Several youngsters hope to dazzle Arizona Cardinals in 2020
By Jim Koch
The Arizona Cardinals will be looking for several of their younger players to contribute much more for them this coming season
The Arizona Cardinals, like every other team in pro football, have a roster littered with youngsters. Several of the club’s more inexperienced players were able to contribute last season, while others were a disappointment. The following are a group of youthful Cardinals who have something to prove to head coach Kliff Kingsbury and his assistants this coming fall.
Zach Allen, a third-round draft pick from a year ago, is certainly on that list. Four games into his rookie campaign, the 22-year old defensive end suffered a neck injury that cost him the final 12 contests. Arizona’s coaching staff will be looking for much more out of Allen than the eight tackles and three quarterback hits he contributed in limited action last season.
Hakeem Butler, a wide receiver out of Iowa State University, was one of the Cards most highly-touted draft selections of ’19. Unfortunately, a broken hand cut short the 23-year old’s first NFL campaign before it even got started. Butler will now attempt to establish himself in a Cardinals receiving corps that includes the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, DeAndre Hopkins and Christian Kirk.
Jalen Thompson, a safety who was taken by the Cards during last year’s supplemental draft, will also be hoping to grab the squad’s attention. The release of veteran D.J. Swearinger last September propelled the 21-year old Thompson into an ample amount of playing time. The Washington State University product will likely get first crack at the starting slot next to Budda Baker this coming fall.
Tight end Dan Arnold, who came to the desert last December, immediately carved out a role for himself in Kingsbury’s “Air Raid” offense. The former New Orleans Saint, at 25 years of age, is a bit older than the others mentioned in this article. Nevertheless, Arnold is inexperienced, and will have to show Arizona that the promise he flashed last December was not just a mirage.
dark. Next. Interest low in former Cardinals
One last name worth mentioning is defensive tackle Miles Brown. An undrafted free agent in ’19, the 22-year old totaled four tackles in nine appearances for the Cardinals last year. Brown could be handed a bigger role for a defensive front that needs to be way more productive in 2020.