2nd-year S Deionte Thompson has new number

He wore No. 35 as a rookie. He now wears No. 22.

With final roster cutdowns, the Arizona Cardinals have one player who changed his uniform number. Safety Deionte Thompson, who wore No. 35 last season as a rookie, is now wearing No. 22.

The changed was noted by ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss during the open portion of Monday’s practice and Thompson’s number has been updated on the roster on the official team site.

No. 22 was previously worn by undrafted rookie cornerback Zane Lewis, who was cut two weekends ago.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Sub scribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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and

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4 position battles for starting jobs to watch for the Cardinals

The starting lineup is mostly set, but right tackle, defensive end, inside linebacker and safety all will have competition to start.

The Arizona Cardinals mostly have a starting lineup on offense and defense set, but not every spot is completely secured. Here are the starting jobs that will be a battle as minicamp takes place (sometime) and training camp begins later this summer.

RT: Marcus Gilbert vs. Justin Murray vs. Josh Jones

Gilbert is the favorite to start, as he was the starter last year until he tore his ACL, he has the most experience and is arguably the best lineman they have.

However, his injury history screams at you that he can’t be trusted to be the guy, as he has only played 12 games in the last three seasons.

Murray gained the praise of his coach and general manager, while the team is super high on Jones, a steal in the third round of the draft. He wants to play right away.

This could be fun to watch.

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Cardinals DC Vance Joseph expecting ‘huge steps’ from 2nd-year defensive backs

Byron Murphy, Jalen Thompson and Deionte Thompson all should be better after playing a lot as rookies.

The Arizona Cardinals played 2019 relying on a three rookie defensive backs for much of the season — cornerback Byron Murphy and safeties Jalen Thompson and Deionte Thompson. The defense will have starting cornerbacks Patrick Peterson and Robert Alford returning to play a full season, but with no new additions made to the defensive secondary in free agency or the draft, these now second-year players will be counted on to be major contributors.

“I’m looking forward to those guys taking huge steps,” defensive coordinator Vane Joseph said in a video conference last week.

He spoke about each of the three players.

Byron Murphy

Joseph noted Murphy played more than any rookie defensive back last season. “That’s going to pay dividends,” he said.

“Last year I thought he got run down a little bit,” he explained. “He played his best ball early and kind of sluffed off late. But I think what he did last year as far as playing that many reps is going to benefit him this year.”

Murphy had 78 tackles, one interception and 10 pass breakups.

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Cardinals offseason positional outlook: Safeties

A look back at 2019 and ahead at the offseason questions the Cardinals have at safety and what could be coming at the position.

We have nearly reached the end of our offseason positional reviews. Now we look at the group of safeties, which was believed to be a strength, then was a liability and then developed again into a strength.

We will go over what happened in 2019, address offseason questions and discuss what is coming at the position in 2020.

2019 review

When the season began, safety was supposed to be a position of strength. With Budda Baker and veteran D.J. Swearinger, it was supposed to be enough to help weather the issues at cornerback with Patrick Peterson’s suspension and Robert Alford’s broken leg.

Swearinger’s play completely fell off. He was cut after four games it was so bad. That left rookies Deionte Thompson and Jalen Thompson to play.

They split time until Jalen eventually became an every-down player and looks like he could be a starter moving forward.

Baker earned a Pro Bowl starter berth after leading the NFL in solo tackles.

By the end of the season, it was the defense’s best position group.

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5 2019 Cardinals rookies whose 2020 roles probably won’t change

While they might develop, the situations ahead of them probably will limit their role next season.

Several of the Arizona Cardinals’ rookies in 2019 should have bigger roles in 2020. Others aren’t likely to. Here are the rookies whose roles likely won’t increase much in their second season.

S Deionte Thompson

Thompson split time on the field with fellow rookie Jalen Thompson after D.J. Swearinger was cut. However, his playing time disappeared with the emergence of Jalen. With Budda Baker already a Pro Bowler and with the emergence of Jalen and the possibility of the team adding a veteran at the position, Deionte probably won’t be more than a special teamer in 2020 unless there is an injury or he makes huge strides.

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