The Arizona Cardinals had a great half of football on Sunday and then a not-so-great half. Their 20-0 halftime lead turned into a 31-28 loss to the New York Giants.
But even in the defeat, one player was honored by Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar as one of the “secret superstars” of Week 2 around the NFL.
He named left tackle D.J. Humphries.
Selected by the Cardinals with the 24th overall pick in the 2015 draft out of Florida, Humphries — like a lot of rookie tackles — struggled to start his NFL career. He allowed nine sacks and 46 total pressures in 2015, and he’s had vulnerable seasons since (eight sacks and 45 total pressures in 2021), but his 2022 season was a revelation, as Humphries started climbing up the Secret Superstars list with no sacks, one quarterback hit, and 14 quarterback hurries in 382 pass-blocking snaps. Through two games in 2023, Humphries has allowed just one quarterback hurry and no other sacks or pressures in 73 pass-blocking snaps. This is a pretty good indicator that he’s past the back injury that cost him the second half of last season.
Last Sunday against the New York Giants, the Cardinals were unable to maintain the 28-7 lead they had in an eventual 31-28 loss, but Humphries was on point the entire game. On this Josh Dobbs 21-yard pass to Michael Wilson in the first quarter, Humphries gave edge-rusher Oshane Ximines no chance whatsoever to disrupt his quarterback.
Humphries’ healthy return has been a great thing for the Cardinals. They need him to be good to protect Joshua Dobbs while Kyler Murray finishes his recovery from his torn ACL, and they will need him even more when Murray returns.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
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