Arizona Cardinals News: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie Could Make His First Start This Week

"The way (DRC) has played, he has improved, and much like a lot of our younger players have done, when they have shown they can handle a little bit more, they are going to get those opportunities," Whisenhunt said. "It really comes down to us playing the best players, the ones who give us the best chance to win."

That's what Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt had to say yesterday when asked if Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie could push Eric Green for playing time. While that's certainly not a definitive statement, it is awful similar to how Whiz described the Edgerrin James/Tim Hightower situation last week. Green, who's been dealing with a sore knee, has struggled at times this season and he was in coverage on Derek Stanley's 80 yard touchdown last week. After that play, DRC received most of the playing time with the base defense and it's possible that it could become a permanent move.

DRC made some news in the Rams' game when he slammed Torry Holt to the ground while the receiver was out of bounds. DRC would explain after the game that he didn't know where they were on the field and thought that they were still inbounds. He's had his share of rookie moments this year (namely against Lee Evans), but the coaching staff does think he's grown over the past nine weeks. With San Francisco (18th in passing) and Seattle (32nd) coming in the next two weeks, it could give DRC some time to transition into the starting role before playing the pass happy Giants and Eagles in back to back weeks. We looked at DRC's progress during the bye week and most agreed that he was right where they expected him to be, but stepping into the starting role is significant move in a promising direction. Is it the right time to get Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie into the starting lineup? Is he ready?