The team’s current OLBs have combined for just 23½ sacks in 204 NFL games, which is down from the 33 sacks they had last year when they finished third to last in the league.
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The question was supposed to be posed to Monti Ossenfort, the general manager of the Arizona Cardinals, but since he has only been available to reporters once since training camp began, that wasn’t an option.
After the team announced its first 53-man roster last week, it was up to coach Jonathan Gannon to answer the question every Cardinals fan, observer and skeptic wanted to know:
Is he Really Is he satisfied with his team’s pass rush, especially at the outside linebacker position?
“I do,” Gannon said. “You guys may not feel comfortable, but that’s OK. That’s your opinion. We’re going to find out what we have in Buffalo (Week 1 this Sunday) and we’re going to work out a plan that’s best for our team and our players to win the game.”
“It can look very different, so we’re very different from this team and that team and the other team. Everyone has their own way of doing things and I think we’ll be fine. And it’s up to the coaches to do a good job with the players we have to make sure we’re successful.”
As colleague Theo Mackie recently aptly noted, they have five OLBs who have combined for just 23.5 sacks in 204 NFL games, down from the 33 they managed last year when they finished third to last in the league.
Good luck with that.
Dennis Gardeck and Zaven Collins are who they are. They are nice, serviceable players who put the team first. But they haven’t been the difference maker. However, they are the two players who will start and are expected to lead a rotation effort to create chaos in the backfield.
You can put together a decent pass rush if you have a couple of cornerbacks who can play extra tight coverage and safety tandems to support. The Cardinals don’t have the first part. They can also disrupt and get to the quarterback if you have a penetrable defensive line. Arizona rebuilt its D-line, but it’s still viewed as mediocre, especially with rookie first-round draft pick Darius Robinson missing at least the first four weeks of the season on the injured list due to a calf injury.
The bottom line is that the Cardinals still do not have a verified pass rusher at any of their outside linebacker positions. They thought they could I had one with second-year pro BJ Ojulari, who definitely looked the part. But then he tore his ACL in training camp and was out for the entire season.
Despite the lofty projections, there was no evidence that Ojulari, who brought down the quarterback four times in his rookie season, would suddenly flirt with double-digit sacks in 2024. There was hope. There was speculation. But that was it.
However, the Cardinals, or more specifically Ossenfort, have never replaced him. And they needed major help in the pass rush even when Ojulari was healthy. They needed that a year ago, too.
Despite having one of the most effective salary caps in the league (around $35.5 million) entering the preseason, the Cardinals did nothing while teams like the Giants signed Brian Burns, who averaged 9.2 sacks in five years with the Panthers, the Texans signed Danielle Hunter as a free agent after he averaged 11 sacks in eight seasons with the Vikings, and the Eagles grabbed Bryce Huff after a 10-sack season with the Jets.
After Ojulari’s unfortunate injury, it was suggested that Ossenfort should pursue outside linebacker Matthew Judon, who averaged 8.3 sacks in eight seasons with the Ravens and Patriots. Unhappy with his contract in New England, he was traded to the Falcons a week and a half later for a third-round pick.
You have to wonder what Ossenfort and the Cardinals are thinking. If they really want to win now, in Gannon’s second season as head coach, they have to realize that their defense, and especially their pass rush, needs serious help.
Trading former third-round pick Cameron Thomas to the Chiefs was understandable if the Cardinals had planned to release him anyway, but was it really the right thing to do given the average overall strength of the outside linebackers?
Led by a healthy and revitalized quarterback Kyler Murray, a top-five rushing attack featuring James Conner and rookie Trey Benson, and a talented group of pass catchers that includes star rookie Marvin Harrison, Michael Wilson, Greg Dortch and tight end Trey McBride, the offense will score a lot of points.
But if the defense isn’t up to scratch — which it isn’t — and the edge rushers can’t get to the quarterback, which is questionable, it could be another long, lonely season in Arizona where all hopes are dashed once again.
If there is a potential savior among the pass rush players at the outside backer position, it might be freshman Xavier Thomas, the team’s fifth-round pick from Clemson. Defensive coordinator Nick Rallis raves about him, saying, among other things, “On game day, he just lets it rip.”
“A lot of times you see freshmen are a little slow, and I told him early on in camp, ‘Hey man, just open up,'” Rallis continued. “Have you ever seen anything like dog racing, when the door opens and they start running? I said, ‘Open the door and run,’ and he took off running. He plays hard, he plays fast, I really appreciated that.
“He’s definitely a natural pass rusher. He just has a natural feel for getting away from the ball. He’s quick and he’s going to keep his legs moving throughout the entire rush, which isn’t easy. … His motor is hot.”
However, it’s not fair to ask or expect Thomas to be the leader. To help his development, he shouldn’t be thrown in the deep end before he’s truly ready. As desperate as the Cardinals are for a hero, they’re not foolish enough to destroy his confidence or expose his youthful weaknesses.
Thomas is, of course, ready to take on the challenge. He said he never doubted he would be included in the 53-man squad and his mindset was always to “come in and make an immediate impact.”
“I have a lot more expectations and goals than just making the team,” said Thomas, who never had more than 3½ sacks in parts of his six seasons at Clemson. “… I’m not going to give specific goals of what I want to do, but I think the sky’s the limit as far as the opportunities I get.”
Oh, he’ll get his chances. So will everyone else the Cardinals have drafted at outside linebacker. But will any of them be able to make a real difference? We’ll soon find out.
You can reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azbobbymac and listen to him live on Roc and Manuch every Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. on Fox Sports 910-AM.
