Arizona Cardinals bring in QB and long snapper
The Arizona Cardinals have brought in a quarterback and a long snapper along with undrafted free agents.
The 2016 NFL Draft is officially over and in the books. The Cardinals didn’t pick any big names, much to fans chagrin, and predominately stuck to increasing depth in the secondary and offensive line. One of the biggest questions Cardinal fans had after the draft was why didn’t Arizona take one in the later rounds?
Here is what head coach Bruce Arians had to say:
The #AZCardinals did not take a QB in #CardsDraft. Here's what @BruceArians said about the subject via @nflnetwork. pic.twitter.com/OQkyIy1LZH
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) April 30, 2016
Even though the draft finished almost an hour ago, the Cardinals brass moved quickly and snagged a quarterback prospect they have been looking at for a while off of the free agent.
Per source, Alabama QB @RealJakeCoker has signed as an UDFA with the @AZCardinals. Great landing spot for him.
— Alex Byington (@_AlexByington) April 30, 2016
As the tweet says, Arizona is the perfect place for Coker to develop. At 6’6″ Coker has the size and arm strength that Bruce Arians loves in his quarterback. Coker is a proven winner and in his one year as a starter at Alabama he led the Crimson Tide to a national championship.
The realistic expectation for Coker is that he will challenge Matt Barkley for the third string quarterback spot during the preseason. If he pans out, Coker could end up being the starter in 3 years time. Overall this is a low risk, high reward move for the Arizona Cardinals.
With long snapper Mike Leach retiring this off season, the Cardinals had a hole to fill on special teams. The Cardinals filled this hole very quickly, signing Campbell University long snapper, Danny Dillon.
Congratulations Danny Dillon on signing with the @AZCardinals! #BuiesCreektotheNFL pic.twitter.com/0jg4BLO4r2
— Campbell Athletics (@GoCamels) April 30, 2016
It is very unlikely that the Cardinals have decided to make Dillon the future long snapper outright. Arians says jobs are just never handed out. Given the culture, the Cardinals will most likely bring ing more undrafted free agents in to compete with Dillon.
Arizona has also signed LSU LB Lamar Louis, Vanderbilt QB Stephen Rivers, Idaho RB Eli Penny, and Notre Dame WR Air Carlisle and CB Matthias Farley among other undrafted free agents.