Arizona Cardinals receiver a big threat but still learning
By Scott Allen
Arizona Cardinals second-year receiver Christian Kirk is being relied on more as each week passes
He’s the number two receiver behind Larry Fitzgerald. He could end up being the number one once Fitz retires. For Arizona Cardinals receiver Christian Kirk this will mean staying consistent with production.
Through the first three weeks of the 2019 NFL Season, Kirk has almost as half of the receptions he had all of his rookie season of 2018. Last season he played in 12 games.
Yes, December was basically a washout for Kirk in ’18 thanks to an injury against the Green Bay Packers on December 2nd that sidelined him the final four games. He finished his rookie season with 43 catches.
He’s up to 20 through three games this year. Last season he caught 3 touchdowns but doesn’t have any yet this season. It’s not that he’s being ignored, it’s just not happening.
Kirk did have a 2-pt conversion catch in the week 1 comeback against the Detroit Lions and that was as big as any touchdown catch so far this season. However, not everything has gone smoothly.
Last week against the Carolina Panthers, Kirk dropped a beautifully-thrown pass by quarterback Kyler Murray down the middle of the field. It appeared Kirk was going to come down with the ball and complete the big play.
Unfortunately he did not complete the catch. Those are the types of plays a team can look back at. It didn’t necessarily cost the Cardinals the game, there was so much more that didn’t go right.
However when you are a young team struggling to find wins with a new head coach and a potential franchise-quarterback throwing great passes, you have to find a way to come up with a ball many in the league probably would have.
3 Seahawks to watch vs Cardinals. dark. Next
Still, it was one play. He had 6 catches for 114-yards against the Baltimore Ravens in week 2. A couple of those catches did prove to be big. Kirk is a deep threat and can catch them short so he will eventually be the number one go-to guy for Murray before all is said and done.