2015 NFL depth chart: Cardinals face key position battles

For the majority of the 2014 regular season, it was the Arizona Cardinals, not the eventual NFC champion Seattle Seahawks, who held the best record in the NFC. Eventually, the team's plague of injuries subdued its division title hopes, but most of those players have returned for the upcoming season.

Although Arizona will get some players back from injury, it also saw two-thirds of its defensive line depart as free agents. Nose tackle Dan Williams moved on to the Oakland Raiders while Darnell Dockett took up residency with the division rival San Francisco 49ers. The loss of cornerback Antonio Cromartie will also impact the defense. How the Cardinals replace those players will be one of the focuses of training camp and the preseason.

While it's difficult to evaluate a draft class before any of the rookies have stepped onto the field, it appears Arizona found a few potential contributors. Running back David Johnson will factor into the team's ground attack while Markus Golden should at least rotate in at outside linebacker. Fourth-round pick Rodney Gunter could also carve out a role on the defensive line if his adjustment from FCS football proves smooth.

Arians prefers to give the lion's share of the carries to one running back with a few snaps spread among the others based on situation. Andre Ellington has some traits of a lead back, but his size (5'9, 199 pounds) limits his ability to endure such a large workload. Stepfan Taylor has that size, but his lack of speed and quickness has prevented him from becoming more than a reserve.

Arizona invested its third-round pick this year in Northern Iowa's David Johnson. While a virtual unknown to many fans, Johnson possesses excellent movement skills as well as fantastic size (6'1, 224 pounds). His inexperience may keep him from winning the job outright during camp, but he has the ability to take over the No. 1 job eventually.

A year ago, the Cardinals got away with an offensive line made of spare parts and duct tape. With renewed emphasis on the running game, that's not going to cut it in 2015. The front office added Mike Iupati from the 49ers to take over at left guard. Barring injury, he'll team with Jared Veldheer to anchor the left side of the offensive line. At center and right guard, the Cardinals appear comfortable running out Ted Larsen and Jonathan Cooper.

Right tackle is the only spot that seems to have a formal competition. The team drafted Florida's D.J. Humphries with the No. 24 pick. Long term, Humphries projects as Arizona's starting left tackle, but for now, he'll compete with Bobby Massie on the other side. How soon he's able to win the starting job could go a long way in determining the success Arizona has up front.

After a long and distinguished NFL career, John Abraham appears to have hung up the cleats. Without him last season, the team had to manufacture a pass rush and struggled to do that consistently.

Returning are linebackers Alex Okafor and Matt Shaughnessy. Both have proven productive at times within Arizona's defense, but neither possesses field-tilting ability. Enter second-round pick Markus Golden out of Missouri. Golden already has the size the team requires for its edge rushers (6'2, 260 pounds) and knows how to use his strength and hands to get around blockers. While his athleticism leaves something to be desired, he could prove a worthy starter during the camp.