Jonathan Gannon assesses Arizona Cardinals’ depth
Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon talks about having every player on the team ready to step in at any time.
At last, there is clarity on Trey Benson. Before the Cardinals‘ first practice of the week, head coach Jonathan Gannon revealed that Benson will not return for the remainder of the season, as he struggled in his recovery from a torn meniscus.
So, what does that mean for the rest of the running backs’ room moving forward?
Most likely, Bam Knight will continue in his role as the early downs back. Knight supplanted Michael Carter in that role in October and has maintained it for the past two months, averaging 9.6 rush attempts over his past eight games.
With Emari Demercado out due to an ankle sprain, Carter has stepped into a passing-downs role, seeing five targets per game over the past four. Demercado, though, returned to practice in a limited capacity last week — although he did not participate in the Cardinals’ final practice of the week on Friday, Dec. 5. That would typically indicate a potential setback, but Demercado returned to the field on Wednesday, Dec. 10.
If Demercado is able to play in Week 15 against the Texans, he would likely take over from Carter in that passing-downs role, with Knight retaining his work as the lead back. The Cardinals have not used Demercado in that role all season.
The problem for the Cardinals is that their run game has remained stagnant all season, no matter who is carrying the ball. They run the ball at the second-lowest rate in the NFL, both because they often are in negative game scripts and because their run game has been inefficient.
That could make the passing downs role valuable in this offense. In fact, Carter has out-snapped Knight in each of the past three weeks, despite Knight being the nominal starter.
The Cardinals do get a difficult matchup in Week 15 against the Houston Texans‘ elite defense, which Gannon described as the best in the NFL. But after a more middling matchup against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 16, they then face the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17. Cincinnati’s run defense has been perhaps the worst in the NFL this season.