{"id":280072,"date":"2025-08-11T17:43:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T17:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/280072\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T17:43:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T17:43:16","slug":"mean-and-nasty-how-will-hernandez-makes-sense-for-the-cardinals-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/280072\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Mean and nasty’: How Will Hernandez makes sense for the Cardinals | Opinion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Arizona Cardinals<\/a> broke camp on Thursday, Aug. 7, and before they hit the practice field one last time at State Farm Stadium, they did something incredibly smart.<\/p>\n

They announced they had signed veteran free agent guard Will Hernandez<\/a> to a one-year contract that keeps the mauling offensive lineman in Cardinals<\/a> red for a fourth straight season.<\/p>\n

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Coach Jonathan Gannon has said he wants to see more \u201cfriction\u201d in 2025, and that\u2019s exactly what this team is getting by bringing back Hernandez, a 6-foot-6, 332-pound chunk of granite who is entering his seventh NFL season.<\/p>\n

NFL: El Paso’s Deion Hankins gets his first NFL touchdown in Chicago Bears preseason game<\/a><\/p>\n

Gannon likes to say he wants the Cardinals to play with \u201cmotor\u201d and \u201cviolence\u201d and that also speaks directly to Hernandez\u2019s physical and aggressive nature. Whether it\u2019s training camp or live action on game days, you can usually find big No. 76 in the middle of the extracurricular activity when the fur starts to fly.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, he\u2019s mean and nasty,\u201d Gannon said after the signing was announced.<\/p>\n

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It was the perfect birthday gift to quarterback Kyler Murray, who turned 28 on Aug. 7.<\/p>\n

Hernandez, 29, might be coming off a torn left ACL that sidelined him for the final 12 games of the 2024 season and prevented him from attracting offers during the primary free agent signing period, but he is a much-welcome addition to an Arizona offensive line in need of more depth and rugged experience.<\/p>\n

Since the Cardinals placed Hernandez on the active\/Physically Unable to Perform list upon signing him, he is no immediate threat to second-year pro Isaiah Adams, the team\u2019s presumptive starting right guard. But the mere presence of Hernandez should be enough to keep pushing Adams.<\/p>\n

Former UTEP Miner: ‘I love it every time I come here’: NFL Guard Will Hernandez enjoys leading free football camp<\/a><\/p>\n

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If he starts looking over his shoulder, all the better. Competition breeds success. And you could feel it coming right off the bat.<\/p>\n

Hernandez didn\u2019t waste any time making the rounds on his first day back. He was on the field doing some resistance training on the side, in addition to stretching and running and watching the team go through drills. He moved well, and although Gannon couldn\u2019t provide a timeline for when the veteran might be able to begin practicing, it\u2019s going to happen at some point.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe plan for right now is Isaiah being the starter at right guard, Evan (Brown) being the starter at left, and get Will healthy and get him on the practice field and see where he\u2019s at,\u201d Gannon said.<\/p>\n

\"Guard<\/p>\n

Guard Will Hernandez #76 of the Arizona Cardinals in action during the NFL game at State Farm Stadium on Aug. 11, 2023, in Glendale, Arizona.<\/p>\n

Once Hernandez is activated, it\u2019s easy to see him instantly becoming the primary backup at both guard spots. If there\u2019s an injury to Adams or Brown or either of them should stumble for whatever reason, the Cardinals can quickly turn to Hernandez, who started 35 games at right guard for Arizona the past three seasons.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWill plays hard, as we ask all those guys to do inside,\u201d Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing said. \u201cI think you see the physicality, the movement skills. Certainly, there\u2019s a lot of familiarity with him and I\u2019m excited about the guys we have in here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do the Cardinals have a great offensive line? No, but they\u2019re decent enough to help the franchise make a push to the playoffs. They are solid at the two starting tackle spots with Paris Johnson Jr. on the left and Jonah Williams on the right. Hjalte Froholdt has done a surprisingly good job at center, having started all 17 games there the past two seasons.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s at guard where I\u2019ve always thought they needed more help this year. They didn\u2019t make any big splashes there in free agency or the draft, which is what most observers were expecting, but re-signing Brown to a two-year $11.5 million extension was key, and so was bringing back Hernandez.<\/p>\n

Archives: An early, early look at Will Hernandez and the NFL draft<\/a><\/p>\n

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Other teams reportedly showed interest in Hernandez, but he had expressed a desire to stay in Arizona. His \u201cmean and nasty\u201d playing persona is exactly what the Cardinals need.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, he plays the right way,\u201d Gannon said. \u201cHe\u2019s always got a good attitude and he\u2019s a good player. \u2026 That\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to build the team with, but I\u2019m pleased where that\u2019s at with everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

That includes Adams, whom the coach has singled out multiple times for positive performances in camp. Adams started the final five games last season at right guard and has made some noticeable strides in his second year, gaining confidence and wisdom.<\/p>\n

But the pressure he is under just became more intense.<\/p>\n

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If anything, Adams should embrace Hernandez’s presence and try to learn as much as he can from the respected pro. Adams doesn\u2019t act like a punk youngster who thinks he knows it all, so Gannon is convinced he would never shun helpful hints from Hernandez.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. Will kind of fits the boat of James Conner,\u201d Gannon said, referring to the Cardinals running back. \u201cAll those guys listen to him. When Will was here last year and new guys came in, they listened to Will, too. But Isaiah is worried about Isaiah and his confidence stack, as I would call it \u2013 vision, belief, proof is in the pudding \u2013 his confidence stack is high right now because he\u2019s doing it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s executing at a high level and he\u2019s playing good ball. He\u2019s improved a lot since he got back in here during OTAs to when he left in the summer and now where he is as a player. He\u2019s working on something every day. I feel real good about Isaiah.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a Cardinals fan, you should feel just as good about the return of Will Hernandez. I\u2019m not saying he is the missing piece to what this team needed to reach the postseason in 2025, but I\u2019m not so sure they get a sniff of a chance without him.<\/p>\n

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Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic<\/a>. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azbobbymac and listen to him live every Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. on Roc and Manuch with Jimmy B on ESPN 620 (KTAR-AM).<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Former UTEP Miner Will Hernandez continues with Arizona Cardinals<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Arizona Cardinals broke camp on Thursday, Aug. 7, and before they hit the practice field one last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2078],"tags":[375,390,2604,1327,391,4137,7,10933,10932,757,1725,7062,4827,6,5222,8763],"class_list":{"0":"post-280072","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arizona-cardinals","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-arizona-cardinals","10":"tag-arizonacardinals","11":"tag-cardinals","12":"tag-chicago-bears","13":"tag-deion-hankins","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-hjalte-froholdt","16":"tag-isaiah-adams","17":"tag-james-conner","18":"tag-jonah-williams","19":"tag-jonathan-gannon","20":"tag-kyler-murray","21":"tag-nfl","22":"tag-paris-johnson-jr","23":"tag-will-hernandez"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115011374922084533","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}