ALWAYS A STRENGTH
Thompson makes Cards’ rich history of safeties richer
Over the course of the Cardinals’ 33 years in Arizona, drafting and developing players at certain positions confounded them.
Long-time fans can name them. Tight ends. Cornerbacks. Quarterbacks. Offensive linemen. Finding players at those sports was rare. And when it happened, it was fleeting. But at safety? That’s a different story. Perhaps it was fitting that the team that had perhaps the best safety ever, Larry Wilson, identified and developed good-to-great safeties at an impressive rate.
Tim McDonald, a second-round pick in 1987, made three Pro Bowls in the team’s first five years in Arizona. Adrian Wilson, a second-round pick in 2001, was selected to five Pro Bowls. Tyrann Mathieu, a thirdrounder in 2013, was a Pro Bowler and a contender for defensive player of the year in 2015. And Budda Baker, a second-round pick in 2015, has been selected to the last two Pro Bowls as a safety.
The Cardinals had a lot of other good safeties who didn’t win many awards. Pat Tillman. Kwamie Lassiter. Lonnie Young. Antrel Rolle. Rashad Johnson.
Safety has rarely been one of the Cardinals weaknesses, and it’s not now.
The Cardinals’ current starters, Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson, are as good as any tandem in the NFL.
Baker has played at that level since becoming a starter in 2016, his second year. Thompson has achieved it this season, his third.
“He’s definitely grown up. His body is different. He’s one of our best communicators. And, boy, can he tackle. He makes calling defenses easy.”
Vance Joseph
Cardinals defensive coordinator, on safety Jalen Thompson
Cardinals Jalen Thompson (34) and strong safety Budda Baker (3) warm up before playing against the Minnesota Vikings in Glendale on Sept. 19.
“He’s definitely grown up,” defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said. “His body is different. He’s one of our best communicators. And, boy, can he tackle. He makes calling defenses easy.”
While Baker was expected to be this good — the Cardinals traded up to draft him — Thompson was more of an unknown, literally.
He was the only player taken in the 2019 supplemental draft, by the Cardinals in the fifth round.
The NFL fills the calendar nearly year-round with events, including the off-season. But the supplemental draft remains obscure, held every July, when many coaches, players and scouts are taking time off.
Asked what the Cardinals like about Thompson coming out of Washington State, coach Kliff Kingsbury deferred.
“I was probably on a beach in Europe whenever he drafted him,” he said. “I just remember (being told) ‘Hey, we drafted this kid,’ and I was like ‘All right, cool.’
“That’s a ‘Steve’ pick.”
Steve is General Manager Steve Keim, who along with his scouting staff was intrigued by Thompson. A bit small for a safety, Thompson (5-feet-11, 190 pounds) showed the both tackling and coverage skills.
He entered the supplemental draft only after learning a positive test for a banned substance would take away his last year of college eligibility.
Despite missing work that spring, Thompson played in 15 games for the Cardinals as rookie, starting nine. Last year, an ankle injury limited him to only four starts.
He’s been healthy this entire season, and his development is a major factor in the Cardinals being ranked fifth in total defense and third in points allowed.
When he joined the Cardinals two
years ago, Thompson knew of some the great safeties in franchise history, guys like Adrian Wilson, Mathieu and his new teammate, Baker.
“Not too much about the guys before them,” Thompson said, “but when I got here, they told me about those (other guys) and what they had done. That’s a big thing, going out there and trying to play at those guys’ standards.”
Thompson said he has a lot of work to do to reach that level, a comment that fits with how coaches describe him: quiet, intense, relentless.
“He is a silent assassin,” Kingsbury said. “He doesn’t say much, but he’s always kind of thirsting for knowledge since he got here. He’s always asking questions, ‘How can I get better? What can I do?’
“Everything is full speed. If we do a walk-through, he’s the one guy, him and Budda, it looks like full speed still. They have one speed, and they practice that way, and they work that way.”
Meetings are that way, too, Joseph said. Thompson is beginning to take charge in some meetings, and that includes occasions when players disagree with coaches about the best way to do something.
Joseph and his staff, including defensive backs coach Marcus Robertson, have tried to step back and listen. Eight of the 11 starters have been in Joseph’s system for three years, including Thompson. The other three have been in it two years. So everyone has an idea of how to make it work.
“Our coaches have a done a great job of not correcting growth,” Joseph said. What does he mean by that?
“The players now have ownership of the defense,” Joseph said. “Sometimes, it’s not what the playbook says to do, but they feel there is a better way to do it. We’ve allowed that. Once a player owns it and is responsible for it, it’s up to him to get it done.”
And that’s what Thompson has done this season, just like several Cardinals safeties who came before him.