Arizona Cardinals hoping change salvages linebacker’s career
By Jim Koch
A switch to outside linebacker could be the final opportunity for Haason Reddick to prove his worth to the Arizona Cardinals
With regards to Haason Reddick, the Arizona Cardinals have refused to throw in the towel. Since selecting the linebacker with the 13th-overall pick of the 2017 draft, the club has played a game of “musical chairs” with the Temple University product. Reddick has been used at several different spots on the Cards defense, but has been unable to find a permanent home.
This past Monday, Arizona announced that Reddick will once again be changing positions. The 25-year old, who has been lining up at inside linebacker all season, will be moving to the outside post. Reddick was quite adept at sacking the quarterback during his college days, so the Cardinals want to see if he can do the same for them from the edge.
Actually, Reddick has played outside linebacker in the NFL before. Back in ’17, Markus Golden suffered a season-ending knee injury, and the Cards needed a replacement. Reddick stepped in, and totaled 2.5 sacks as a situational pass-rusher during the final 12 games of his rookie campaign.
As a senior at Temple, Reddick recorded 9.5 sacks as a defensive lineman for the Owls. In four years at the school, the Camden, New Jersey native racked up 17.5 quarterback takedowns in the 42 contests he appeared in.
Reddick’s best performance with Arizona occurred in 2018 under former head coach Steve Wilks. The 6’1, 235 pounder tallied 80 tackles, four sacks and five passes defensed in 16 appearances (12 starts). Reddick registered those numbers from the outside linebacker position last year in coordinator Al Holcomb’s 4-3 alignment.
Positioned on the inside this season in Vance Joseph‘s 3-4 system, Reddick’s statistics certainly look respectable on paper. In 12 appearances (five starts), the third-year pro has managed 68 tackles, six pass breakups and a sack. The Cardinals coaching staff has been unhappy with Reddick’s overall output, however, so they benched him in favor of Joe Walker last Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams.
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The latest move may be an indication that the Cards are finally running out of patience with their former first-round choice. Eventually, the team will run out of positions to move him to. Perhaps Reddick will show enough as an edge rusher over the final four matchups to retain his roster spot with the organization going forward.