NFL midseason superlatives: The biggest busts so far
USA TODAY Sports’ Joe Rivera and Chris Bumbaca dish out which players, coaches, and teams have been the biggest letdowns so far.
The Arizona Cardinals’ uncertainty at running back continues.
In his final news conference of the week, on Friday, Nov. 7, Jonathan Gannon said that he and offensive coordinator Drew Petzing had not yet discussed who would get the official start at the position in Week 10.
Gannon, though, did hint at some tweaks to how the Cardinals deploy their backs. He was asked whether the split at the position would look the same against the Seahawks as it did last week against the Cowboys.
“Similar but not the same,” Gannon said. “Similar but different. Maybe a little bit different.”
With Trey Benson still on injured reserve, the two running backs on the active roster are Bam Knight and Emari Demercado. Michael Carter could be elevated from the practice squad for a second consecutive week, but he did not see any snaps in Dallas.
In that game, the Cardinals deployed their running backs in a somewhat unusual way.
Knight out-snapped Demercado, 38-27. He also ran 17 routes to Demercado’s seven. But Demercado took 14 carries for 79 yards, while Knight took nine for 27 yards. That was an inversion of how the Cardinals typically use those two backs, with Knight in an early-down role and Demercado in a passing-down role.
One element at play in that game, though, was the Cardinals’ reliance on play action. They passed out of play action more than any team has in a single game all season. And of their 21 play-action snaps, Knight was on the field for 19, per Next Gen Stats, compared to two for Demercado — likely as a means of selling the Cowboys’ defense on the running threat. That led to a significant uptick in routes run for Knight.
The Cowboys’ defense, though, is one of the most manipulatable units in the league. The Seahawks, on the contrary, play out of nickel on almost every snap and are difficult to manipulate. That could potentially lead the Cardinals to revert to more typical backfield usage — although Gannon, of course, remained coy on the specifics of his game plan.
During the Cardinals’ final practice of the week, it was difficult to discern a clear order with the running backs. Though, as last week — when Carter took the first carries in practice — showed, that order is often meaningless anyway.
Cardinals banged up in secondary
The Cardinals got some key injury returns last week, namely with defensive tackle Walter Nolen and nickel cornerback Garrett Williams getting back on the field.
This week’s injury news wasn’t as kind. The Cardinals will be without cornerback Max Melton (concussion), cornerback Will Johnson (hip contusion) and linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. (ribs).
Melton and Wilson both exited last week’s game with their injuries, while Johnson’s injury did not progress as the Cardinals had hoped for this week.
“He’s got a hip contusion/glute deal going on,” Gannon said. “We just walked through on Wednesday, and he honestly didn’t do as well as I thought (he would). We knew he was sore coming out of the game, so then we had Tuesday, he got treated. And then Wednesday, he struggled to walk through, so we did some digging and he’s got a little bit of a nick.”
Fifth-round rookie Denzel Burke excelled after Melton exited against the Cowboys and will likely get the start at one outside corner spot. At the other spot, the Cardinals have a few options. They could use Kei’Trel Clark as a direct replacement, as they did at points earlier in the year. Or they could slide Williams to the outside, Jalen Thompson from safety to nickel, and insert Dadrion Taylor-Demerson next to Budda Baker at safety.
It will be a key puzzle to solve against Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who is on pace to break the single-season receiving yards record. Smith-Njigba has largely moved from the slot to the perimeter this season, playing 79.9% of his snaps on the outside.
At linebacker, Wilson’s injury will force the Cardinals to turn to another rookie, fourth-rounder Cody Simon. Like Burke, Simon filled in well against the Cowboys. He had played just three defensive snaps through seven games, but stepped in to play 20 snaps, force a fumble and operate as the green dot linebacker, meaning he was responsible for communicating playcalls to the defense. He will fill that role again in Seattle.
“He’s gotta handle it,” Gannon said. “And he’s done a good job in practice. I’m not worried about it.”