Cardinals Corner: Initial 53-man roster takeaways

Cardinals Corner: Initial 53-man roster takeaways

Cardinals Corner from Arizona Sports. Cardinals Corner from Arizona Sports with Tyler Drake and Lauren Kovville. Hey guys, welcome back to this week’s episode of Cardinals Corner. We may not be your favorite gym teacher and your favorite English teacher, but we are Lauren Kovville and Tyler Drake. And by that, I mean Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce surely took the day away from us. Yes, it is 53man roster cut down days, but a congratulations to the two of them on their engagement. Tyler, what do you have to say? I guess so. I guess congrats. But, uh, hey, this is Cardinal’s quarter. We’re talking about cut down day. Cardinals, let’s go. Come on. All right, let’s jump into the real news of the day, which is that the Cardinals 53 man roster has been narrowed down. And there have been some major surprises and some things I don’t think people saw coming. Tyler, you want to start with the running back’s room? Yeah, let’s start there because I think that might be that might take the cake for biggest surprise on the roster side of things of additions and who’s not on the roster because Bam Knight, Mr. Explosive himself, makes the roster over DJ Dallas and Michael Carter. So, four running backs in that room. James Connor, Trey Benson, Amari Decado, and Bam Knight. So, I mean, that’s I don’t think anybody really had him making the roster from all the projections I’ve seen from my projection. I mean, it was DJ Dallas or Michael Carter in my opinion for that last spot. And instead, it’s Bam. And I think that shows you kind of the if you show enough in the preseason, you’re going to get rewarded. And who knows what the roster looks like tomorrow, next week, but for now he’s on the 53man roster. And shout out to him. I mean, he really did his thing and that explos like explosives pay off. Ganon loves to see explosives and you can produce that, you’re going to have a roster spot. So really cool to see that. But yeah, easily one of the biggest surprises. But you know, it’s funny going through my head in that last game seeing DJ Dallas get reps really late in the game. I said, I wonder if his spot’s in jeopardy. And then I was like, “No, he’s still a decent enough specialteamer, return man. He’s got a spot.” But then you think back, oh, he had a couple fumbles right away in the preseason. Maybe that stuck out more than anything else he did on the field and that just made him expendable. I mean, we also saw Mario De Marcado get some returns in there. Xavier Weaver is another option. So maybe they were just ready to move on and get somebody else in there with Greg Dorch because we know Greg Dorsch is going to make the team. He’s going to be an important part. But the guy next to him in the return game, who’s that going to be? I think it’s Marty De Marcato or maybe Weaver. Who knows? DJ Dallas could be back on the practice squad and make his way back. But I think right now it’s one of the other two guys. And DJ Dallas, I think the whole reason we thought he’d make the 53 man originally is because of that special teams talent and what we saw him able to do last season and then at the beginning of this preeason. Yes, those fumbles stood out. I think this is one of those moments where whatever JG has on going on in his head in terms of like what he’s looking from these players during preseason to see that obviously Bam Knight just delivered that to some degree that nobody expected truly. I mean when the news came down I was also expecting Michael Carter to make this roster in some form or another given how highly he’d been talked about just leading up to this cutdown day from JG from others around the organization. And so to see him not make the roster in that way was also a huge surprise. Yeah. And I think with him it just comes down to I think if he was more of a special teams player I think he might have made the roster. But being that he’s just mainly an offensive guy, they got to get guys that have versatility on the back end that can play special teams. And I mean I think he’s a really big standout or practice squad candidate for this team. But also other teams might be looking and say, “Hey, maybe we should go look at Michael Carter finally.” Because I it’s it baffles me that he’s not on at least somebody’s 53 man or even on this one. It’s just he’s got enough talent, I think, in a different kind of aspect to his running game that could help this team. But it is it’s I mean, it’s it’s people showing up more in front of him is from what it looks like. And the quarterback’s room was decided. If you want to say it was decided last night from an Elijah Jones Instagram post, we can say that with the year two on the way there, but he wins out that spot versus Darren Hall. What did you see from there? Well, shout out to our guy Elijah Jones. Glad he stuck with it. I mean, it was it was a battle. I mean, there was one point where I thought Darren Hall kind of had the uh the lead there with after he had that interception in that first preseason game, but Elijah Jones stuck with it that last game. He he really showed out and had what three pass deflections and probably could have had another one on that contested third down. So really really impressed with him. Glad he can make the roster. Shout out to him. I actually saw him leaving the game when I was going to do my stand up from the field and just made sure to dab him up. Be like, “Dude, good job.” And he’s like, “Oh yeah, man. Thanks.” Like you could tell you could tell he had a little bit of relief there. So really big shout out to him. Also saw our guy Cody Simon, too. He’s doing well. He’s doing well. So glad to see some Cardinals corner crew out on the field. But yeah, really happy to see Elijah Jones make and I think he deserves it too. Third round pick. I think the draft status alone helps gives him a a lift up, a leg up and then his play stood out at there at the end and beat out Darren Hall. We got to talk about wide receiver though because I thought for sure had a spot on this 53 man and instead no he does not. And he had to break the news himself on TikTok. So shout out to him for breaking the news and give us something to do early this morning. But, uh, yeah, that that one definitely is is as much as the DJ Dallas and Michael Carter stuff, I this one easily through getting two initial cuts, probably still the bigger surprise because two touchdowns in the preseason, came back from that quad injury and really showed out and I think really deserved a spot. I mean, Marvin Harris, when you when Marvin Harrison can take some things from your game and you can help lift guys around you in the locker room, I think that stands out a lot. So, hoping he lands somewhere. maybe he lands back on the practice squad, but I’m going to assume maybe somebody else takes a flyer and sees and wants to see what’s up with him. And his tone in that Tik Tok video, I don’t want to say was surprised, but very nearly that in the fact that it seemed like he thought he had done enough to land on this Cardinals 53man roster. And this is another room, the wide receivers room, similar to the quarterback’s room, where the Cardinals have decided to go with younger in that room. more shapable with Elijah. You don’t know what to expect during these regular season games. Similar to someone like Darius Robinson, we don’t really know what to expect from him this season, but they’re Cardinals draft picks that we’re excited to see get out on the field. And it sort of feels like even though they’re not rookies, they’re rookies in a way. And because of that, I think this whole team is just leaning with younger, younger, and younger. How do we stay that way? How do we start to mold this team more and more what we want to see and what we want from them? And that is year 2 player jumps. I mean, you just brought him up, Marvin Harrison Jr., He’s the kind of guy that you look at and go, you need a substantial year or two jump because there’s nobody else on this roster who’s coming in as a veteran presence to help coach this room. It’s yours. Go with it. Except for Z Jones. I’d put Z Jones in there, but I Yeah, I I understand where you’re going with that because yeah, like a superstar dude, Marvin’s the guy. Like he’s got to take that re take those reigns and yeah, he’s got to have that jump. You know, Isaiah Adams has to take that jump. I think uh when you’re looking at it, I mean Trey Benson has to take that jump. There’s multiple guys. Darius has to take that jump. So yeah, it’s it’s definitely younger and versatile dudes that can do a little bit of everything. That is they’re worth their weight and gold to have versatility right now. Truly. And a battle that we’ve talked about a lot on this podcast leading up to this 53man roster was was it going to be Simmons? Was it going to be Mustapher? We finally got the decision today. And I meant to check before we sat down for the podcast, but did you get this prediction right? Yes, I did get it right. Yeah. You know, honestly, looking at the proje or my my last prediction, obviously I missed out on I had DJ Dallas making it. So, there’s one. Uh did not have Justin Jones making the Dline room. I did not know what was going to happen there. So, I just left him off to know his IR if they’re what they were going to do there. Uh, and then long snapper Aaron Brewer. I should and honestly I thought in the back of my head I should just not have him on here because I knew there was going to be some roster gymnastics like there was last year. He’s not on the roster right now. He will be back though. That’s 100% going to happen. Don’t worry about that. They’re not going to not have a long snapper. Uh, but that was Yeah. So I I missed three total. So I’ll take it. I’ll take it. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. But yeah, Dline room for sure. Yeah, Mustafer definitely earned his role. I mean, just the fact when you hear the story of him losing 40 lbs to get to the playing weight and what he wants to be at, that shows you kind of the determination and adaptability. He’s filling the adaptability bucket like JG wants. Uh he’s bringing a lot of physicality, a lot of energy. So, that’s really really a solid he’s a solid backend guy and we again we still have to see how the roster shakes out moving forward. Maybe he doesn’t he’s not on here for for the full season. As for Elijah Simmons, maybe he’s a practice squad guy. Maybe he’s going to get looks from other guys, too. I mean, I think he was probably one of the more side out undrafted rookies. I think he would he had a lot of attention, so that could again happen. He’s got some NFL experience now. Maybe he goes somewhere else and tries it out. If not, practice squad for for sure for him. Then Justin Jones, what goes on there? And I don’t want to go crazy and speculate a bunch of stuff, but Aaron Brewer’s got to find his way back on the roster. I think if Justin Jones isn’t as healthy as maybe people think or I mean we really don’t know how healthy he is is with that knee injury. You move him to IR like they did Elijah Jones last year. So he makes the 53 goes on to IR can still come back. Then you bring Brewer to take his spot. Totally speculating. Don’t know if that’s going to happen but that’s an avenue to get Brewer back and kind of figure out a little more with Justin Jones. I’m glad that you addressed Brewer because we had some comments on social media going, “Who the heck’s doing long snapping for them? Are they bringing somebody in? Like, what’s the deal?” No, it’s all about roster gymnastics when the 53 man comes out. The Arizona Cardinals notoriously love to play the game and see what they can make happen. So, Brewer will definitely be back in that role for them. No holdups there. But another thing we got to talk about injuries in general and that would be another firstround pick for the Arizona Cardinals does not start the season in Walter Nolan. So what do you have to say about that? Not surprised. I mean that’s I I’ve seen some people say like, “Oh, he’s going to come back. They’re going to keep him off.” No, he hasn’t practiced yet. Like even if you think he could come back in three weeks, put him on pub. Don’t rush him back. And that’s what I’ve said from I mean like I said last week I mean it was an important week for him to come back then. That was the one opportunity I thought hey he could still come off of pup when he didn’t practice last week that solidified it for me. I was already trending that way really since I mean we just hadn’t seen him through training camp. And I think after that point I’m like all right put him on ice four more weeks. They don’t need him to come back right away. They have plenty of depth there. Dante Stills most underrated Cardinal LJ Collier. They fill out that rotation behind Darius, Dalvin, and Kas. So, you’re solid there. Bal Nichols, another guy going on pup. But, I mean, here’s the thing. I think a lot of people are freaking out. And BJ O Gelari on pup, too, about, you know, another first round pick. Don’t freak out so much. Obviously, if another injury or two happens, go for it. It’s warranted. Scream your head off. But don’t do it right now. I think everything’s fine as best as it could be. I guess that’s how I should say it because yes, first round picks should be playing right now, but when you have the situation that happened, put them on ice, be fine. Don’t rush things back to make things worse. I think that’s my biggest thing right there. Yeah. And I mean, what we’d really only seen from Nolan is last week doing a little bit of resistance training. And resistance training off to the side isn’t going to get you out ready NFL caliber week 1, week 2, week three, or week four. which is why we won’t see him for the first four weeks of the season. This is also not a guaranteed now we’re going to see him week five. And I’m glad you said that. I don’t think we’ll see him week five because he’s got to train. He’s got to get back up to that NFL level. He’s also a rookie. We’ve heard the rookies for the Arizona Cardinals this season alone talk about the transition from college to the NFL being even tougher now just because of the caliber of player in the NFL is higher than we’ve seen in the past few years. And because of that, now it’s taking more training, more strength, more athletic ability to make a roster, to stay on a roster, to see this. So Nolan is no surprise in the fact that we’re not going to see him the first four weeks and we’re probably not going to see him the fifth week. And if I had to predict, I mean, we saw Darius Robinson stay out for a long time because they knew that they couldn’t push it. And yes, he had some off the- field issues happen as well that he needed to go deal with and that is understood. But the injury is still the main focus there. And with Nolan, it’s the main focus. And you just don’t want to, like you said, rush somebody back who isn’t ready to be out there, especially in a position where he’s as snappy and quick and agile as he is for that position in the NFL. You really don’t want to see him get injured again. Now, if I really put on my Arizona Cardinal fan hat and I push my journalist hat off to the side, I’m going again, really, we have to see this again. Why are the Cardinals dealing with this? Why does this only ever seem to happen to them in the preseason in this way, if you want to lean into the dramatics, if you will? And BJ O Gelari, I mean, he’s a huge question mark. It’ll almost be more interesting to me like circa week four, five, like what does the Arizona Cardinals roster look like now because they’ll have a few games under their belt. They’ll have the easier portion games under their belt by then. So, it could be either a jump start to see those guys get back into the rotation. It’s not going to be a smooth transition because you’re coming into this weird middle part of the schedule where you have a lot of teams who could be really good, but you also have a lot of teams who might not be. And at that point in the season, you’ll have a clearer idea of what that looks like. You hope. Yeah. I mean, and here’s the other thing, too. When you’re on the pup list, you can’t practice. So, that’s what like what you said is I think is a really good reminder is he has to miss at least four weeks, but there could be a week or two ramp up. And if that’s the case, what’s the by-week? Isn’t it week eight? Mhm. It very well could be come back after the buy. Like that’s not out of the realm of possibility. Maybe that doesn’t happen. Maybe comes back sooner, but that’s definitely a possibility there for sure. And again, like you said too, like what does this roster look like? Can BJ get back? Can Bal get back? Can they contribute? Because yeah, it’s a lot of people are waiting to see what’s going to happen here. And I think that’s something that we’re only going to have to keep an eye on circa that week four, week five. Not necessarily, like we said, that those guys are returning, but just what does the roster look like? Maybe did somebody not perform to the caliber that we thought. So, it’s going to be a lot easier transition to get Nolan onto this roster, maybe not. Do we see BJ O Gelari at all this year? I mean, there’s questions there. Yeah. Yeah, it is. I mean, there really is. There really is questions there is is when exactly or if we see him this year. So yeah, you got to hope he comes back. I hate I hate the injury for him. He he went from projected starter to I mean pretty much an afterthought now. I mean it’s it sucks to say but that’s really where he’s at. Uh I think we got to wrap this up though with offensive line injuries again because hey again got some right there too. I kind of was like all right Hayden Connor Christian Jones I hadn’t seen you really. So yep they’re going to go on short-term IR. Uh and then who was it? JJ Russell on long-term IR, but we’re talking offensive lineman. The big one though, Will Hernandez off Pup. That was another one I got. So, hey, shout out to me. I’ll give myself some credit there. Uh, so Miho is back and can contribute week one. So, that is something to watch for sure. Maybe he’s ramping up still, too. But at least we know that he can probably be back within the 3 weeks before that four-week threshold cuz you obviously would have kept him on if not. So, really interested to see where he’s going to be at as we progress. But yeah, that’s got to be my big takeaway out of Oine for sure. Yeah, the bright spot being there that Will Hernandez is back with this team and we’ll be able to see what he can deliver. Isaiah Adams, yes, the starter in that role, but doesn’t matter cuz we can shift the O line around however we want because we got a bunch of guys who play a bunch of different roles on that line. And finally, I think we got to wrap this all up with we now know who the Arizona Cardinals are facing week one of the season. two Arizona products going up against each other for this starting job. And it was finally announced today that Spencer Rattler will be the starting quarterback for the New Orleans Saints when the Cardinals see him week one. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. And uh agent Eric Burkhart said he liked the plan. He’s Taylor Shuck’s agent. So uh that was a that was an interesting tweet to see right after that got announced. So uh yeah, going to be interesting. I kind of feel bad for Spencer. It might be a rough day for him if this defense lives up to what it should do. Like really? I mean, it’s it could be it could get ugly, Nola. I’ll just say that. I kind of expected. I mean, given how ugly the Saint season was last year, and uh I have seen Spencer Rattler play for nearly a decade now. He went to my rival high school here in Arizona. So, I have seen him out on the football field for many years. So, I know what the top of the list can look like for him. And we’ve all seen what the bottom can look like. So, we’ll see that week one opponent there for the Arizona Cardinals. Anything else you have to say, Tyler, to wrap up this episode? Nope. Uh, I think the LA actually, yes, look out for practice squad editions. They’ll be coming in soon enough. So, just keep your eye on the on that obviously. Michael Carter, some of those names to watch for sure. But yeah, I mean, and it’s always going to be in flux. The roster is the initial 53 man, not the final. So, be ready for some more roster gymnastics coming your way, especially when it comes to guy like Eric Brewer. To that point, I believe that the Arizona Cardinals are 16th on that list for picking up. Okay, perfect. So, that means if the Arizona Cardinals want somebody, they’ve got to clear 15 other teams before they get to the Cardinals. So, right there in that middle of the pack. tricky kind of place, but that could also be where you see the Cardinals maybe go in and pick up that more veteran cornerback, that more veteran wide receiver, adding a little bit of depth there if they felt like they needed it. Yep. Exactly. Exactly. All right, Tyler. Well, with that, another Cardinals corner podcast in the books. So, thanks guys for listening. And if you want to follow along to all the practice squad additions the Arizona Cardinals could be making, what does that team look like by the time we’re sitting back here a week or so from now, you can read all of that at arizonasports.com. You can follow Tyler Tre for sports. You can follow me at kovville lauren and you can follow the podcast at acardsc corner. And for this episode, I think you got everything that you need. We got a week one starter. We got a 53man roster. We’ve got a lot of surprises. So, make sure to tune in next week to see if that 53 man looks any different and who did survive and make it to the practice squad for the Cardinals. So, thanks for listening, guys, and we’ll see you next week.

The Arizona Cardinals’ initial 53-man is set! Arizona Sports’ Cardinals reporter Tyler Drake and Burns & Gambo producer Lauren Koval dive into the biggest takeaways and surprises from the roster and what’s next with Week 1 closing in. Subscribe, rate 5 stars and follow @AZCardsCorner, @Tdrake4sports and @koval_lauren on X!

Subscribe to the Arizona Sports daily newsletter: https://bit.ly/3QWcj1x

Read articles from Arizona Sports: https://arizonasports.com/

Download the Arizona Sports app: https://arizonasports.com/the-arizona-sports-98-7-fm-app/

Sign up for texts from Arizona Sports: https://arizonasports.com/text-alerts/

Listen live to Arizona Sports: https://arizonasports.com/listen-live/

Watch live: arizonasports.com/watch-live

Follow the team: https://bit.ly/3R0PIAJ

ARIZONA SPORTS SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArizonaSports/

X: https://x.com/azsports

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@arizonasports987

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arizsports/

ARIZONA SPORTS PODCASTS: https://arizonasports.com/category/podcasts/

Video: Jeremy Schnell and Ed Cole/Arizona Sports
Photo Credit: Christian Petersen/Getty Images