The Arizona Cardinals and New Orleans Saints will wrap up the NFL preseason on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. ET, before the regular season kicks off next month. The game was originally slated to kick off at 8 p.m. ET, but due to Hurricane Ida, kick off time was bumped up. Below we’ll take a look at who is and not playing in the preseason finale.
Quarterbacks
Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury said on Thursday that starting quarterback Kyler Murray will not play Saturday. Murray and the first-team offense did not play great in last week’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs. We should see both Colt McCoy and Chris Streveler under center in the preseason finale.
Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported on Tuesday that Jameis Winston is the “leader in the clubhouse” to be starting in the season opener on September 12. Saints head coach Sean Payton has not said who will be the starting quarterback between Winston or Taysom Hill.
Running Backs
James Conner made his Cardinals’ debut last week against the Chiefs, but did not look good only producing 1 rushing yard. Kingsbury has not said whether or not Conner or Chase Edmonds will play on Saturday night.
As for New Orleans, we should not expect to see the likes of Alvin Kamara on Saturday, but we might see Latavius Murray and Devonta Freeman. The two veteran running backs could be battling for a spot on the 53-man roster.
Wide Receivers
Kingsbury said on Thursday that he will err on the side of conservative when it comes to playing time for the starters. With Murray sitting out, we won’t see DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green and maybe Christian Kirk. Andy Isabella, who was drafted by the Cards a few years back is fighting for a spot on the 53-man roster.
Tight Ends
The Saints come into their final preseason game with numerous injuries at tight end. Adam Trautman could reportedly be out for 1-3 weeks with an ankle injury, while Nick Vannett will be out 2-4 weeks with a knee injury. This could open up the door for Juwan Johnson to get some snaps in the preseason finale as the team prepares for the regular season.