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Arizona Cardinals: Special teams camp preview

By Scott Allen

Nov 20, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers kicker Phil Dawson (4) celebrates after scoring his 400th field goal against the New England Patriots during the first quarter at Levi's Stadium. The New England Patriots defeated the San Francisco 49ers 30-17. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 20, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers kicker Phil Dawson (4) celebrates after scoring his 400th field goal against the New England Patriots during the first quarter at Levi's Stadium. The New England Patriots defeated the San Francisco 49ers 30-17. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 20, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers kicker Phil Dawson (4) celebrates after scoring his 400th field goal against the New England Patriots during the first quarter at Levi’s Stadium. The New England Patriots defeated the San Francisco 49ers 30-17. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 20, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers kicker Phil Dawson (4) celebrates after scoring his 400th field goal against the New England Patriots during the first quarter at Levi’s Stadium. The New England Patriots defeated the San Francisco 49ers 30-17. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

The Arizona Cardinals special teams have a lot of work to do to get back in the good graces of fans in 2017

The best thing we can say about the season the 2016 Arizona Cardinals special teams had is that it is over.  We can move on from a mostly miserable season.

The Cardinals did not rest after the season ended and chalked it up to a few bad games.  They went out and did something about their kicking and return games.

The long-snapper Aaron Brewer is still with the team, so we’ll see if anything changes there. There are two punters in camp vying for one spot.

Brewer was a huge upgrade over Kameron Canaday who was just miserable to watch as a rookie early on in 2016.  He’s no Mike Leach but he does the job.

Also new to the Cardinals is kicker Phil Dawson.  They signed the free agent kicker, now going into his 19th season, back in March.  Former kicker Chandler Catanzaro is now with the New York Jets.

The return game should be very interesting to see develop in camp and in the preseason.  Guys like rookie T.J. Logan could supplant Patrick Peterson as a punt returner.  That could be a fun competition.  I wouldn’t count on Logan replacing Peterson right away but who knows?

At punter the Cardinals are going to have Matt Wile and Richie Leone battle it out.  At this point you can flip a coin.  That’s what preseason is all about and with five games this season in the preseason, the Cardinals should get a good look.

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As far as that punting game goes, it would be nice to see the Cardinals punt return team start being more consistent on blocking.  In week 17 last season the Cardinals saw the Los Angeles Rams block a punt.  I’m looking at you Kerwynn Williams.

Roster predictions:

Kicker: Dawson

Long snapper: Brewer

Punter: Wile

Punt/kick returner: Peterson and/or Logan

If Dawson struggles in camp, don’t be surprised to see the Cardinals act quickly to replace him with someone else before the regular season starts.  The last thing the Cardinals need to worry about is whether they can count on their kicker to win games.

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