last year strongly suggested he doesn't have a lot left. He'll turn 36 in August, and comes off the lowest yardage total of his 15-year career.
Working with a scattershot rookie passer in the league's worst offense was obviously a huge part of Fitzgerald's down numbers, so with Kingsbury installing a new system, maybe Fitzgerald has another viable year to him. But the indicators aren't good.
Fitzgerald was able to corral only 61 percent of the passes sent his way last year. Among wideouts who caught 50 passes in 2018, that was one of the worst rates in the league.
| CATCH RATES FOR WIDEOUTS, 2018 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tgt | Rec | % | Yds | Avg | TD |
| Michael Thomas, N.O. | 147 | 125 | 85.0% | 1405 | 11.2 | 9 |
| Tyler Lockett, Sea. | 70 | 57 | 81.4% | 965 | 16.9 | 10 |
| Cole Beasley, Dall. | 87 | 65 | 74.7% | 672 | 10.3 | 3 |
| Danny Amendola, Mia. | 79 | 59 | 74.7% | 575 | 9.7 | 1 |
| Adam Thielen, Minn. | 153 | 113 | 73.9% | 1373 | 12.2 | 9 |
| Chester Rogers, Ind. | 72 | 53 | 73.6% | 485 | 9.2 | 2 |
| Adam Humphries, T.B. | 105 | 76 | 72.4% | 816 | 10.7 | 5 |
| Emmanuel Sanders, Den. | 98 | 71 | 72.4% | 868 | 12.2 | 4 |
| Taylor Gabriel, Chi. | 93 | 67 | 72.0% | 688 | 10.3 | 2 |
| Jordy Nelson, Oak. | 88 | 63 | 71.6% | 739 | 11.7 | 3 |
| Keenan Allen, LAC | 136 | 97 | 71.3% | 1196 | 12.3 | 6 |
| Alshon Jeffery, Phi. | 92 | 65 | 70.7% | 843 | 13.0 | 6 |
| DeAndre Hopkins, Hou. | 163 | 115 | 70.6% | 1572 | 13.7 | 11 |
| Tyler Boyd, Cin. | 108 | 76 | 70.4% | 1028 | 13.5 | 7 |
| Mohamed Sanu, Atl. | 94 | 66 | 70.2% | 838 | 12.7 | 4 |
| Amari Cooper, Oak.-Dall. | 107 | 75 | 70.1% | 1005 | 13.4 | 7 |
| Calvin Ridley, Atl. | 92 | 64 | 69.6% | 821 | 12.8 | 10 |
| Stefon Diggs, Minn. | 149 | 102 | 68.5% | 1021 | 10.0 | 9 |
| Julian Edelman, N.E. | 108 | 74 | 68.5% | 850 | 11.5 | 6 |
| Doug Baldwin, Sea. | 73 | 50 | 68.5% | 618 | 12.4 | 5 |
| Brandin Cooks, LAR | 117 | 80 | 68.4% | 1204 | 15.1 | 5 |
| D.J. Moore, Car. | 82 | 55 | 67.1% | 788 | 14.3 | 2 |
| JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pitt. | 166 | 111 | 66.9% | 1426 | 12.8 | 7 |
| Julio Jones, Atl. | 170 | 113 | 66.5% | 1677 | 14.8 | 8 |
| Demaryius Thomas, Den.-Hou. | 89 | 59 | 66.3% | 677 | 11.5 | 5 |
| Robert Woods, LAR | 130 | 86 | 66.2% | 1219 | 14.2 | 6 |
| Nelson Agholor, Phil. | 97 | 64 | 66.0% | 736 | 11.5 | 4 |
| Davante Adams, G.B. | 169 | 111 | 65.7% | 1386 | 12.5 | 13 |
| Golden Tate, Det.-Phi. | 113 | 74 | 65.5% | 795 | 10.7 | 4 |
| Dede Westbrook, Jac. | 101 | 66 | 65.3% | 717 | 10.9 | 5 |
| Willie Snead, Balt. | 95 | 62 | 65.3% | 651 | 10.5 | 1 |
| Tyreek Hill, K.C. | 137 | 87 | 63.5% | 1479 | 17.0 | 12 |
| T.Y. Hilton, Ind. | 120 | 76 | 63.3% | 1270 | 16.7 | 6 |
| Mike Evans, T.B. | 138 | 86 | 62.3% | 1524 | 17.7 | 8 |
| Odell Beckham, NYG | 124 | 77 | 62.1% | 1052 | 13.7 | 6 |
| Chris Godwin, T.B. | 95 | 59 | 62.1% | 842 | 14.3 | 7 |
| Antonio Brown, Pitt. | 168 | 104 | 61.9% | 1297 | 12.5 | 15 |
| Sterling Shepard, NYG | 107 | 66 | 61.7% | 872 | 13.2 | 4 |
| Larry Fitzgerald, Ariz. | 112 | 69 | 61.6% | 734 | 10.6 | 6 |
| Kenny Golladay, Det. | 119 | 70 | 58.8% | 1063 | 15.2 | 5 |
| Allen Robinson, Chi. | 94 | 55 | 58.5% | 754 | 13.7 | 4 |
| Corey Davis, Tenn. | 112 | 65 | 58.0% | 891 | 13.7 | 4 |
| Zay Jones, Buff. | 102 | 56 | 54.9% | 652 | 11.6 | 7 |
| Jarvis Landry, Clev. | 149 | 81 | 54.4% | 976 | 12.0 | 4 |
| Michael Crabtree, Balt. | 100 | 54 | 54.0% | 607 | 11.2 | 3 |
| Robby Anderson, NYJ | 94 | 50 | 53.2% | 752 | 15.0 | 6 |
Josh Rosen's accuracy or lack thereof was part of the problem. Note that a lot of the guys at the bottom of the list spent most of the season catching passes from rookie quarterbacks: Mayfield, Allen, Darnold, Rosen and Lamar Jackson.
But all of those guys also averaged a higher yards per catch than Fitzgerald (10.6); in some cases (Golladay, Anderson) about 5 yards higher. He had that low catch rate even while running shorter, high-percentage types of routes in Arizona's popgun offense.
Fitzgerald has been great for a long time, but it could be just about over. A couple of those rookie wideouts might need to play a lot of snaps with second-year man Christian Kirk right away.
Ian ran an item on Hakeem Butler earlier in the week. The other rookie who might need to play a lot is Andy Isabella (pictured). The University of Massachusetts wideout led the nation in receiving yards last year, catching 102 balls for 1,698 yards and 13 TDs. He also ran a position-best 4.31 at the combine, and Arizona will look to get that speed on the field right away.
I don't imagine I'll draft Fitzgerald anywhere this season. Kirk looks like the best bet to be the team's No. 1, and I'll be very interested to see how Isabella and Butler look in the preseason.
--Andy Richardson