Cardinals Rookie Safety Justin Bethel Impresses

He’s from a small college, however that doesn’t mean Arizona Cardinals rookie safety Justin Bethel plays small.  Hailing out of Presbyterian, Bethel was a sixth-round draft pick of the Cards back in April.  Many people in Arizona hadn’t heard of him but it sure is a good thing the Cards had.  Bethel looked strong in his NFL debut Sunday night in their 17-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints.

Bethel had a penchant to block kicks during his college career.  In fact, he had nine of them during his time at Presbyterian.  That’s impressive, I don’t care what level you are playing at.  So, wouldn’t you know, in his first NFL game, he blocks a John Casey 54-yard field goal attempt.  I think the Cards have something here.  Of course the Cards know how to block kicks already.  They had five of them last season.

Not only did Bethel block the field goal attempt, he also hit hard.  He just flat laid guys out.  Right now I’d say Bethel is a strong candidate at the very least to be a member of the Cards special teams.  I’m excited to see Bethel get extensive playing time over the next four weeks.  If he keeps up the current pace, you’ll be hearing his name called a lot this season.