Arizona Cardinals Player Profiles: Michael Caputo

Michael Caputo – SS
Wisconsin – Redshirt Senior
6-1, 205 Pounds
65 tackles, 1 tfl, 0.5 sack, 2 interceptions, 8 pd’s, 1 fr, 2 ff

Some would believe in the performance at the East-West Shrine Game that Michael Caputo was the Shrine Game MVP (except for Vernon Adams of Oregon), in which he performed exceptionally well against his former teammate Joel Stave of Wisconsin. Caputo was a 3-star recruit by many recruiting sites, was sited as a limited athlete coming out of High School, and was considered to be a project outside linebacker. The first year at Wisconsin he redshirted, second year (redshirt freshman year) he played special teams, and by his sophomore year he became the full-fledged starter.

Caputo had an impressive career at Wisconsin, playing as an aggressive in-the-box safety with great recognition. In 2014, he had over 6 tackles for loss, but a downfall would be that he doesn’t trust his technique to cover big tight ends and running backs. He has been called for multiple pass-interference calls during his senior year, and seems very eager jumping routes. Good and bad at the same time. I put Caputo in the category of Deone Bucannon, that he is versitle enough to play in the box, but he could also learn different coverage techniques.

I love him for the Cardinals because of the versatility, and he could end up being a value pick with the Cardinals 5th-6th round selections. Caputo had 2 interceptions (1 game clinching) at the Shrine game, depending on his limited range, he could be developed into a rotational guy and special teamer, and the Cardinals always need special team aces. With the sudden emergence from Justin Bethel (and the great thing about having very limited needed positions during the draft) is that guys like Caputo become valuable and don’t need to contribute immediately. Not saying he isn’t going to play on defense, but he does get to do some things on defense that are necessary to develop.