After one season in a 4-3 defensive scheme, the Arizona Cardinals are returning to a 3-4, the base formation they knew for years before Steve Wilks. Now it is Vance Joseph who is the defensive coordinator and he said he can scheme almost anything.
However, for the defensive to be ideal, he needs four things.
“To have two corners and to have two rushers in this defense, that’s where it starts and you can fix the rest with scheme,” Joseph said on the Big Red Rage, the team’s radio show. “But you can’t fix the coverage and you can’t fix the rush with scheme. Those are man-made.”
The Cardinals have one top pass rusher off the edge in Chandler Jones. They have a top cover cornerback in Patrick Peterson. They need another rusher, whether that comes in the form of Nick Bosa or Josh Allen at the top of the draft, whether that is re-signing Markus Golden or signing another free agent.
Joseph believes newly-signed veteran corner Robert Alford can be that guy.
If they end up with these four pieces, then according to Joseph, the Cardinals could have a dominant defense in 2019.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.
