Revenge of the Birds
The Arizona Cardinals will begin training camp this year one week earlier than other clubs this year due to the fact that they are playing in the annual Hall of Fame Game.
There will be several battles that every Cardinals fan will be looking at every week.
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To start with, the quarterback situation. The entire fanbase is watching the Cardinals for this group to thin out and declare a winner. The reason, obviously, is whether Jacoby Brissett will re-take the starter position after being named the training camp QB1, only to have new head coach Mike LaFleur mention that he isn’t going to bother with who is taking the QB1 snaps anymore.
Reading between the lines, it seems that LaFleur just might allow this to become a full-blown QB competition going forward since veteran Gardner Minshew and rookie Carson Beck participated in every session the team offered while Brissett stayed away.
Because Arizona has declared they are going back to running the ball and throwing more short passes, who will remain in the running back room since training camp has six guys?
Defensive tackle and safety were both groups of concern after last year. Will kicker Chad Ryland regroup and continue a strong campaign? How will the new long snapper, Casey Kreiter, fit? Can injured cornerbacks Max Melton and Garrett Williams help out this group?
Then there is the receiver group. In meetings, this room has had to round up some extra chairs because currently, there are 12 pass catchers on the roster. No, not a misprint. Every so many weeks, another one arrives with his duffel bag and backpack, anxious to show that he should be one of the six players the Cardinals will begin the season with.
Yeah, six receivers listed on the final roster. That’s it.
Michael Wilson, Marv Harrison, Kendrick Bourne, and probably rookie Reggie Virgil are a certainty. That leaves two spots. Simi Fehoko and Xavier Weaver have been hanging on by a thread for some time now, but neither is assured of anything other than a competitive camp.
The rest of this group? Jalen Brooks, Bryson Green, Tejhaun Palmer, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, and Harrison Wallace III. Each one is working to secure a spot come Week 1.
Here is a guy to watch who isn’t getting any press. Yet. But he will: Devin Duvernay.
Like many NFL players, Duvernay grew up in Texas. He attended Sachse High School in Sachse, Texas, located just a stone’s throw northeast of Dallas.
He played football in high school and still holds the school record for the longest kickoff-return touchdown, a 109-yard return. He was voted an All-America, named a two-time All-State, and a three-time First-Team 11-6A All-District. As a junior, he was selected as a member of the “2015 Super Team.” After his senior year, he was invited to participate in the 2016 Under Armour All-America Game, chosen to the “2016 Texas’ Best” list, chosen to the All-USA Texas First Team by...
