It appears that either rookie Josh Fryar will be the backup or Nick Leverett will be elevated from the practice squad.
The Arizona Cardinals open the season Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, and they are pretty healthy. None of their expected starters are out. However, there is an interesting question about the offensive line depth for Week 1.
Will Hernandez, working his way back from a torn ACL, was ruled out of Week 1 on the Cardinals’ final injury report of the week. Because Jon Gaines is the Cardinals’ backup center, they don’t have a true guard to be the backup on Sunday behind starters Evan Brown and Isaiah Adams.
So the question for Sunday is what the plan will be at backup guard.
Who will be the Cardinals’ backup guard vs. the Saints?
The Cardinals kept nine offensive linemen on the 53-man roster. After the starters, there are Hernandez, Gaines, Kelvin Beachum, who will be the backup tackle, and undrafted rookie Josh Fryar, also a tackle.
While we did not see Fryar getting any guard action in the preseason, head coach Jonathan Gannon has said that Fryar can play a lot of spots.
So perhaps the plan is to have Fryar back up the guards.
What seems more likely is that the Cardinals will elevate Nick Leverett from the practice squad to be the backup guard.
So when the Cardinals announce roster moves Saturday afternoon, watch for Leverett. If he isn’t elevated, we will know that Fryar is going to be more than a guard for the Cardinals this year.
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