Cardinals finalizing O-line as Paris Johnson Jr. moves to LT.
TEMPE, Ariz. — Shortly before free agency started in March, Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Paris Johnson Jr.’s phone buzzed.
It was a text message asking if he could play left tackle. Johnson said yes; he had been training at both tackle positions since the season ended just in case he was moved.
Johnson, who played all 17 games at right tackle last season as a rookie, asked after last season what the team’s plans were for him in 2024. He was told that the conversation would be had at some point during the offseason. During the text conversation in March though, he was informed that Arizona’s free agency moves would impact which position he would play.
Left tackle D.J. Humphries, Johnson’s mentor who had been with Arizona since 2015, was released on the first day of free agency. Arizona then agreed to terms with Jonah Williams, the former Cincinnati Bengals tackle who played last season at right after lining up at left in his first three seasons.
Jonathan Gannon said last week Johnson would be the left tackle, protecting Kyler Murray’s blind side, and Williams would be at right.
“We’ll start there and see how it goes,” Gannon said.
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Naming the tackles is the first major move for a line that will return four of five starters — a unit that was strong in protecting the run. In 2023, the Cardinals ranked second in yards per rush (5.0) and yards before contact per rush (3.09); third in rushes of 10 or more yards (71); fourth in total run yards (2,365), rushing yards per game (139.1) and yards after first contact per rush (1.93).
“Second year in the system so the guys that are coming back, I think, feel a lot more comfortable with what we’re trying to get done,” Gannon said. “We made a few adjustments by how we want to do things up there, certain run and pass things, techniques, different calls. And I think that the competition is high in there. The couple guys that we added are going to add to that room and that competition.”
That decision to put Johnson Jr., the Cardinals’ 2023 first-round pick, at left tackle and Williams at right solidified two of the offensive line’s five positions. Gannon has tried to keep some suspense about who will fill out the line even though the starters at those positions — Elijah Wilkinson at left guard, Hjalte Froholdt at center and Will Hernandez at right guard — are all returning.
