Marlon Mack, preseason depth chart 1, Isaiah Simmons

rise [Applause] R this is the rise up SE red podcast all about the Arizona Cardinals and the NFL featuring Insider and Outsider perspectives enjoy the best hour of cardinals talk on the web now here are your hosts Jess root and Seth Cox [Music] helloa cardal fans and welcome to the latest edition of the rise up SE red podcast I'm your host Jess root from cardswire doccom the USA Today NFL wire sight covering the Arizona Cardinals with my co-host Seth Cox from Revenge ofthe birds.com spnation Arizona Cardinal site and also one of the hosts the original breakdown original draft breakdown podcast it is pre-season week this is episode 449 guys like if you've been listening and you haven't subscribed yet please do this this we're nearly at 450 shows but anyway Seth we we're actually wrapping up training camp so by the time this hits we're recording Tuesday night the Cardinals have one public practice left on Wednesday and then we'll have their preseason game on Friday and then we'll go back to the bubble back to Tempe um getting ready for the the final two prec season games and then the roster cuts and all that can you believe that we're like there already yeah it's just going to be really interesting this year with the one cutdown date right like it's just going to make our job easy slash hard all at once right I wonder if teams will still because teams would there would be a handful of players and I think they do it kind of out of respect for the players to I was gonna say usually veterans right that they're like oh you're not gonna make the roster so or or a young guy that they were particularly fond of they're like let's let's see if you can get latch you can latch on somewhere before cut Downs or whatever but like maybe that'll still happen but honestly I I kind of get why they do this is because when you had to cut down the roster to 75 and then play a final preseason game where you weren't playing 20 of your guys anyway it made it very very difficult to manage your roster for that you know basically that that final preseason game it is a bit of a joke give a game but you know it's that it's that final audition for all those guys that are about to be cut right and you look at it and you think about it and you know it's one of those situations where with the 17 games I know they cut it down to 13 it just feels like it would make sense to get to 12 right and and space out the games and and do one you know like this weekend and then have like a mini bye do one the next Thursday and Friday and then give you 10 days really to get ready for for the start of the season but you know they still want those 20 game ticket packages oh yeah oh yeah well I will say this that I'm I'm so pleased so pleased about how they changed the schedule around to our cut down like roster cut down is not as a Saturday I know this this this this is just this is you know me media complaining because the Cardinals on a Saturday afternoon would have all of the reporters hostage on a Saturday afternoon where they got plans with their families you know 1:00 is cut down day but then they wouldn't release their Cuts till like after 4 P.M it was just the four o'clock ones so and so now it's on a Tuesday you know it it comes at a decent hour you know we're doing our regular our our our primary job and then at you know oh we'll just get the roster cuts and usually it's already about the time and it's it works out so we are none of you guys will care about that I mean just we this is that beginning part of the podcast where you probably are all scroll forward about three minutes in until we actually get the meat and potatoes and and that's what we're going to do we're actually talk about this preseason game we got three main topics that we're going to go over we will have a second show this week I'm going to try and get on on that will probably be a solo show where I focus on the preseason open or what we want to see any any last news that are coming up and I'll record that either Wednesday night or Thursday night so that it's fresh for you guys to listen to on game day on Friday but so first topic we're talk about is because uh there was a roster move we'll talk rather than talking about so we've got the depth chart we're going to talk about we're going to talk about Isaiah Simmons and some comments he made when he spoke to the media about his position change and and also about the depth chart but let let's lead with with the addition of a running back we we kind of have been waiting for an addition to the running back room for months where it felt like there's no way they're just going to go into the season with James Connor and a bunch of guys who have proven nothing in the NFL as much as you know people like Keon Ingram Cory Clement basically a special teams guy he's had a couple hundred rushing yards in his season but didn't didn't we didn't it feel like we were just waiting for the day when they signed Kareem hunt that's what we all thought Kareem hunt was the name that made sense he was at the Browns was JW betting like he kept going unsigned and so it just felt that but it wasn't Kareem hunt and the name that we got is Marlon Mack um how surprised were you or or how how long had you been waiting for a veteran back and how surprised were you that it was Mack that they signed I was a little surprised I mean um I guess he was there when Jonathan Ganon was in India correct so that yeah he was he was there in that in well in fact his two good years in 2018 2019 were when Ganon was there in Indie yeah and he was he was there so you know it does make a little bit of sense at least he has some familiarity um I mean obviously hunt with petting let me ask you this I mean is that a an indictment of of hunt or what what maybe um petting thought of hunt that that that's where they went instead I mean CU I think it comes down to what the contract numbers come out because he was in New Orleans was about to do the workout the Indie called offered him more money if we once we find out what the contract was that might make all the sense like if it's a three4 million or even a two and a half to4 million deal I'm pretty sure all Knack is getting is the league minimum well and we have to be completely honest too I mean this guy hasn't been good in in Four Seasons so I mean that's since that 2019 season he hasn't really been any good and so he's dealt with a lot of injuries and stuff so I don't even know if this was this was more just like a let's see what he's got type right right right I I couldn't like I couldn't tell with once we get the contract numbers it might make a little bit of sense like we got the numbers in for for um Jeff Swain the tight end that they got and he got a and it wasn't an expensive deal but he got what I think 350 450,000 in in yeah guaranteed money and in signing bonus and it was 1.7 million for the year which is half what he made last year but that wasn't just a league minimum like even Pat elf line it was a pocket you know it was a uh it's now granted we're talking tens of thousand dollars uh I think it was like a $25 signing bonus like woohoo that that sounds like nothing NFL wise we know the 20 someone gave us $25,000 here to something like that's absurd but and then he gets a a roster bonus if he makes the team but there's there's like no risk with elfline Swain they're counting on elfline it doesn't sound like they're counting on him they're just like you're going to compete and we'll see what happens Mac I'm interested to see where the numbers come in because I think Kareem hunt once we find those numbers is that we'll realize the reason why hunt wasn't signed is because he was playing the long game he didn't want to sign for the league minimum he wanted to sign for something more than that and and they needed like a team had to have a need for that to happen and it just happened to be that Alvin CRA got suspended three games youo Benjamin you know TS Achilles and then that created just enough leverage for him to get a better offer from Indie yeah and it'll be interesting to see where hunt ends up I assume by the time this is released we will probably know but if not you know it's a fun conversation to have um but yeah it it'll be interesting to see how this all kind of works out and and how the running back room looks on day one because I think most of us are expecting what 80 to 90% usage from from James Conor this year which worries me to freaking heck well yeah cuz he's never been able to just he was like somebody please please have something with here's the thing like Marlin Mack and and after the signing happened now I remember I remember Indie Marlin Mac I'm okay that's a nice signing and then the the buzz online is like we've got our number two back and then I looked up the numbers since 2020 now granted he tore his Achilles in 2020 then that that's that's so it's hard to come but since it can be a twoyear games 15 games since 2020 21 yards 15 games 211 yards he's he's basically like that thousand yard season that usage that he got I don't know if the if the usage is related to them the injury the next year but the wheels fell off of his career and and here's the day here's the the sad thing you know we're recording on Tuesday night what happened Tuesday he got hurt on his third day of practice and walking boot on his left so sounds if it's on walk probably an ankle so it looks like he he injured his his left ankle and whatever that means unless it's oh like remember when Cory Peters signed he had recovered from the one Achilles and then before he'd even played a game with the Cardinals he blew out his other Achilles in in training camp right let's let's hope it's not that but well and you mentioned the 15 games but more of an indictment than the 15 games is this dude has 48 carries the last three years and was 15 games look wasn't like 15 of those in one game for the 49ers last year yeah probably let me look real quick I got his whole career pulled up so I mean it just makes it one of those situations where so he had last year no he didn't have any for the 49ers it was the year before Oh okay in Indie he had 10 carries so he had four carries in 2020 that's when he blew the Achilles he then had he then last year he didn't have more than five carries in a game in a game yeah so that's what I'm saying like it just feels like a lot to ask him right and and like undoubtedly a healthy Mac is probably their best non James Conor option probably but the problem is yeah we just haven't seen it in right four years now Granton I like was the signing because they were just like keante Ingram's been out now he's G good old Jonathan Ganon telling us you know he's he's got a Nick you'll see him back out there soon he so B like come on JG stop that like stop that I mean you don't have to tell us injuries the league doesn't required but what why not why not so yeah so Ingram's out right now Max's out and so you're left at in this as we're coming on preseason week you've got Cory Clement Tyson Williams Amari Dem Marcado and James Conor and I don't want to see James Conor take more than a couple of series I guess Tyson Williams we're going to see a healthy health DOA Tyson Williams and Amari Dem marado yeah and that makes sense I mean you want to get those guys a look you don't want to overwork Ingram either so it'll just be interesting to see how it all kind of plays out right yeah and I honestly I doubt that Ingram even plays because he's been out for the last week and a half yeah that's that's no good but so Mac I like is I like is the the move I wish they had gotten somebody more reliable I guess yeah just healthier I mean we can say that just somebody that's been healthier the last couple Seasons like when you're when you're talking about usage and we're talking the insane usage that is being thrown around with um James Connor you just want somebody that you can trust and then somebody that you can that you can rely on to be healthy and so you know Ingram's one of those guys you just can't trust because he's never done it in the NFL and again we haven't seen we haven't seen a healthy um Marlon Mack in in since 2019 20 2019 so he played the one game I think in 2020 before the Achilles went out but GE and so yeah I'm like nice if if and and this is something you say injured players stay injured and and running back is a position that I don't I I have to look and Blake's probably got this somewhere but once a running back starts suffering injuries they they don't come back they're they don't really bounce back to the previous level they basically stay banged up for that's what it feels like for the rest of their career right and it's just it's just the wear and tear so we'll see how you know like we said we'll see how it works out but it's just an interesting an interesting decision to make based on um what we've been kind of talking about yeah C next on the rise of SE podcast best Cal's talking L let's talk about the depth chart um what if anything is surprising if there's anything that that stands out that's coming to next and R up R back on the rise of Z red podcast the best St of cardinal stock on the web the Cardinal released their first depth chart of the preseason technically it's unofficial um it's put together by the media relations team which I'm sure has a little bit of input from the coaching staff but doesn't necessarily reflect what it is um wait I thought this was the official official thing well it's always it's like Cardinals dep CH it's released by the team but they're always considered even during the regular season I guess they're considered unofficial they're prepared this like as prepared by the teams so this is like Chris Melvin and and immani sub putting this together and Mike Helm they're putting it together as opposed to the you know the actual you know coaching staff putting it together so for me there weren't many surprises I mean the first thing that stands out is Clayton tune right behind Colton McCoy but that's the way it's been practice so there nothing there is surprising to you is there no I mean not really you've got you know the expectation of of McCoy in tune and the question becomes can tune overtake him and and that's really I think the only question at this point is um Can Clayton tun overtake Colt McCoy to begin the season not this isn't you know for down the road just for the season yeah yeah that's true and so far we'll see how that goes um what I found interesting look at the offensive line that the offensive line depth chart almost is a perfect match to what we saw or what we see in practice I was say on a day a day-to-day basis yeah it really is just that like really the only changes that the only flip-flopping I've seen from dayto day the starting five Humphrey Wilkinson FR Hernandez and and Johnson there we go there's been a couple of flip-flops like Kelvin beaches lifted the right tackle Josh Jones a left tackle on the second team both of them like for a couple of practices or once or twice have switched sides makes sense there was was one day when Pat Aline who's number three Center got reps with the number two offense instead of gains and gain moved over the Right Guard but like the times the when the both times I was at practice and this is interesting to me is that pal elfline who I guess when he was signed we like oh he's probably the starting center he's not not even surpassing the rookie right now and and and that's okay because as you know as starter C capable as he is his biggest problem is the fact it's like Marlon ma he hasn't been able to stay healthy yeah and you look at it I mean the what we said about elfline was we expected him to start but it looks like the biggest thing is that he's there kind of a break in case of emergency type of thing right like there's no reason to bring him in if if Thro or or gains are doing the job yeah and I think that's kind of what it is okay they've liked what thr hold's done in the off season now let's make sure he doesn't goof it up in during the preseason yeah and and that's the big thing now um looking at the then nothing surprises me about the receiver depth chart um honestly because you've got Hollywood Rondell and Zack Pascal that's what we expected now the only maybe the only thing that's surpris ring is what they list as their starting offense is they listed with 11 personnel just one tight end which that you know that's neither here or there when it comes to starts it's based on your first play and so they might go like that's how you get sometimes like a random backup offensive lineman with a start because they came in they they their first play they ran like a jumbo tight end package where they had an extra blocker or one time um there was one offensive line that the Cardinals had one year who started because the first play he was in as a fullback so starts are weird but like like the your top three Hollywood Rond Del Moore Zack Pascal Pascal that makes sense until Michael Wilson can do everything Pascal can and Pascal's had a great Camp um so it it it's just going to be a matter of time before Wilson surpasses Pascal I think yeah it's I mean and this isn't a shot at anybody else but it um Wilson's looked like one of the best players at Camp um a lot of the time and and that's I mean that's a good thing that's what you want right you want these guys to come out play well and things like that and so it's it's good to see and and good to to see him be able to do it throughout Camp th far and and like uh like Ganon said like the big thing is now doing it when he has to do it against other teams yeah yeah because that's that's been what we've talked about the one kind of thing we've said right don't um don't read too much into when they're playing their teammates right because it may be the fact that the corners are bad or it may be the fact that you know uh like we said the like your example all the time is Brandon Williams and then and then it ended up being that that was actually really bad because uh that showed that Michael Floyd couldn't play anymore so we're like oh crap so like Bren Williams gets benched after one week Michael Floyd is is a disaster that year oh my gosh oh my gosh so that's all it takes is you know so don't get overly excited so but then also it's still the preseason so don't you know don't freak out if he he's not the best wide receiver on the field like that's okay too like that we can we can have the conversation about in between somewhere in between there I found it interesting at least with the running backs where they had Marlin Mack they shoved him all the way at the back because so he was came he came in and signed and had and does not appear at least right now to have any sort of expectation of making the roster because like on the other side Jeff swam he's right behind Trey McBride and so like swam was signed with the intention he's going to be on the roster and have a have a role Marlon Mack thus far not maybe so much no I I was excited it's a bummer he got hurt because I couldn't wait I couldn't wait for the Mar m Marlon Mack love in the preseason because this was this it was like we had back in 2017 the summer of blae Gabbert when you've got a talented like a guy who's done it who's talented and then because of where he's at in his career he's now playing in the preseason you know Marlon Ma look great in in the red and white practice but In fairness he was going against he was going against second and third team defens players on the Cardinals roster and he had fresh legs it was his first practice after the rest of the team had was on a Six-Day practice week in the second week of training camp and so of course he looked good of course did I did I write about how Marlin Mack looked good in red and white practice of course I did but I get to the caveat well there's reasons why and and couldn't wait to see him in the preseason to stand out and be like see he's ready he's he's back well no he's just you know going against second and third teamers honestly just like the summer of BL Gabbert Gabbert Gabbert was supposed to look like the best player of the field and he did that he did exactly what he was supposed to do that preseason exactly um the defensive side of the ball is interesting that like for for anything else for me defensive line makes no sense at all um actually doesn't make something think Rashard Lawrence is listed as the third team nose tackle when he has now I will say this in in the times I've seen practice the first team defensive lineman they've been all over like they've had all like literally they don't know what they're doing not not that they don't know what they're doing but they don't know who's going to be in there um because I've seen I've seen Jonathan lead like Jonathan Leed better and Rashard Lawrence I saw the most as like the first like they came out as the first first team defensive line they added Ley fotu for a package then another time was LJ Collier and Eric and and and ER and Eric Banks they had a Carlos Watkins I saw little Kevin Strong but like nose tackle Ley is the number one then Kevin Strong then Rashard Lawrence and I just the one that's the one area where I'm like this is super interesting as to what the per the perception of the offensive line is and the defensive line because one Carlos Watkins isn't among the best three and Ley fotu is yeah and and so we'll see how that works out it might be one of those situations where you know new regime new coaching style new new way of doing things fits in with Ley a little more right look at the defensive Lin that they've had there those big athletic bodies now granted Ley hasn't done much yet like right but when we came out of college the the the potential was there but like this is a guy that's 335 330 lbs and has been as big as 350 but he's 330 and moves extremely well it'd be interesting if if he's a guy that can unlock but it's what's funny is like practice reps he's not you haven't note there's been nothing notable about what he's done that no one said anything about likey f too I barely noticed he was on the field one of the two practices I was there well isn't that kind of what he usually looks like it's [Laughter] true yeah no but other than that it was just interesting to see where where Rashard is because he's been you know they kind of raved about him a little bit they he was Monty Austin for named in particular Jonathan Leber and rard Lawrence when he talked the defensive line lead better is is a guy that's that's quietly finding a nice little career like he was kind of their most productive outside of JJ Watt and like if there was JJ Watt Z Allen and there was Jonathan lead better and you know maybe he's got something there um the outside linebackers Dennis gck and and zav Collins there's no surprise theirs as they're listed as a starter because that's how they've been getting the Reps now I I am I surprised that Dennis DC is a first team outside backer in this defense I am shocked that it is not Cameron Thomas yeah so am I and it's odd that Thomas is listed behind zavin and not Gard right so my J being buried third behindi it must just be from all the injuries right he literally just came back the other day so yeah I you know I think in terms of strong side weak side I think that's how they have them listed because cam is the bigger bot like he's built like zavin and and well gck he's small and so you've got you've basically got I the way I had a listen is that that zaven was strong side and and GIC was weak side and so that's built like that and so di magei I think could go either way but but Sanders makes sense as a weak side guy and then you got zaven cam Thomas and BJ o jalari and Jesse Letta who they are your your bigger guys that you could put strongside and win on that side right so it'll be interesting to see how these unfold I think they would really like uh Collins and and a guy we're about to talk about to win these rols right oh for sure like yeah they C well cam Thomas B Jo jari Collins feels like that that's going to be his role and I hope he's not terrible because if there's one thing he's never like he's got the size he's got the athleticism he's got the the want to dude doesn't have Bend no but you also don't need it if you can if you can play those that role like you said of the strong side guy and be be more of a a guy that takes everything down yeah the cornerback that I found a surprise there because Antonio Hamilton is listed as a starter next to Marco Wilson but we have not seen Antonio Hamilton practice with the first team at all it has been along with Marco who quietly is quarterback one is Christian Matthew and Krell Clark those are the two guys that have been getting playing time at with the first team and it's never Hamilton yeah and that's why it was so odd right like we haven't really talked about Hamilton at all and this guy just shows up as the number two Corner out of no where and you're just kind of like okay like I know Hamilton's going to be on the roster his his his contract's 100% guaranteed you know they they paid him it's one and and he's and he's and he's at least special teams like he's at least he's going to be solid depth in special teams he's going to give you a lot at this point here's a question do you think Garrett Williams is going to get come off NFI anytime soon it it doesn't seem like it I think he's going to start the year on the the P which is what six weeks four weeks you know I think because he's on NFI he can stay on that indefinitely I'm pretty sure okay okay because that that's a little bit different because that was a pre employment injury yeah and so it's one of those things they could it's one of the Dirty Secrets of the NFL you put a guy in the trick you cannot pay them you cannot pay because they weren't they got hurt not before now would they do that with a guy they drafted knowing he was going to he had a torado AC and but he thought he was going to be ready by August the fact that he hasn't been cleared yet is interesting I wonder if they're they're legitimately going to stash him per year which would be yeah and it might be something that they do which wouldn't be the worst thing right maybe not which that that for me that made the the selection kind of interesting to begin with unless you viewed him as a first or second round Talent Talent yeah you could do that um I guess nothing really else about the the cornerback depth chart surprises me um at all not really um Chris Boyd is back farther but Chris Boyd was signed not for his cornerback play more or less he's going to probably make the team on special teams but we also didn't talk about the inside backers we probably should mention that that's true that's true that's true so you've got now In fairness they list Chris Barnes next to K you're white that that's real because that is one of the legitimate position battles like based on based on playing time like like reps with the first team Chris like it'll either be Chris Barnes first then Josh Woods but they basically alternate series and that's the same thing with like the quarterback position because it been ke Clark and Christian Matthew they literally alternate series and then the same with the defensive line and so the the fact that Chris Barnes is listed at the top I think that's more cuz I think like they did do with with the punters that they're basically 1 a1b that they're basically even I wonder if it's just his NFL starting experience that they put Barnes that that the media relations department put Barnes ahead of woods because it's felt like from what I've seen on Twitter cuz I haven't been in all the practices is that Woods you usually starts as like they usually start with the first team and then they bring in Barnes for the next series yeah and so again it's just one of those situations it'll be interesting to kind of follow along and see how it all plays out because so far it's one of the the listings that doesn't follow with what some of the things that we've seen in practice even if it's practice stuff that were not reporting on yeah nothing surprising about the safety position we know that buen and Jaylen are there Isaiah Simmons is there like that that's not surprising what is surprising and this is this I I got the feel for this before is how how close the punting competition is between Nolan KY and Matt Hawk I thought for sure when they signed Hawk that this was a done deal right um a guy that's always like he's never not been an NFL teams punter like he's never been unemployed mid-season Nolan Cooney's not proven anything in the NFL and it looks like right now that they are in fact neck and neck in the in the battle for Punt and they both offer something different because if if Cooney makes the team he'll do kofs instead of Prader Hawk is a left-footed punter which adds a little wrinkle and then obviously both they're going to have to like I wonder if how much the holding job will factor in and know interesting fact and this was a nugget that I found in the offseason just scouring for stats because one of the things when when the Cardinal side Matt Prader we thought well what are they going to do about kickoffs because he hadn't kicked off regularly since 2014 Matt Prader said basically franchise records for touchbacks like Touchback number of touchbacks in this season and for Touchback percentage it's ridiculous like it's ridiculous for a guy who hadn't been regular kicking off since it was since it was 2014 I believe it was um and so let me look at like this is this this is stupid this is stupid so the he had he had 107 touchbacks over the last two seasons in two seasons he is number three all time in franchise history for Touchback person percentage he has the highest Touchback percentage at 73.3% of anybody who's played more than two games that is crazy to me but he also like remember like last year he also had the hip injury that that kind of affected him so I wonder if how much that the ability for Cooney to kick off will impact the decision on which punter they keep yeah and that's what you you're always curious about as these play out is like not just the punting aspect but the holding um and things like that and how it will affect the decision making um do you think do you think Prader has a say I maybe I think he probably does at least a little bit I think UL I think I think they will ask him I was gonna say do you think he'll be like hey I prefer this guy to hold but you know like if there's a significant difference like they basically say hey is one guy from what as you as a kicker is one guy far and way better and if he's Far and Away better and they're even on the punting okay that makes sense if one is the better puncher and they're even UNH holding well I guess you go with the guy that's the better puncher or if Prader is like I'd rather not kick off that's I find that I find this battle it's stupid it's stupid it really is why am I worrying about the punter the punting battle it's because I'm a freaking Weirdo And I write about all the details of the team but this is one of the most intriguing things about this because you've got a a developed a guy a punter they basically have developed um with this special teams coaching staff and a guy that's been proven like Matt Hawk there's like he is a good punter right he's he's been a very good punter in the NFL so it's it's just interesting that like you said it's even a battle but you know they they're there more than we are so yeah coming up next one rise of SE podcast of Cardinal's talk on the web let's move on and talk about some something interesting about Isaiah Simmons said what do we have to think about that that's coming next on Rise ofc red we're back on the rise ofc red podcast our Cardinal's talk on the web and interesting comments by Isaiah Simmons now I know like we know we expect him to be a better safety than he was a linebacker I I think that's probably fair to say uh that put moving him to linebacker made sense in a lot of ways because of his size his speed he did have linebacker type instincts but his size and speed and length and coverage ability lended him to a really nice role as as a linebacker and then got used used all over the place I there was something he said that made me suggest it just I didn't love it okay this is last to talk about this so this is what he said in referring to the previous roles that he's had there were times where I was playing in a position maybe because we were down in injuries or I don't really want to say there were just certain circumstances that kind of played into me playing some different positions last year as opposed to doing what was best for me now I think doing what's best for me is actually best for the team I just feel a little more free more like myself and my game give me your thoughts on that because I I didn't love it I honestly there I didn't love that at all yeah I mean I think it's one of those things for me where I look at it and it just it tells me that there was never um I shouldn't say never there was just a disconnect between what the team expected and what his ability to provide was and and when that happens when when you're at odds in that way it makes it really difficult for you to feel like you're getting a fair shake and and you know for the team to feel like they're getting they're getting what they um drafted yeah right and so I understand it from that perspective because it's just I I don't think it's I I think it's him without necessarily taking a shot at the previous regime basically saying like look this regime they see me more for what I am um or they'll listen to me more about what I feel like I'm I'm gonna be better at for the for the squad um you know it's unfortunate that this is where we're at with Isaiah at this point and and you know I don't blame Isaiah you know he's not free from blame but at the same time like you know it's not his fault and I you know it's just one of those situations I I I don't like when players for me because he embraced openly publicly playing lots of different roles like that was a badge of honor for him and then to say oh you know I I I didn't what what they asked me to do wasn't really and then obviously football's a team sport the Cardinals were in a situation last year where he was their best op option at at slot corner hands down and the truth is he was fine he was fine except for week one when he and admittedly was unprepared the whole team was unprepared playing bad technique for whatever reason got in the dogghouse and in week one played very poorly against Travis Keling the Chiefs but so many people do that anyway from that week forward his role in the slot he wasn't exposed and he was he was covering all the guys in the slot we're not just talking tight ends we're talking running backs that that you know that would Flex slot receivers and and so you know obviously that wasn't his best thing but it was what the team needed most from him because they found themselves in a really sticky situation at quarterback when Jeff gladney died and then they didn't they they needed they needed Byron to play border they needed him to play boundary and then Anton Hamilton got hurt you know got burned and so it was it was a case where they only had they honestly only had two quarterbacks that they trusted to begin with and that was Marco that was that was Byron and Antonio then maybe three Marco because they they they soured a little bit on Marco early but not a lot they they basically was saying that that Antonio outplayed him the whole time they only had three guys they trusted they had a guy die they had a guy get burned and they had to have Isaiah in the slot and so you know this happens on every NFL team especially when you're a when you are a versatile player a talented Flex like positionist like you're going to get put where the team needs you most and maybe that's not the best thing for you and maybe it's because of the the the the blowback that he feels from fans for not being a star there's nothing wrong about what the Cardinals did last year the defense needed him to play slot because if he played linebacker and someone else played slot in that system it didn't work now this year was interesting we've always heard that Jaylen Thompson could cover the slot he is their slot guy it's like this coaching staff really likes that element of JT's game more than what Vance Joseph and his defense want or or maybe it was simply because they loved his reliability on the back end more than they liked his ability to cover in the slot yeah and you know it's one of those situations where again I think you look at a guy like Simmons and he was being asked to do a lot without having success and that starts to weigh on guys um that searched away on them feeling like you know are they being utilized in correctly are they not getting the opportunities they deserve there's a lot of things that play into that and and so for me I think that's where it comes into is that it's just you look at it they had opportunities and and it just didn't work out for whatever reason and it's unfortunate um but at the end of the day you know I feel like obviously v j is in a different place now the Cardinals are in a different place different you know going about things a different way so you just look at it and you you have to think that it it's for the better of everybody right now as opposed to yeah and it makes sense and it does make you know playing linebacker was probably a more difficult task than what he's being asked to do as a safety safety you need you need to make some plays but and it was one of the things that I've talked about from the beginning is that I feel like too often we got caught up in this whole situation right of like oh he's so versatile and it's like it took this dude three years to become something at Clemson playing college football I don't think people realize that extraordinary jump that then we were asking him to make as a as an NFL player to do multiple things and again he just I mean at the end of the day he wasn't good at one thing right so like he never got a chance to be good at and then carry on to the next so and that that is the the strategy for this team granted he's only got one year left on his deal so if he would think maybe his role will expand and it's funny that he says he feels more free of course he is he's playing a free safety position there is far less there's a lot more freedom you have on the back end as long as you're roughly where you're supposed to be a linebacker playing the wrong leverage in the middle of the defense or having rushing the wrong Gap like that role messes things up more than now if if Isaiah isn't as reliable in on the back end as Jaylen Thompson was that leads to big plays and in ter like that's what instead of a 10 to 15 yard play it's a touchdown and that's one thing that that Vance Joseph loved about Jaylen Thompson is he tackled so well and when there was a mistake it was only a 15 yard mistake because he would take care of that so it'll be interesting to see but I I just personally didn't love that because it felt like like why are you dumping on the last like you embraced those roles you wanted that challenge and and sure now it's easier but you're being asked to do you were you are being asked to do far less than you were asked to do before because either they don't believe as much in you or don't want to overburden you or they you know it was evident or maybe they never like it feels like they never saw him as a linebacker when there were a lot of people in the NFL who did see him as as a potential linebacker yeah and that's and that's just what it is and again I think it just comes down to seeing that a player isn't having the success and then scaling back as opposed to adding more when he's not having the success right yeah makes sense I mean I don't have any pro like I just didn't love the way it came AC cross like it was almost like he was complaining about his role I'm like dude you you wanted to play everywhere now Granton maybe slot wasn't what you wanted to do but guess what they didn't they didn't have a better option in the slot last year unfortunately yeah yeah anyway anything else you want to bring up no it's just exciting I mean we get the first uh look at the new regime and preseason it's going to be completely useless and awful and and not mean anything in the long term but it is it is fun that we have real football coming up yep on a Friday night you know too much you know so much for date night we'll be watching the football game right exactly but with that we will end this edition of the rise up SE red podcast best s of cardinal talking web it's at 449 I will be on in the next couple of days to do another show smaller show before the preseason game kind of what to watch things like that so on and so forth any other news that Seth Cox I'm Jess rude this is the rise up seed podcast thanks for listening as always thanks for listening to the latest edition of the rise up SE red podcast listen to previous episodes and subscribe to the show on Apple podcasts Stitcher radio audioboom or many other podcast platforms so shows are delivered directly to your mobile device please give the show a five-star rating and always support the sponsors who support the show we'll be back soon for the best hour of cardinals talk on the web rise up Red Sea be red SE red and of course rise up SE [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] red rise rise r r