Will Johnson has his spot now.

Yes, the rookie cornerback will be among the starters for the Cardinals as they open the regular season in New Orleans, but in this case, Johnson’s spot is the rest of the season, sitting next to Budda Baker in meetings.

“I usually sit by myself, but I might look at someone and say, ‘Come here and sit,'” Baker said, reenacting tapping on the table in front of him.

“I saw Will sitting there, I said, ‘Come sit here.'”

Baker did the same thing with Starling Thomas V last year. At that point, Thomas was a year into his career and already a starter. Johnson hasn’t played a regular-season snap yet, although he may be the rookie under the hottest spotlight. Once first-round pick Walter Nolen III lost training camp (and he remains on PUP with his calf injury), Johnson was next up for attention. The fact everyone, including himself, thought he was going to be a first-round pick before falling to the second round, adds to the story.

Johnson was part of Jonathan Gannon’s restructured preseason plan to get rookies more playing time than in the past; Johnson appeared in all three preseason games and played 50 snaps. It was uneven, including multiple penalties, but Johnson took it as the learning experience it was meant to be.

“There is always room to grow,” he said. “Look at the good, look at the bad, and figure out what you’re going to do off of that.”

What stands out about Johnson – something that second-year cornerback Max Melton emphasized back in the first week of training camp – is his smarts and grasp of the playbook. Melton said Johnson was much further ahead of where he was as a rookie.

“When you practice the right way, which I feel Will has been doing, it makes it easier to go into the game,” cornerback Garrett Williams said. “Practicing that way and being around guys who have been in the league, it’s more ‘OK, let me do what I’ve been doing.'”

Johnson still has to execute in a game, and the young defensive backs as a group need to continue to work on their handsy approach which led to preseason flags. But defensive coordinator Nick Rallis believes Johnson’s love of prep will aid his readiness.

“I’m excited to go make some plays that matter,” Johnson said.

— The Cardinals don’t often go to New Orleans. They were there in Kyler Murray’s rookie season – his recollection: “Sh*t was moving so fast.” – in 2019 when the Saints rolled. They’ve only played there five times since their last win there in 1996, and the last three trips (including the playoff loss in the 2009 season, Kurt Warner’s final game) have been dropped by an average of 25 points a game.

This one is different, though. The Saints are in a rebuild. The Cardinals expect to be coming out of theirs. This is a game the Cards need to control as an opener, and they have the talent to do it.

— That 2019 game is the last time the Cardinals went to the Big Easy, but there was supposed to be a preseason game there in 2021. And what an odd day that was. Hurricane Ida was bearing down on the city, so kickoff for the preseason game was moved up 12 hours. So the Cardinals took off the day before as usual – but while the Cardinals were in the air, the game was cancelled. The charter flight ended up doing a U-turn over Texas to come back home. Oddest flight I’ve ever been a part of.