Competition has been fierce at wideout for several Arizona Cardinals youngsters
By Jim Koch
Just one week from now, the Arizona Cardinals and the rest of the National Football League will be making a ton of cuts. Monti Ossenfort, the Redbirds' first year general manager, will have to whittle down the club to 53 players. The job will be quite difficult, especially when you consider the fact that Ossenfort will be forced to part ways with some extremely talented individuals.
The wide receiver position, in particular, is incredibly deep for the Cardinals at the present time. Down near the bottom of the depth chart are four pass-catchers who are performing like they deserve to be in the NFL. Someone once said that "competition brings out the best in people", and Arizona's gifted young wideouts are doing their best to bring validity to that now-famous quote.
Andre Baccellia, a 26-year-old who joined the organization back in 2021, is enjoying a solid summer for the Cards scoring attack. The former University of Washington product has hauled in five passes, and is averaging a sparkling 15.4 yards per reception. Baccellia appeared in eight matchups for "Big Red" last fall, and was credited with seven catches for 45 yards on 10 targets.
Arizona Cardinals will have some tough decisions to make at wide receiver when cutdown day arrives
Daniel Arias, an undrafted rookie out of the University of Colorado, has also played well. The 6 foot 3, 216 pounder has registered five receptions for 76 yards, and is averaging an impressive 15.2 yards per catch for the offense. Arias has attractive size (6 foot 3, 216), a feature that the Cardinals could strongly take into consideration when final cuts are made on August 29th.
A couple of days before the start of training camp, Ossenfort added 24-year-old Kaden Davis to the squad. Back on August 11th, the 6 foot1,195 pounder recorded the team's first touchdown of the preseason during Arizona's 18-17 win over the Denver Broncos. During the last two contests, Davis has caught four passes for 45 yards and the score.
One more of the Cards' youthful pass-catchers worth mentioning is Brian Cobbs, an undrafted rookie out of Utah State University. The 6 foot 1, 205 pounder got the attention of the "Red Sea" against Denver, hauling in an 18-yard scoring toss from signal-caller David Blough with just two seconds remaining. Cobbs has totaled just two receptions this summer, but the catch he made versus the Broncos that led to a scintillating victory should score the 23-year-old a few brownie points when cutdown day arrives.
It appears that five of the wide receiver slots on the Arizona roster have already been filled. Marquise Brown, Rondale Moore, Zach Pascal, Greg Dortch and rookie Michael Wilson are all slated to be a part of the 2023 Cardinals. Only time will tell if any of the franchise's exciting young wideouts will be joining that crew this coming fall.
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(Statistics provided by Pro Football Reference and ESPN.com)