The Arizona Cardinals had a surprise contributor on Sunday in their 23-17 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Linebacker Tanner Vallejo was highly productive in limited playing time.
He had five tackles, one for a loss, a sack, a quarterback hit and a forced fumble in only 16 snaps.
Vallejo only joined the active roster days before the game. He spent the offseason with the team and was cut before the season began. They re-signed him in November to the practice squad and then added him to tie 53-man roster last week.
Head coach Kliff Kingsbury now regrets cutting Vallejo initially.
“He’s a guy, looking back on it, (who) probably should have made our team initially with his instincts and the way he shows up and did all preseason,” he said on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM this week. “He’s one of those tough-nosed linebackers. He gave us a real lift.”
The Cardinals had a logjam at inside linebacker and Vallejo was the odd man out. With the struggles at the position, Kingsbury now realizes Vallejo would have helped.
For example, had the Cardinals moved Haason Reddick to outside linebacker in the preseason, they would not have needed to sign Cassius Marsh and they could have kept Vallejo. Potentially, they could have had better linebacker play.
Moving forward, Kingsbury believes Vallejo should get more playing time. He had a specific role on Sunday, coming in as a third inside linebacker when the Cardinals went with an eight-man front.
Perhaps he will be used in other situations this week.
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