The Arizona Cardinals have decided to move linebacker Haason Reddick from inside linebacker to outside linebacker. He has changed positions multiple times in his three-year career but it looks like the team has settled on him sticking to playing outside.
Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph believes Reddick will thrive with move. He is excited about the prospects of what he can do moving forward.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Joseph had nothing but praise for the 2017 first-round draft pick when speaking about Reddick and the time he was playing inside linebacker snd struggling.
“He’s been open-minded, he’s been positive and it’s hasn’t all been good for him,” he said. “It’s hard. when you’ve been an outside backer all your life, now you’re playing off the ball and you’re seeing things from three different angles. Now, as an outside backer, he can see it one way again.”
Joseph said he believes Reddick’s natural position is playing off the edge.
“We had to try him at inside backer for the team’s future and his future,” he explained. “We tried it. It did not work. Now he’s going to play SAM backer moving forward and he’s going to be a good one.”
Joseph indicated Reddick is comfortable there at his new position “and that’s where he wants to be.”
He is, though undersized for the role. The reason why he was projected to play inside linebacker in the NFL was because of his size. Listed at 6-foot-1 and 235 pounds, that is the prototypical size for someone playing off the ball.
According to many, an edge defender should be at least 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds. He lacks length and frame.
Joseph downplayed it.
“I think the profile for outside backer has changed a little bit,” he sexplained. ‘It’s a space position, especially the SAM. That’s the dropper, that’s the guy that rushes on tight ends for the mosy part.
“He’s going to be fine. Obviously he’s not a prototypical outside backer as far as length, but he’s got great burst.”
He compared him to Tampa Bay Buccaneers outside linebacker Shaq Barrett, whom he coached with the Denver Broncos. Barrett leads the league with 14.5 sacks and is undersized at 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds. “He looks like Haason,” Joseph said, even though he has an inch and 15 pounds on Reddick.
“We’ll see how far he goes at outside backer,” he said. “I think him being a SAM backer, we’ll see his body finally unlock and you’ll see why he was a first-round pick. He is an explosive athlete who has rare, rare, rare speed, but you couldn’t see it because he was thinking so much and his body was locked up. But hopefully moving forward we can unlock his body and play fast.”
Thus far, Reddick has been seen as a bust of a pick. If he develops into a consistent contributor playing on the edge, it will salvage his career.
If he thrives, though, the Cardinals will look silly for trying so long to play him at a position that was foreign for him.
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