In this series, I will be looking at the history of coaches, quarterbacks, rushers, and receivers for all 32 franchises. For coaches and quarterbacks, I will be looking at how much their franchise’s career records (regular season only) would change if we removed the games with that person. For rushers and receivers, I will note how many times that player was the team’s leading rusher/receiver over the course of their time with that franchise (regular plus postseason).

Previous Teams:

AFC East: Dolphins, Bills, Jets, and Patriots
NFC East: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, and Redskins
AFC North: Steelers, Browns, Ravens, and Bengals
NFC North: Packers, Vikings, Bears, and Lions
AFC South: Jaguars, Colts, Texans, and Titans
NFC South: Panthers, Falcons, Saints, and Buccaneers
AFC West: Raiders, Chiefs, Chargers, and Broncos
NFC West: Seahawks, Rams, 49ers

Last but not least, we get to the oldest franchise in the NFL. Who is the best coach in the history of the Cardinals? That’s a tough question to answer, and the Cardinals (0.426) have the second-worst winning percentage among the 32 teams (the Bucs are at 0.385). Jimmy Conzelman is in the Hall of Fame and in 1949, won the franchise’s only undisputed title in its 99 seasons. But Conzelman won only 34 games and had a 0.522 record with the team. Ken Whisenhunt coached the most games in team history and won the NFC with the team in ’08, but he lost more games than he won. Don Coryell had a 60.7% winning percentage with the Cardinals over 5 years, better than what he did in San Diego. Paddy Driscoll was the team’s initial head coach, and is in the Hall of Fame for his work as a player.

But believe it or not, after reviewing the data, the answer is clear: Bruce Arians is the best head coach in franchise history, at least in terms of regular season success. Arians has the most wins in franchise history and there are 10 head coaches with as many or more losses than him! That’s remarkable: among head coaches with the most wins in franchise history, George Seifert with the 49ers and Tony Dungy with the Colts are the only ones who aren’t also in the top-5 in losses; both rank 7th.

At quarterback, since 1950, there have only been a few standouts for the team. Jim Hart and Neil Lomax are the only two quarterbacks to start 100 games for the team, and both have losing records. Of course, since ’50, the Cardinals have only won 42% of their games, so both quarterbacks still were better than the average Cardinals quarterback. Carson Palmer, Charley Johnson, and Kurt Warner had great moments with the team, but none lasted long. So which quarterback helped improve the franchise’s record the most?

A couple other notes: let’s remember quarterback/halfback/receiver/defensive back Charley Trippi. Not only is he in the Hall of Fame, but he, Frank Gifford, and Red Grange are the only players in NFL history with double digit touchdowns as a passer, rusher, and receiver.  On the bad side of things, we have Jake Plummer and Lamar McHan — they were 22 and 18 games below .500, respectively.

The running back question is pretty easy: Ottis Anderson stands out as the best running back in franchise history by any metric. He laps the field in this metric, and also is the franchise’s career leader in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and rushing yards per game. Perhaps most famous for his 102-yard performance with the Giants that earned him MVP honors in Super Bowl XV, Anderson is not remembered fondly today. That may be because he split his team with two teams, but I suspect it’s because he played during the Cardinals time in St. Louis: football fans in Missouri are too young to remember him (and the team left after the ’87 season), and football fans in Arizona have no ties to him. He’s probably best remembered in the New York/New Jersey area, but all his best years with with the Cardinals.

Let’s close with a player who absolutely will not have this problem. Larry Fitzgerald is going to be remembered as the best NFL player in the history of the state of Arizona, and likely as the best player in Cardinals history. A true hero, Pat Tillman has a statue outside the Cardinals stadium. Larry Wilson is probably higher on the all-time safety list than Fitzgerald is on the all-time receiver list. Trippi was great and in the Hall of Fame, the great Ernie Nevers had three years as a legendary player with the franchise… but Fitzgerald has been so good for so long that he will likely be widely remembered as the greatest Cardinals player of them all.

As for the matter at hand…. We know that Jerry Rice led the 49ers in receiving yards in 151 games, and Steve Largent led in Seattle in 106 games. Entering the 2019 season, Larry Fitzgerald has Arizona in receiving yards in 103 games, so there’s a great chance he passes Largent this season.

He will make the Hall of Fame, likely as the rare first ballot choice. He ranks 2nd all-time in receiving yards, and none of the players in the top 30 in receiving yards played on passing offenses as weak as Fitzgerald did.

That’s it for the Cardinals version of this series. And for all 32 teams. Thank you for joining me on this journey! Please leave your thoughts in the comments.