Arizona Cardinals: Top 3 players who MUST bounce back in Week 2
By Sion Fawkes
The Arizona Cardinals won their first preseason game, and now that it’s Monday, it’s time to focus on their Week 2 matchup vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. We’ve covered so much following Week 1, but heading into Week 2, we have yet to talk about three notable Redbirds who need to enjoy a bounce back performance, or else they could risk losing their spot on the depth chart to someone else.
The three players mentioned below are all playing in position groups with a lot of competition, but they were favored to at least play a minor role heading into the preseason. If they fall short of expectations in Week 2 while their competition continues to play a better game, then they could be simply fighting for relevance heading into Week 3.
3 Arizona Cardinals who must bounce back in Week 2
1 - Rondale Moore, WR
At worst, Greg Dortch carries immense value as a special teamer, which could end up giving him an edge over Rondale Moore. Andre Baccellia also had a much better game than Moore, as did undrafted rookie Daniel Arias, who also carries value on special teams.
Moore had a 13-yard reception early, but he also sustained a mishap that caused quarterback Clayton Tune to throw a pick. Moore will get more playing time in Week 2, but if Baccellia and Arias continue to impress, you may at least see the former challenge the former second round pick for his spot on the depth chart.
2 - Matt Haack, P
You don’t often see an entertaining battle taking place at punter, and if we had any indication in Week 1, it was Matt Haack’s job to lose. While he averaged 42.3 yards per punt on four tries, he also failed to pin the Denver Broncos deep and allowed one kick to end up in the end zone.
The Cards could give Nolan Cooney a more extended look this week, meaning Haack must make the most of his opportunities for the upcoming contest. Regardless of who receives a larger workload, Haack needs to punt better than he did last week.
3 - Corey Clement, RB
Corey Clement had an opportunity to pass or at least put himself neck and neck with Keaontay Ingram for the RB2 spot following Marlon Mack’s season-ending injury. Instead, he picked up just 15 yards on six carries before leaving the game with his own injury.
If Clement is good to go this week, then he needs to prove he’s better than the lackluster performance he showed us in Week 1. Even worse for Clement, James Conner and Ingram could be suiting up this week, which will take opportunities from him.
Further, given the way Ty’Son Williams and Emari Demercado looked, they too could also be cutting into Clement’s time. Overall, special teams value could be the only thing keeping Clement on the roster.
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(Statistics provided by ESPN.com)