The Arizona Cardinals added linebacker Matt Longacre to their training camp roster on Wednesday. Coach Kliff Kingsbury was asked what he sees in him.
Based on his comments, it would appear he probably has an inside track to make the team, albeit as a backup at outside linebacker. He has exactly what a team would look for in a rotational edge defender.
“(He is a) very cerebral player,” Kingsbury said of Longacre when he spoke to reporters on Wednesday. “We feel like he can pick up our scheme quickly.”
This makes sense, considering he played for the Los Angeles Rams in defensive coordinator Wade Phillips’ system. Cardinals DC Vance Joseph runs a similar system.
Kingsbury also called him a “great special teams player” and “tough-nosed.”
“All of those components that you want in a player,” he said. “We’re exciting to have him and we’ll see how it goes.”
As things stand, Longacre will compete with a group of otherwise inexperienced group of players in Vontarrius Dora, Cameron Malveaux and Pita Taumoepenu.
If roster cuts were made in the next few days, it would appear Longacre would be the favorite to make the team as the second backup with Brooks Reed to Chandler Jones and Terrell Suggs.
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