As we enter week 10 of the NFL season, the Arizona Cardinals are coming off of a heartbreaking loss against the Miami Dolphins in a quarterback matchup between Kyler Murray and Tua Tagovailoa everyone was waiting to watch.
Through nine weeks, Kyler Murray is the team’s leading rusher with 543 yards and 8 touchdowns. While the run game hasn’t exactly struggled, ranking No. 2 in the league in rushing yards per game, but it almost seems as if the Cardinals are still trying to find their identity at the running back position. Chase Edmonds has made a solid case to be their solidified starter for next season if they were to let Kenyan Drake walk. Eno Benjamin has yet to suit up for a game and looks to hopefully make a name for himself on special teams.
The running back position is going to be fascinating to watch for the Cardinals this offseason to see how the Cardinals address it. Kenyan Drake has been inconsistent throughout the course of the season and Chase Edmonds is under contract until 2022.
The running back class is not too deep in 2021. However, if the Cardinals choose to look elsewhere in the first few rounds, there is one name they could snag in the middle of the draft as an early Day 3 pick. That player is Memphis running back Kenneth Gainwell.
Even though he did opt out of the 2020 season, Kenneth Gainwell put himself on the map after an impressive 2019 season with the Memphis Tigers, recording 1,459 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. Gainwell is an elusive back with a tremendous burst of speed. Once you give him the ball, he is certainly tough to catch. He is also an efficient pass catcher, putting up 610 receiving yards, three touchdowns and 12 yards per reception in 2019. His vision has also improved over the course of last season. In 2019, Antonio Gibson was the primary running back for Memphis, as Gainwell played just four games. Even though he only has one year of impressive tape to look at, it is certainly one that is jaw-dropping.
One of the biggest issues with Gainwell is that he is undersized. This might hurt his chances to compete for the starting running back position in the NFL. However, one of the first names that people might think of when they think of Kenneth Gainwell might be a guy like Tarik Cohen, who stands 5-foot-6 and 191 pounds and has started to make a case to coaches and analysts that size doesn’t matter. He is such an efficient pass-catcher in the NFL that sometimes goes unnoticed and also has ridiculous speed. Gainwell isn’t a bad blocker given his size. However, sometimes you don’t see him finish them efficiently, it will be interesting to see how much he is used in that aspect in the NFL, especially on the Cardinals if he is going up against Aaron Donald and Nick Bosa twice a year.
Kenneth Gainwell is an impressive talent in this running back class that is not too deep. It might take him a while to be a starting-caliber back, but Gainwell would be a great compliment to either Kenyan Drake if they end up resigning him or Chase Edmonds. Gainwell will be an intriguing name to watch at the combine as well to see how he can improve his draft stock. Despite being undersized, Gainwell has tons of upside and a bright NFL future.
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