Arizona Cardinals profiles: Alani Fua
By Scott Allen
The Arizona Cardinals are just five days away from opening training camp in Glendale
We continue our annual look at player by player from A to Z on the current Arizona Cardinals roster as we are now entering the final stages of the offseason before the start of training camp. Players report to training camp this Thursday July 28th.
In this profile we look at linebacker Alani Fua. He enters his 2nd season in the NFL out of BYU.
2015: Fua was a nice surprise to make the 2015 roster. He was mainly a depth guy at linebacker last season.
In 16 games last season, starting none, he had just seven tackles. He also had one fumble recovery. He recovered a fumble against the San Francisco 49ers in November.
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2016: His numbers at BYU, 18 starts in four years with 124 tackles, nine sacks, 14.5 tackles for loss, five interceptions, 15 passes defensed and a forced fumble should say something about why he is a member of this team.
He will push linebackers such as Kevin Minter for playing time. Minter himself could be in a make or break season. If Minter struggles, look for Fua to get more playing time, including starts.
As I’ve said time and time again, coach Bruce Arians doesn’t like to play rookies a lot, so this could be Fua’s time to shine. With the current core of inside linebackers on the team, Fua should make this team without much difficulty. It is what he does with his time once that happens.
Pay attention to this battle in the preseason. Fua and Minter both have things to prove, Minter more so. Fua can’t take the foot off the pedal though. There’s a chance he will see significantly more time this season.