The Arizona Cardinals were significantly impacted by injuries during the 2024 season, with key starters like linebacker BJ Ojulari, offensive lineman Jonah Williams, defensive tackle Bilal Nichols and defensive tackle Justin Jones missing a combined 52 games.
The total injuries to Arizona as a team was enough for Aaron Schatz, chief analytics officer at For the Numbers (FTN), a fantasy sports website, to rank the Cardinals as the seventh-worst team in terms of adjusted games lost (AGL).
AGL is calculated by taking a look at more than just games missed by injured players.
It accounts for both absent players and those playing at less than 100%, and it specifically measures injuries to expected starters and important situational players rather than little-used backups. As such, AGL estimates the impact of injuries on teams and provides a comparable total that often succinctly explains why teams improved or declined from one year to the next. (AGL was created by Bill Barnwell.)
In the AGL rankings, a score of one indicates the fewest injuries, while 32 signifies the most.
The Cardinals’ offensive AGL of 31.8 ranked 14th in the league, while their defensive AGL of 72.9 ranked 29th.
With a total AGL of 104.7, Arizona ranked 26th overall.
Only six NFL teams had a worse overall AGL ranking than the Cardinals in 2024: San Francisco, Las Vegas, Carolina, New Orleans, Miami and Cleveland. None of these teams made the playoffs.
By comparison, Arizona’s AGL ranking for the 2023 season was 100.1, placing them 28th. The most notable injury that season was quarterback Kyler Murray missing the first half of the year due to an ACL tear he suffered in the 2022 season.
Cardinals aim to improve injury luck with training staff, facilities
In the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) 2024 report card, Arizona’s training staff received a B grade, ranking 20th in the league. The strength coaches earned a C+, placing them 26th.
However, the most recent report card showed a drop: the training staff received a C+ (31st in the league), and the strength coaches were graded with a C (also 31st).
The Cardinals are determined to change the narrative surrounding their injury struggles.
It starts with in Tempe set to be completed before the 2027 season.