The 2021 season will be huge for Arizona Cardinals running back Chase Edmonds. With Kenyan Drake leaving in free agency and Edmonds entering the final year of his rookie contract, he knows he has a big opportunity to be a major part of the Cardinals’ offense.
The team added James Conner in free agency, but Edmonds has the goal to be the main back, and he has the belief he can be more than just the playmaking complementary back he has thus far been in the NFL.
How does he know? His breakout game in 2019 against the New York Giants gave him the confidence to know he can be the guy.
He talked about on the Shed Talk Podcast. That week, the Cardinals left the status of starting running back David Johnson unknown. But Edmonds knew he would shoulder the offensive load.
“Most people don’t know, the night before the game, we already knew David wasn’t going to be able to play,” he recalled. “You watched him running in practice, he was on one leg. I already knew he might have one play, he might have five. But I knew the game was going to be mine.”
In that game, coming in for David Johnson after only a few plays, Edmonds rushed for 126 yards and three touchdowns.
“It ended up being a great game for me,” he said.”That was the game I was, ‘man, I can play in this league.'”
He knew at that point it was just a matter of time for him.
“Whatever opportunities they want to give me is what they want to give me, but I know that when I get my opportunities, I can really make something happen in the National Football league,” he said. “That really took my confidence somewhere where I know I can be a player.”
He was very good in his role last season. Now he has the opportunity to gro in a new role as potentially an every-down back, sharing the load with James Conner.
If Edmonds is right and stays healthy, it could be a big year for him and can set him up to get a long-term contract with the Cardinals or someone else that will change his family’s life.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
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