Every time the Cardinals seem to deal with a player out of the University of Texas, they seem to strike gold. First it was the undrafted free agent center, Lyle Sendlein, who has since become a team captain and a stalwart along the offensive line. Most recently, it was Sam Acho, a young linebacker who is looking to break sack records coming into the 2012 season.
Hopefully the team can get similar production out of Blake Gideon, a former Longhorn safety. To find out more about Gideon, hit the jump.
Although the Cardinals drafted Justin Bethel to play as a backup safety in the sixth round and signed James Sanders over the summer, that does not mean that there is no spot for Blake Gideon on the roster. Gideon leans towards the free safety position, whereas guys like Sanders and Rashad Johnson could be considered strong safeties along with Adrian Wilson.
According to the National Football Post, Gideon is a bit of a different breed of safety as compared to A-Dub and Kerry Rhodes. They claim that he is not comfortable playing in the box, which is something both Wilson and Rhodes love to do. They go on to call him an, "overachieving free agent," mainly due to the fact that he cannot be trusted in space, despite his solid footwork and natural instincts. Here is the entire scouting report.
Here is what the official press release from the team has to say about Gideon:
Safety BLAKE GIDEON (6-1, 205) from Texas started all 53 games played during his four-year career with the Longhorns. His 52 consecutive starts rank second in school history. He was also a four-time honorable mention All-Big 12 selection who posted 276 tackles (166 solos), 10 interceptions, 20 pass defensed, two sacks, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and a blocked punt during his career. A team captain as a senior in 2011, Gideon started all 13 games and had 82 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, two interceptions and one fumble recovery.
After reading that tidbit, Gideon seems like the type of player that does a little bit of everything for your football team. With his ability to cause fumbles and block punts, that could make him a prime candidate to join the special teams squad down the road. For now, he has to worry about making it out of training camp unscathed.
So what do you think? Given the depth at the safety position, I am not so sure Gideon has a shot at making the roster or even the practice squad for that matter. I just think there are too many other positions of need that you could place on the roster.
Do you think Gideon finds a role with the Arizona Cardinals? Tell us what you think.
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