The Arizona Cardinals are once again looking for an inside linebacker this offseason. Jordan Hicks was a success as a free agent signing last year but Hasson Reddick was a failure at the position and the team needs someone better than Joe Walker starting next to Hicks.
In particular, they need a linebacker who is capable of covering running backs and tight ends in the passing game.
The problem is that there are beginning to be smaller, leaner, quicker linebackers in the NFL. That hasn’t been the style for Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.
I wrote last offseason how Deone Bucannon would not fit in Joseph’s defense because he didn’t fit the physical profile. Joseph has never run his defense with a linebacker who weighed less than 230 pounds.
His linebackers in Miami were Kiko Alonso (240), Donald Butler (245) and Neville Hewitt (234).
In Denver, his inside linebackers were Brandon Marshall (250) and Todd Davis (230) in 2017 and Davis with Josey Jewell (235) in 2018.
Last year, it was Hicks (236), Reddick (235), Walker (236) and Tanner Vallejo (230).
However, if the Cardinals are going to target a free agent linebacker with coverage ability, some of them are not that big.
The Rams’ Corey Littleton, a player the Cardinals are expected to target, weighs in at 228. He is a former defensive back. Patrick Onwuasor, who played four seasons for the Baltimore Ravens and will be a free agent, is 227 and also a former defensive back.
They appear to be solid targets who would greatly improve the pass coverage at linebacker.
However, the physical profile factor might eliminate them if Joseph is unwilling to change.
If his trend of bigger linebackers continues, then the Cardinals could zero in on players like Joe Schobert and Nick Kwiatkoski. Both are over 240 pounds and also excel in coverage.
They are both solid options. However, as the league moves towards leaner, quicker linebackers, Joseph might be forced sooner or later to change what he looks for in a linebacker or see his defense become outdated.
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Ep. 261
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Ep. 260
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