Cardinals’ young players make debuts in Seattle
Winning, not developing young players for the future, was the Cardinals’ goal for the final two weeks of the season, coach Bruce Arians said last week.
Turns out, winning and playing rookies are not mutually exclusive goals.
A handful of Cardinals rookies with little or no playing experience were forced into the lineup in Saturday’s 34-31 victory over the Seahawks, including the five draft picks remaining with the team.
None made heroic, game-changing plays that one day will be shown on NFL Network at 3 a.m. But they played, and the Cardinals handed the Seahawks their first home loss of the season. So there is that. “We got a couple more guys banged up and a couple of young guys stepped up and made plays again,” said
receiver Larry Fitzgerald. “That’s what we tried to do throughout the season.”
The Cardinals have received little production from the 2016 draft class this season, which Arians has attributed to a roster already loaded with talent. But there’s no question first-round pick Robert Nkemdiche, a defensive tackle, had a disappointing rookie season. He played 13 snaps on Saturday but didn’t have a tackle.
Cornerback Brandon Williams, the third-round pick, lost his starting job after the first two games. Center Evan Boehm, the fourth rounder, has played on the kickoff return team for most of the season but participated in just five offensive plays in the first 14 games.
Defensive back Marqui Christian, a fifth-rounder, was waived and claimed by the Rams. Guard Cole Toner, another fifth rounder, was inactive in 11 of the first 14 games and didn’t play in the other three. Cornerback Harlan Miller, the sixth-rounder, was on the practice squad all season until promoted last week.
On Saturday, all of them played in the same game for the first time.
Williams started on Saturday, played 80 of 83 defensive snaps and had 11 tackles. He finished in double digits in that category because Seattle picked on him successfully.
Miller, a cornerback, was forced to play safety for 79 snaps after Tony Jefferson suffered a knee on the first series. Boehm, a center, entered the game at right guard early, replacing Taylor Boggs, who suffered a shoulder injury. Boehm ended up playing 47 of 60 snaps. Toner saw his first NFL action – at fullback during a goal-line run. He was the lead blocker for one of David Johnson’s three touchdowns.
And safety Trevon Hartfield, another rookie free agent, played on two special teams plays a day after being promoted from the practice squad.
Arians opened his postgame press conference by praising a handful of the youngsters.
“You know I have to single out Harlan Miller, Brandon Williams, (cornerback) Justin Bethel,” Arians said. “Harlan’s never played safety. Evan Boehm jumping in on the offensive line. Everybody put their hand in the pile.”
Boehm had not played guard since his freshman year at Missouri. He hadn’t played right guard since his sophomore year in high school.
“It was exciting, a bunch of emotions when he said, ‘Boehm get ready,’ ” Boehm said. “I got that first false start and I think that’s when I settled down and started playing my game.”
Boehm went on to praise line coach Harold Goodwin for preparing him to play guard, which prompted Fitzgerald to chide Boehm for kissing up to the coach.
“Carson, did you hear what he said?” Fitzgerald said. Fitzgerald paraphrased Boehm and Palmer shook his head in mock disgust.
“Goody has done a good job of getting us ready to go,” Boehm said.
On his one play, Toner look confused initially and Palmer had to tell him on which side to line up.
“I knew my assignment, but I was reporting to the official as eligible and missed Carson calling the play,” Toner said. He threw a solid lead block off the left side to help clear a path for Johnson.
Miller only had two tackles on defense and participated in 15 special teams plays. But he probably had the most impressive performance of the rookies. A cornerback, he had never practiced at safety, yet found himself in the game at free safety on the second possession. D.J. Swearinger moved to strong safety and tracked tight end Jimmy Graham in pass coverage most of the day.
In his head, Miller could hear the voice of safety coach Nick Rapone, who told his players all week to “stay deep.”
“So that’s pretty much what I did, stayed deep, and let everyone else handle (it),” Miller said.
When Jefferson went down, the Cardinals’ only other option was Hartfield. Jefferson is expected to miss the season finale, so barring a roster move, Miller likely will start against the Rams. At least he will have practiced there a week.
“It will be nice,” he said. “It will be nice.”