The Arizona Cardinals open up organized team activities this week, giving the coaches the opportunity to evaluate players going 11-on-11. While it can be said that every player has something to prove, some have something extra to prove, whether it to shed a bust label or to simply get his career back on track.
Who are those players on the Cardinals roster?
LB Haason Reddick
Reddick enters Year 3 as a bit of a disappointment. He was asked to play three different positions in two seasons and looked lost as a linebacker at times. Now he is expected to be in the starting lineup next to Jordan Hicks. He needs to show early in the offseason he can be trusted in the new defensive scheme.
WR Chad Williams
In two seasons, he has 20 receptions. Now the Cardinals signed one receiver in free agency and drafted three others. He is firmly on the roster bubble right now and will have to dazzle, even in OTAs, to get ahead of the other players expected to make the roster.
WR Kevin White
White has had terrible luck with injuries and has earned the status of draft bust. He has a new opportunity with Arizona in an offense in which he thrived in college, but with the addition of three receivers in the draft, the room is now crowded. He has the size and the speed for the NFL. However, he might be on his last chance if he doesn’t stand out with Arizona in the offseason.
RB T.J. Logan
Logan lost his rookie season to injury and last season found himself buried deep on the depth chart. He has dynamic speed but enters Year 3 not having done much in the pros. His return position might be gone with Pharoh Cooper on the roster and with others able to return kicks. Now on his third coaching staff, he needs to turn heads.
DL Rodney Gunter
Gunter had his best year in his four-year career last season under Steve Wilks in a 4-3 defense. He was inconsistent and buried on the depth chart before that. He thought he would be able to find a long-term contract as a starter somewhere as a free agent but ultimately the Cardinals brought him back on a one-year deal worth $1.75 million, which is rotational player money. Then the Cardinals signed Darius Philon and drafted two defensive linemen. He will have to battle for a potential starting job and maybe even for playing time. He needs to prove he can be more than a decent rotational player on a bad defense like he was a season ago.
CB David Amerson
Amerson was elevated to the starting lineup in the latter half of last season but then the Cardinals signed Robert Alford and Tramaine Brock and also drafted Byron Murphy. His spot on the roster is certainly tenuous. He was already trying to regain the form he had a few years ago in Green Bay. Now he faces an uphill battle.
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