Christian Kirk aims to move up Arizona Cardinals depth chart
By Jim Koch
Third-year professional Christian Kirk could be working his way towards the Arizona Cardinals number-two wide receiver job
Over the past several months, the Arizona Cardinals wide receivers room has undergone a transformation. After years of sitting at the top of the squad’s depth chart, future Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald was forced from the mountaintop. DeAndre Hopkins is Arizona’s new number-one wideout, and his recent contract extension insures that he’ll retain that designation for at least a few more years.
As hard as it is to imagine, the career of the legendary Fitzgerald will soon be over. When that day finally arrives, the Cards will need to decide on a replacement for one of the NFL’s all-time greats. It just so happens that a certain pass-catcher on the team’s current roster could be making that particular decision an easy one.
Anyone who witnessed the Cardinals 38-10 thrashing of the Dallas Cowboys this past Monday night saw that exact player put on a show. Christian Kirk, the club’s second-round draft selection in 2018, found the end zone on two separate occasions during the blowout. Any football fans who were unaware of the 23-year old’s skill-set before this week had to have been impressed with the speedy Kirk’s productive performance against Dallas.
The touchdown that Kirk was on the receiving end of in the second quarter of Monday’s contest was particularly scintillating. Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray heaved an 80-yard bomb to the 5’11, 200 pound Kirk, a perfect strike that gave Big Red a commanding 21-0 lead over the Cowboys. The Arizona native also got the scoring started in the matchup, when he turned a six-yard toss from Murray into six points just minutes before.
In five appearances this season, Kirk has hauled in 13 passes for 240 yards and three scores. The most impressive aspect of the stat line is the 18.5 yards he’s averaging per reception. In 30 career contests (25 starts), Kirk has tallied 124 catches for 1,539 yards and nine scores.
Budda Baker having himself a season. dark. Next
As it stands now, Kirk appears to be next in line to inherit the Cards number-two wide receiver gig. Based on what the former Texas A&M University product accomplished this past Monday, the promotion would be well-deserved.