Arizona Cardinals: 5 players who must improve in 2018

2. J.J. Nelson

As Fitzgerald continues to defy age, the Cardinals basically haven’t had a good No. 2/co-No. 1 wide receiver since Anquan Boldin left. After Fitzgerald’s 161 targets, no one else had more than 69 targets and the next three in the pecking order combined for 185 targets. No one else on the team even had 35 receptions, while Fitzgerald had 109 catches.

Of those aforementioned next three leading receivers for Arizona last year, only Nelson remains as John Brown signed with the Baltimore Ravens in free agency and Jaron Brown landed with the Seattle Seahawks. So the Cardinals reshaped their wide receiver depth chart, bringing Brice Butler aboard in free agency and drafting Christian Kirk in the second round of April’s draft. And don’t forget 2017 third-round pick Chad Williams, who will be competing for a bigger role.

Nelson is averaging 18.6 yards per catch for his career, with 10 touchdowns (six in 2016). But his catch rate has not been good (45.7 percent), due in part to being a lower percentage deep threat in a Bruce Arians offense that took shots downfield regularly. But with plenty of competition for snaps, and the lingering possibility a veteran wide receiver is added at some point, Nelson needs to start putting it all together during training camp/preseason and carry it into the games that matter.

If the first of those things doesn’t happen, Nelson could be among the recognizable names cut just before Week 1.