The Arizona Cardinals were quiet all offseason at the running back position. They brought back Corey Clement and added Emari Demercado as an undrafted rookie.
Expecting to rely more on the running back and with the history of missing games that starting running back James Conner has, it made sense to believe that they would add a veteran.
But maybe that was because they believe in second-year back Keaontay Ingram.
Ingram missed the preseason opener and much of training camp with some injury the team never disclosed (Pro Football Focus indicated once that it was an abdomen injury, but that is the only place I saw anything). but he returned to action and was a bright spot in the team’s 38-10 preseason loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday.
Ingram rushed for 28 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, he caught two passes for 20 yards and returned a kick for 13 yards.
His five-yard touchdown run was a display of effort and strength.
“I thought he looked good,” head coach Jonathan Gannon said after the game. “(He) made some runs and made a couple of guys miss. That touchdown run was pretty special so it was good to have him back in there. That was his first exposure in a live game. I know he was lathered up pretty good, he had a good attitude, he did a good job. And the O-Line did a good when they were in there with him. They opened up some holes and created some displacement.”
Ingram showed burst, strength and the ability to make guys miss.
He made plays in the passing game.
After last week in the preseason opener looked like they were missing something in the running game, if Ingram can keep healthy and look how he looked against the Chiefs, the Cardinals might be just fine with a running back duo of him and Conner for the regular season.
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