Can Stevie Scott be a dark horse to earn a place in the Arizona Cardinals backfield?

Less than one week after the Arizona Cardinals signed Marlon Mack, yet another Achilles injury will keep him from playing this season. This forced general manager Monti Ossenfort to sign a replacement, and that replacement came in the form of Stevie Scott, a virtual unknown even among the most die-hard NFL fans.

So who is Stevie Scott, exactly? The back made a name for himself in the USFL, rushing for 295 yards on 78 carries, good for 3.8 yards per carry, and one touchdown. Not the greatest statistics in a second tier football league, but Scott possesses intriguing size, at 6’2, 231 lbs, so he’s got that James Conner-like build going for him.

Can Stevie Scott win a place in the Arizona Cardinals backfield?

It’s safe to assume that if Ossenfort didn’t believe Scott was capable of winning a spot in the backfield, he wouldn’t have signed him. We can also assume that the entire running back room outside of James Conner has been underwhelming, or else Ossenfort wouldn’t have bothered bringing in Marlon Mack last week. 

However, the wildcard here is Keaontay Ingram, who saw limited reps this training camp since he spent the duration of it battling an injury. So maybe the second year back, when healthy, can make more of a dent than he did last season. 

Corey Clement is a special teamer, so he carries more value even if that value is minute in terms of the running back position. Therefore, if the Arizona Cardinals keep four backs, Scott will only need to worry about Emari Demercado and Ty’Son Williams to snag a spot on this football team. 

If Scott proves he can use his immense size to his advantage, then perhaps the Redbirds found a dark horse to link up with Conner in the backfield. But since Scott has done little in the NFL besides spending an offseason and camp with the New Orleans Saints and Denver Broncos, there is little reason to believe he, at the moment, will be much of a factor.

(Statistics provided by theUSFL.com)