Offseason takes bite from Arizona Cardinals’ pass rush
By Jim Koch
Although pass-rushing talent remains, free agency has taken a significant amount of sacks from the Arizona Cardinals’ defense
Heading into the 2016 off-season, the priority of the Arizona Cardinals was no big secret. General manager Steve Keim set out to find a pass rusher. And boy did he ever.
Thanks largely to the acquisition of edge rusher extraordinaire Chandler Jones, the Cards’ ability to sack quarterbacks greatly improved. After being tied for a 20th ranking in sacks in 2015, Arizona jumped all the way to number one last year. Remaining there will be tough.
Free agent departures this offseason have weakened the pass rush. The sacks the club lost won’t be easy to replenish.
The Cardinals’ biggest name to leave is defensive end Calais Campbell. His eight quarterback takedowns were practically the only production from the defensive line in ’16. Rodney Gunter contributed one and a half himself, but that was it.
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The squad also took a hit at linebacker. Kevin Minter’s three and a half sacks last year were the highest total of his career, but he has also fled the nest. His replacement, Karlos Dansby, tallied just one last season.
Outside linebacker Alex Okafor is also gone. The backup, despite playing with a torn biceps in ’16, was still able to muster three and a half sacks. The recently signed Jarvis Jones came up with just one for the Pittsburgh Steelers a year ago.
Safeties Tony Jefferson and D.J.Swearinger were responsible for four more of Arizona’s NFL-leading 48 sacks last year. But both will be playing for new organizations in 2017. Antoine Bethea was signed to soften the blow of the losses, but he accounted for zero sacks for the San Francisco 49ers in 2016.
That’s 19 sacks out the window due to free agency. And the defensive free agents Keim has brought in so far didn’t come close to that production last season for their respective teams. The current Cardinal defenders will need to pick up the slack or that number-one ranking for sacks will quickly go by the wayside.