One preseason game to go. Final cuts are on the horizon (and next week's mailbag will likely come out Wednesday, in case there are any late cuts questions.) Questions have been edited for length and clarity. Don't forget to send a question for a future mailbag with at least a first name and last initial.

From Johnny Turbo:

"Hey Mr. Mailbag. Love the question on who/what group stood out to you. Can we get that each and every week in the mailbag intro? Since this is before the Denver game I will ask that question again. We are not there and you can see/feel the team vibe. Thank you always for this forum."

Don't know if there is going to be something in the intro, but I'm cool with it as a question topic. Not sure there was a "group" that stood out against the Broncos. That wasn't overall what the Cards wanted to see. Among the players Jonathan Gannon pointed out were QB Jacoby Brissett, G Jon Gaines II, RB Michael Carter, OLB Jordan Burch, WR Simi Fehoko, and then Kitan Crawford and Benton Whitley on special teams. But to be honest, it was difficult to see many that stood out.

From Lou Simmons:

"Was Kyler Murray at the game Saturday? If not, where was he? I thought it was curious the camera didn't show him once. If he was there, I'm mildly concerned because the camera did show Jacoby and Clayton on the bench often, and I would hope Kyler would be near by speaking to them. No?"

I have to admit, I chuckled at this one. Kyler didn't even play and yet there is criticism. Tough crowd. Kyler was at the game of course. In fact, the entire roster dressed out in uniform and went through warmups; the guys that didn't play then changed into street clothes for the game. I can't say I was looking for Kyler's whereabouts during the game. I also did not see the TV broadcast. Brissett has talked multiple times about his good relationship with Kyler. I'm sure he spoke to them game day, and he talks to them every day in the quarterback meeting room and the locker room.

From Mike R:

"That Broncos game was about as miserable as they come. When evaluating something like that, you got to criticize the player, not the person. With that in mind, and the idea that we're always churning the bottom of the roster, there absolutely must be a QB somewhere better than Clayton Tune."

It was not a great game for Clayton. But there was more that went into it besides his personal efforts; the offensive line many times didn't give Tune much time at all to make a decision. It's fair to say the offense over the last three quarters, whoever was out there, struggled. I expect he will have a chance at redemption against the Raiders, since it seems likely he will get most if not all of the playing time.

From JC Cardinals:

"We CANNOT have another dead showing like that going into the regular season. It kills your confidence. Zero momentum. The Raiders game suddenly is more important. We don't need to win it, but by God it can't be another Broncos game. You've seen preseason blowouts before, historically what happens in the following days?"

I know people don't want to hear this, but a preseason blowout -- especially one with no starters and some extended key players not playing -- is meh. You don't want it to happen. There are things to clean up. What a preseason game does, regardless of a score, is let coaches in on what particular players are doing, how they operate under those circumstances (they are still playing hard, right?) and might create some new practice particulars. But the vast amount of players who will be determining outcomes in the regular season didn't see the field. Not sure how that kills their confidence.

From Conrad N:

"Hey Darren. Long-distance fan for decades, hope all is well with you. Every year starts with optimism, some more than others, this year seems to have an edge of excitement and enthusiasm unlike the past few years. Obviously you have experienced many seasons with the Cardinals and have much more insight than the fans. What is the vibe within the organization/team? Is it different? Do you feel a sense of higher expectations this season? Is there some extra energy in the local media and surrounding community? Thanks for all you do and what you share with fans! We appreciate you!"

Thanks for following along, Conrad. The vibe internally is optimistic as it should be. I think for Monti and JG, they want the process to remain the focus. Thinking beyond the process and to what the season could be doesn't help the team, in their eyes. I think most teams go into every season with significant expectations. But there is little question there are higher outside expectations. The fans want big things in Year 3 of this regime. The media, locally at least, believes it can happen. Now we watch it play out.

From Dru L:

"Hey Darren, I noticed you haven't posted a roster prediction this year. Are you going to? I'd say we know about 95 percent of who is who. The one that has become very interesting is CB since I think Denzel Burke has made a strong argument to stick around. Same goes for Darren Hall. If that means Elijah Jones is on the outs, do you think he makes it to the practice squad?"

I haven't done a full roster prediction for a few years; I don't think that's going to change. I'll probably talk about some of the key roster battles specifically in my last preseason Friday Before this week. I agree cornerback is going to have some interesting choices. At this point, they have given Burke every opportunity and he has been ahead of Jones on the depth chart (as is Hall.) But with a 17-man (including the international player) practice squad, they are likely going to try and bring back almost every cut player of note to the PS, I'd think, so guys are going to be around unless someone scoops them up. That would include Jones.

From Frank Walton:

"What's your gut feeling on waiver-wire activity come cutdown time? I think they might be active. I think we might be looking for a third QB, a WR (possibly 2), possibly ILB."

Here are my waiver-wire bullet points:

• I do not think they will be active. They are 16th in the waiver claim, which is pretty low to get a player you'd want.
• The rule change a couple years ago to allow two guys to be put on IR-to-return at final cutdown basically means most teams can do that and keep two players that would've once been cut and available. That's a lot of viable roster guys off the market.
• They don't need a third QB for the roster. They will have a QB on the practice squad. Could that be a new guy? Sure. But it won't be from waivers.
• To think they will find someone on waivers who they like better than No. 4 Greg Dortch is unlikely, and he wouldn't know the offense. Simi Fehoko is too important for special teams.

From Bob Falzone:

"Hi Urbz. What are the options to keep BJ Ojulari? He's a talented guy who got hurt, and we would hate to lose him given we still haven't gotten to truly see his ability yet. If we cut him, what are the odds he makes it to the practice squad? Can we just stash him on IR for another year? Can we stash him on the temporary IR for the eight games, and by then we'll have a better idea of our pass rush depth? Do you think he outright is on the 53 and some other edge guy is cut? What can we do to keep him Darren?"

Let's start with this: BJ Ojulari will remain with the Cardinals.

Now let's go through the machinations here. Ojulari remains on the Active PUP list. If you move him to the Reserve PUP list (which is where he is going to stay until he is able to practice) when the regular season begins, he has to stay there for a minimum of four games. He could, if not able to practice, stay there all year and not take up a roster spot. So starting the year on PUP feels like a probable outcome right now.

If he is able to practice in the next week or two then he'd probably be on the 53-man roster. That seems unlikely. And IR wouldn't be involved until Ojulari practiced and, God forbid, had some sort of setback.