Cardinals OC Drew Petzing, 38; and DC Nick Rallis, 32: When Jonathan Gannon took the Arizona head coaching job three years ago, he assembled the NFL's youngest staff, with designs on letting bright young coaches he knew well grow into big roles. And while it's been a trying season for the Cardinals, who sit at 3-7 with five one-score losses, people around the league have taken notice of how the plan is unfolding. Last year, the Bears had a head-coaching opening and interviewed Petzing, a one-time Middlebury College defensive back who has risen through the ranks, starting as a football operations intern with the Browns in 2013. Two of Petzing's three seasons as OC have been impacted by injuries to QB
Kyler Murray; Arizona has still made strides as this season has gone on. Rallis, a former Edina High School and Minnesota linebacker (and younger brother of WWE star Mike Rallis, a.k.a. Riddick Moss), is considered a rising star. Gannon brought him to Philadelphia and then Arizona, where Rallis calls the defensive plays. Like Arizona's offense, the defense, too, is middle of the pack. But many within the league believe it's a matter of
when, not
if, Rallis gets his shot to run the show.