Larry Fitzgerald's Quiet Night Underscores New Role in Cardinals Offense

It was a strange sight on Monday night when the Arizona Cardinals hosted the San Diego Chargers: Larry Fitzgerald, the team's all-time receiving leader, had just one reception.

Then again, for those who have been paying attention to the changes that the Cardinals offense has undergone since head coach Bruce Arians took over last season, a quieter role for Fitzgerald this season won't be a surprise. 

Under Ken Whisenhunt, Fitzgerald played one primary receiving position as the "X" receiver. His talent and size helped him to get open in man coverage in Whisenhunt's scheme, and it led to the often gaudy numbers he amassed; from 2007 through 2011, he had five consecutive seasons with more than 1,000 passing yards.

When Arians arrived in 2013, he brought with him an offensive scheme that heavily uses combination routes. In order to implement that scheme in Arizona, he took his most talented receiver—Fitzgerald—and designated him as the "Z" receiver, with Michael Floyd becoming the new outside target. 

This move in and of itself doesn't necessarily mean decreased production for Fitzgerald—now that he lines up all over the field, theoretically Fitzgerald could be seeing even more targets. But in 2013 and on Monday, that wasn't the case. How come?

	GP	Rec/Game	Targets/Game	Yds/Game	Yds/Rec	TDs
Whisenhunt Era
Arians Era
2007	15	7	11	93.9	14.1	10
2008	16	6	10	89.4	14.9	12
2009	16	6	10	68.3	11.3	13
2010	16	6	11	71.0	12.6	6
2011	16	5	10	88.1	17.6	8
2012	16	5	10	49.8	11.2	4
2013	16	5	8	59.6	11.6	10
2014, Week 1	1	1	4	22	22.0	0

Part of what likely motivated Arians to change Fitzgerald's role, aside from the fact that he needed the most talented player on the team to fit his combination-route-heavy scheme, is because he saw how much Fitzgerald's production dropped in the last year of Whisenhunt's era in 2012.

Fitzgerald had career lows in both yards and touchdowns that season, which possibly indicated that opponents were putting their best cover corners up against him in isolation, meaning those outside routes weren't working as well anymore. The Cardinals also had a sub-par passing game that season.

By moving Fitzgerald and lining him up all over the field, Arians could ensure that he could get separation. 

So that's what he did in 2013, and though Fitzgerald's production bumped up slightly, it was nowhere near what it used to be for that given-year period earlier in his career.

Much of that can probably be attributed to the fact that the entire offense, including Fitzgerald, was slow to adapt to Arians' new system.

Heading into the regular season, the Arizona Cardinals offense was supposed to be "light-years ahead" of where it was at this time last year. 

Kent Somers of AZCentral.com broke down what that means: 

"

Last year, everyone went through a steep learning curve. Fitzgerald, for instance, had to learn three receiving positions after playing primarily the same one in six seasons under former coach Ken Whisenhunt. 

So on any one play, Fitzgerald can line up in three different spots. And on that one play, there are a few pass routes he can run, depending upon the defensive-backfield alignment and how many defenders are rushing Palmer. 

Last spring, Fitzgerald admitted, there were times he broke the huddle unsure of what he was supposed to do. That's an uncomfortable thing for any player, especially a ­10-year veteran.

"

Fitzgerald admitted to Somers that the entire offense was slow to pick up the new scheme. "It was difficult," he said. "I'm glad that's in the past and we're into a new year, into a new season. The young guys now can ask us (veterans) what we're doing and we are able to get them going. Last year, everyone was in that same learning stage."

The Cardinals didn't quite look light-years ahead of where they were on offense in Week 1 of the 2013 season on Monday, but they certainly looked one year ahead, which is a more reasonable expectation.

Still, even if Carson Palmer can find some consistency and everyone gets on the same page, don't expect Fitzgerald to return to his gaudy numbers of the past—or even to outproduce his own teammate, Michael Floyd. 

In 2013, when Floyd took over Fitzgerald's previous role as the "X" receiver, he finished the season with a career-high 1,041 receiving yards on 65 receptions, compared to 954 yards on 82 receptions for Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald still doubled Floyd in touchdowns, with 10, but becoming the go-to outside receiver meant Floyd gained more yards on fewer receptions, a pattern he looks to only increase in 2014 by taking advantage of the double coverage opponents continued to play on Fitzgerald last season.

As a result of that, through the end of last season and Monday night against the Chargers, Fitzgerald was used more often as a decoy to get Floyd and rookie deep threat John Brown open.

Tom Gannam/Associated Press/Associated Press

Don't interpret all this to mean that Fitzgerald is any less vital to Arizona's offense. On the contrary, as the "Z" receiver in a combination-heavy scheme, Fitzgerald is Arians' most dangerous weapon, able to contribute from three different positions on the field.

The term "X" receiver has become conflated with No. 1 receiver, but even though Floyd may be the go-to receiver in isolation, Fitzgerald is the linchpin of Arians' scheme.

At the same time, however, the days of Fitzgerald posting 1,400 yards and averaging 15 yards per catch are likely over.

The role that was new to him last year and into which he has settled this season isn't predicated on getting those kinds of numbers anymore, which may lead to quiet periods in games like Monday night's, where it seems like Palmer is deliberately ignoring him. 

But trust that in Arians' scheme, Fitzgerald is still an incredibly versatile weapon.