Check out what Kyler Murray and others can accomplish against the Rams.
The Arizona Cardinals take on the Los Angeles Rams Sunday afternoon and during the game there are some individual achievements that some players can reach.
Check out what these players can reach.
Larry Fitzgerald
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Fitzgerald could have his 50th career 100-yard regular season game with at least 100 receiving yards. If he has at least 36 receiving yards against the Rams, he will pass Andre Johnson for the second-most receiving yards in NFL history at any one stadium. Jerry Rice has the record with 9,403 yards and Candlestick Park. Andre Johnson had 7,776 at NRG Stadium.
Marvel’s Hero Project will feature Arizona high school football player Adonis Watt, who is blind.
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Adonis Watt sits at a table in his Ahwatukee home and gently touches the pages with his fingers.
He traces the portrayal of his football life at Phoenix Brophy Prep in Marvel’s first Braille comic book, part of the new Hero Project. His episode is called, “Unstoppable Adonis.”
“We see the high school football field buzzing with activity,” Adonis reads. “A sign on the left is ‘Football tryouts.’ … A nerve-wracking moment is occurring across the country on thousands of fields just like this one. However, one player makes it feel different than all others. We get closer and see a play about to happen. Adonis is lined up behind the quarterback, wearing his helmet and jersey 45. The quarterback leans in and receives the snap. Hut-hut. Adonis takes a handoff from the quarterback and bursts through the hole with the ball. He cradles the football in his right hand, left hand outstretched in front of him. … Adonis runs away from two defenders. … Adonis spins away from a tackler, holding the football with his right hand in the air, away from the defenders. Another pursuing defender lunges at his legs but behind him. Last frame shows a shot from the goal posts, a camera high with Adonis crossing the goal line. Adonis is holding the ball in perfect form with two hands tight to his body. Touchdown. … He wants to play running back more than anything in the world. … What makes this player different than anyone else across the country? … Close up shot has Joe handing Adonis water. Joe says, ‘Amazing run.’ Adonis says, ‘Thanks for the compliment and the water, Joe.’ ‘Adonis, you excited for tryouts?’ …. Joe looks nervous. Adonis places a hand on Joe’s shoulder. Joe says, ‘I’m nervous, Adonis. I don’t know how you do it. You can’t even see the field. … I’m not going to make the cut.’ Adonis says, ‘Relax, man, the key is to be calm.’ … Adonis uses instincts. A close up of a hand reaching for his jersey, and Adonis hears and feels everything. ‘I feel defenders graze my jersey, but it’s too late.’ Adonis stands triumphantly in the end zone. The football raised in his left fist in the air. Adonis says, ‘I made it. I feel the goal line, I sense the goal posts.’ Joe’s face peaks into the panel. He is amazed. Adonis faces him and smiles back. Joe says, ‘You can feel all that happening. It’s like some sort of super power.’ Adonis says, ‘No, Joe, it’s just me, seeing with everything I’ve got. You can do it, too.’
Adonis Watt uses braille to read his Marvel Hero Project comic book, November 7, 2019, Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo: Mark Henle/Arizona Republic)
Since Watt, a 6-foot-2,160 pounds sophomore running back, ran for touchdowns in freshman football games at Brophy Prep, his story has skyrocketed. It’s gone national. Everybody, it seems, wants to do a documentary on him.
Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald paid a surprise visit to Watt this football season at Brophy.
New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley, moved by Adonis’ story — losing his vision completely when he was 5 and yet moving full-speed ahead towards his goal of becoming an NFL running back — arranged for Watt and his family to come to New York to address the team this month.
Disney called the family, saying they wanted Adonis to be part of a new Marvel Hero streamline series, searching for inspiring kids.
“We were not searching for athletes at all,” said John Hirsch, executive producer of the Marvel series. “We were searching for inspiring kids. Adonis really fits into that category. We have 20 kids for the series. The kids we have are all completely different. Different walks of life, different causes. We wanted to select kids who had that extra something that really would inspire so many other people.
Hirsch said Watt wasn’t selected because he is blind.
“Adonis helping the visually-impaired community and the attention is great. It’s a phenomenal family,” Hirsch said. “That’s why we did this story about Adonis. It was an important thing for them to do to make this comic book for him and other visually-impaired kids and families. It can be a communal experience. It took a lot of time and effort to make it right, to get a full flavor. He truly is a superhero.”
Adonis Watt doesn’t view himself as a hero.
“I tell Adonis, ‘Don’t you ever wake up and go, ‘Yeah! Awesome! Wow!,’ ” Veronica Watt, Adonis’ mom, said. “He says, ‘No, Mom.’ I say, ‘Don’t you feel like you’re doing amazing things? You’re helping people. You’re inspiring people.’ He says, ‘No, Mom, every mom thinks their baby is beautiful. You’re doing too much.’
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“No, I’m not that proud mom. They go to him and they say they’re inspired. I say, ‘They’re inspired, I promise.’ He says, ‘OK, Mom, you’re proud of me.’ He doesn’t see himself as a hero. He gives autographs but he doesn’t see himself as a big deal. He doesn’t like to do interviews and he doesn’t like to be on camera, because he’s talking about everything he’s done. He says, ‘I can’t be talking to people what I’m doing. I haven’t even gotten started. But I feel like he’s a pioneer. I feel like somebody’s got to be the first one. Why not him?”
Watt is grateful for being part of Marvel’s new hero project. But it surprises him.
“It’s just being recognized for things I do every day,” Watt said. “It’s not like I just started doing stuff like this. I’ve been doing things.”
It’s been that way since he was 5 dreaming about being an NFL running back.
He was in the pool, submerged, and came out blind, his mom said. He underwent 11 surgeries. Finally, Adonis said, “Stop”. This is who he was. He was blind, he told her, and to let him be blind and live his life.
Adonis, diagnosed with congenital glaucoma, was ready to play football. Give him the ball and let him run.
“It’s rough, I’ve just got to move past it and make the most of every opportunity and have positive yards and have positive plays.”
Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson is having to deal with a new and reduced role on offense. Kenyan Drake passed him on the depth chart and he didn’t get a single rushing attempt or pass thrown his way in the nine snaps he played in Week 11 against the San Francisco 49ers.
It is the latest adversity he faces in his NFL career.
“If you’re any football player, they all want to be on the field as much as possible,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday. “It’s rough, but it’s football. There’s always adversity. It’s really just how you handle it.”
He had to deal with not being highly recruited out of high school. He was a third-round pick and had to work his way into the playing rotation as a rookie. He has had to bounce back from injuries.
Not playing as much as he is used to has not been easy for him.
“It’s obviously been hard,” he said. “Back in the past, I was in the majority of the snaps. It’s rough, I’ve just got to move past it and make the most of every opportunity and have positive yards and have positive plays.”
He has not been told what his role is exactly now.
“They haven’t told me anything,” he said. “Whenever I get in the game, just be ready.”
He indicated he has spoken to his coaches about things but would keep the substance of the conversations between him and them.
Johnson’s future with the team seems a little in doubt at this point. He is set to make more than $10 million next season and will have a salary cap hit of more than $14 million.
Hopefully he can get right before the end of the season because it wouldn’t make sense to have a $10 million backup on the roster. It also doesn’t make sense to cut him when it would cost more salary cap space to get rid of him than to keep him.
With five games remaining in the season, he has to prove himself once again.
He was previously listed as the third-string running back behind Johnson and Chase Edmonds.
The Arizona Cardinals made a change on their offensive depth chart and put it in writing. Running back David Johnson is no longer the team’s starting running back.
With injuries and ineffectiveness, he has seen his playing time dwindle. He played only nine first-half snaps in the team’s last game two weekends ago and had zero touches in the running game or targets in the passing game.
Kenyan Drake was getting the bulk of the playing time.
Now that change is reflected on the latest depth chart released by the team.
Previously, Drake was listed as the team’s third-string back behind both Johnson and Chase Edmonds.
In the depth chart released by the team this week, Drake is now No. 1 and Johnson is No. 2. Edmonds is third behind them.
Edmonds is expected to return from a hamstring injury that has kept him out of the last three games. This weekend against the Los Angeles Rams, it will be the first time the Cardinals have had all three players healthy and able to play.
Six items of fantasy football interest from David Dorey
Well, you made it to Friday. You deserve to take a couple of minutes off to think about a few things. This is really more of a productivity tool to keep you sharp.
David Johnson – Every Johnson owner is wondering what happened and what to do? Keeping it brief, I’d say trade him. The reality with Johnson is that he’s never been as good as he was in 2016 before his knee injury. He lasted one game and missed 2017 with a wrist injury. He lasted 16 games in 2018 but only gained 3.6 yards-per-carry. The Cards have one of the worst O-lines. Now both Chase Edmonds (5.1 YPC) and Kenyan Drake (4.4) have looked much better. Johnson’s knock coming out of college was that he runs upright and invites injury and he had a fumbling problem. He hasn’t touched the ball since fumbling in Week 10. The Cards overpaid on his 2018 3-year contract extension for $39M. His base salary for 2020 is $10M with a $1M roster bonus and has a dead cap figure of $16.2M. No one else will want that contract so the Cards are likely stuck with him next year. This is a new coaching regime than the one that signed him to that ill-advised extension. Bottom line – Johnson looks clearly like the No. 3 running back for the Cards.
Robert Woods – His absence was deemed a “personal situation” and it later was said to be a family matter. He was a surprise inactive last week and while he hasn’t practiced or even been further explained, the good news is that he returned to the Rams on Thursday and joined their practice. The Rams play the Ravens this week and his status will be determined by Sunday. But the good news is that he’s back and at worst, we’ll be ready to play the Cardinals in Week 13.
Bo Scarbrough – The Alabama back was drafted by the Cowboys with their 7.18 pick last year but he never had a touch and was later cut. The Lions had him on their practice squad last Saturday when they opted to call him up and give him a shot. He responded with 55 yards and a score on 14 carries versus his original team. Disregarding the Lions identity as the RB Siberia of the NFL, does he have value for the rest of 2019? Well – this week for sure. Ty Johnson has proven that he is not the answer. J.D. McKissic sticks with third-down work so that leaves Scarbrough and Nick Bawden as the only options. Reality is that he did well as a surprise start at home versus his old team. But the committee approach remains in Detroit where his 14 carries last week was the third-highest by a Detriot back this year.
2020 Running Back Free Agents – Always interesting to see what teams do with their pending free agents. Are they going to re-sign them or just develop other players? Name (age)
Lamar Miller (29)
LeSean McCoy (32)
Carlos Hyde (28)
Melvin Gordon (27)
Peyton Barber (26)
Derrick Henry (26)
Kenyan Drake (26)
Jordan Howard (25)
Gordon and Henry are the biggest two. Gordon seems likely to discover that the market may not be as strong as he desires. Henry is doing himself a huge favor with his career-best year.
2020 Wide Receiver Free Agents – Some will be signed but a few want to become a free agent and try their luck somewhere else. Unlike running backs, their second contracts are often their most productive periods. Running backs usually play best on their rookie contracts.
A.J. Green (32)
Larry Fitzgerald (37)
Emmanuel Sanders (33)
Amari Cooper (26)
Robby Anderson (27)
Demaryius Thomas (32)
Phillip Dorsett (27)
The oft-injured Green will be interesting since he is already 32 years old. Sanders is likely going to force the 49ers to pay up since he’s the only wideout that’s done anything in their otherwise great season. Cooper will cost the Cowboys a ton even if he only shows up in home games. Robby Anderson has been much better than what he’s done this year. He’ll likely be gone.
Run-Pass Ratios of all 32 NFL teams – Interesting look at which teams are throwing the most and which ones prefer to run. The NFL is a passing league, right? These are through Week 11.
Not surprising, the worst teams are the ones that throw the most. The Chiefs are an outlier but no other team has Patrick Mahomes. The bottom five teams all look likely to reach the playoffs. The success of the 49ers and Ravens may just change a few teams in the copy-cat NFL.
He won’t call it that, even though that is what it looks like in the eyes of everyone else.
In the eyes of pretty much everyone around football, Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson has been benched. Through six games, he was 10th in the league in scrimmage yards and was the workhorse of the offense. After his fumble in the second half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he didn’t play again. Then, against the San Francisco 49ers, he played only nine first-half snaps and got zero touches or targets. He didn’t play in the second half.
But Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury won’t say he’s been benched against the Niners.
“I wouldn’t use the term ‘benched,’” he told reporters Monday.
He said it was more about what Kenyan Drake was doing. He was the “hot hand.”
“We’re going to play the guy that we feel like gives us the best chance at that time,” he continued. “Game plans change, and roles will change. David is a part of this offense, and we have to find a way to make sure he’s playing at a high level, and we can get him the football.”
That said, his role has certainly changed. Rather being the focal part of the offense, he is now just a piece.
“David’s a very good football player, and we’ll try to put him in positions to be successful based upon the game plan week to week,” Kingsbury said.
Call it what you want — being benched, getting a more focused role in the offense or a committee of running backs — in the end, it is a demotion.
That isn’t to say it’s not the right move. Something is up with Johnson. Hopefully, after the bye week, he sees his role increase again and he is effective when he gets the ball.
Jordan Hicks was fantastic. David Johnson was MIA.
The Arizona Cardinals had players who stood out and some who had performances to forget in their 36-26 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Who were the studs and duds in the loss?
Stud: LB Jordan Hicks
r(AP Photo/Josie Lepe)
Hicks certainly did his part in the game. He had one of his best games with the Cardinals. With his first tackle of the game, he reached 100 for the season, the first time he has done that in his career. He filled the stat sheet. He finished with 13 tackles, two for loss. He had a sack. He picked off a pass and was credited with a pass breakup. He also had two other hits on 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
After supposedly his best week of practice, he gets only nine snaps against the 49ers and zero touches on offense.
Actions speak louder than words and while everything everyone is saying about Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson is positive and optimistic, actions show the team and head coach Kliff Kingsbury is not pleased with him.
Against the San Francisco 49ers, Johnson did not start and did not get a rushing attempt or a target in the passing game. He played only nine snaps the entire game and did not appear to play in the second half.
This came after he was benched in Week 10 after his fumble against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Leading up to the game, Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim both said Johnson had a great week of practice. Kingsbury even said it was the best week of practice he had all season. He said the playing time at running back would be done by committee and that both Johnson and Kenyan Drake would have packages.
Drake was productive, getting 67 yards on 16 carries. He also had six catches for 13 yards.
What did Kingsbury have to say after the game about the playing time?
“We wanted to get K.D. in a rhythm,” he told reporters after the game. “I thought he played really well the first game when he was here when he was in a rhythm getting the majority fo the snaps so we rolled with him in the second half.”
According to Kingsbury, it isn’t even about Johnson.
“It’s not as much what he’s not showed us,” he said. “KD, like I said, played really well against them the first game if you remember, so we wanted to get him going again in this game versus them.”
Drake did have 162 total yards against the 49ers in Week 9. Johnson was injured.
Johnson did not speak to reporters after the game. He apparently cleared out his locker before reporters got there.
And at 12:31 a.m. Monday morning, Johnson had a one-word tweet.
Jordan Hicks can reach 100 tackles in a season. Kyler Murray can tie a team rookie record.
The Arizona Cardinals face the San Francisco 49ers Sunday afternoon for the second time this season. Some Cardinals players can reach or achieve career or season milestones in the game.
Here are some of those potential milestones.
LB Jordan Hicks
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
It should not take long for Hicks to get his milestone. With his first tackle, he will reach 100 tackles for the season. It will be the first time in his career he has had 100 tackles in a season.
David Johnson is expected to have a limited role against the 49ers after getting benched in Week 10 in the second half.
Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury declared on Friday his running back situation with David Johnson and Kenyan Drake would be by committee. He said there are specific packages for both players.
How many touches both players will get or who will be in the starting lineup was left unclear.
However, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Johnson, who was benched last week after only six touches and losing a fumble, will be relegated still to a backup role.
Sources say that while it’s unclear who the actual starter will be, Kenyan Drake should receive the bulk of the carries and touches. Kingsbury has indicated he wants to get Drake going, and his style fits the offense perfectly. Johnson could be relegated to a backup-type role for now.
Drake had 162 total yards two weeks ago when the Cardinals played the 49ers. Johnson did not play because he was injured.
Johnson is said to have had his best week of practice this season this week. It apparently wasn’t enough to trust him with a full workload.
