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Allace (pronounced A-lay-see-a) O' Brien Schofield is caught between the proverbial rock and the hard place. Drafted in a position of need, he hasn't been on the field long enough to show his wares and now could be, looking for another house in a different NFL locale.
The Arizona Cardinals had three finite deficiencies (no, you can't add more) last season - QB (which has probably been rectified by the trade of Carson Palmer), OL (quoting coach Bruce Arians as LT Levi Brown as "elite" and the group "not near as bad as made out to be") and pass rushing outside linebacker/ defensive end.
Other than the acquisition of Lorenzo Alexander from the Washington Redskins, who has eight sacks in his career, the team has stayed chalked.
Should the club draft a Dion Jordan/ Ezekiel Ansah/ Jarvis Jones/ Barkevious Mingo with the 7th overall NFL draft choice or stay pat with current Schofeld/ Alexander/ Sam Acho triumvirate?
Acho is a natural 3-4 defensive end. Just too large and not agile enough to cover the middle passing routes. A willing and book-smart learner but needs to be on the line of scrimmage to make an impact, in my opinion.
Alexander, is mostly famed for his special teams and if he hasn't been a difference-maker this late in his career at 29, hard to to see the new Cardinal molting anything but same feathers.
Which brings us back to Alacce.
He tore his ACL during the 2010 Senior Bowl, which dropped his stock. The Cardinals took a chance and he recovered to play 10 games and 2 sacks during the 2010 season. Played 16 games and 4.5 quarterback crushes the following year, but new defensive coordinator Ray Horton had him wear a play-calling wristband which indicated a need for Ginkgo baloba pills or maybe just a total beheading. (Against NFL rules to play without a helmet, though.) He accumulated 4 sacks in 2012 before having his ankle rolled upon by Darnell Dockett in Week 10, forcing him to injured reserve.
To boot, this offseason Schofield had escalators in his contract kick in, making him a possible 1.3 million liability, if performance early on doesn't match salary.
So, if Cards go the unexpected route and draft a DE/OLB pass rusher at 7, you may find some Potatoes O 'Brien cooking up at the greasy-spoon Allaces' restaurant in Phoenix..