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Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians plans on playing a lot of young guys in the team's preseason finale on Thursday, as he said he will not play his starters.
He also indicated that there were about five roster spots up for grabs on Thursday.
What are those battles?
WR6: Five receiver spots are locked up. They are expect to keep six. That means Walt Powell and Brittan Golden will be guys to watch in San Diego.
CB5(and maybe 6): The first four are set in Patrick Peterson, Antonio Cromartie, Jerraud Powers and Justin Bethel. Maybe the Cards keep six, but five seems a little more likely. It is probably down to Teddy Williams and Bryan McCann.
Swing tackle: Max Starks is gone (although he could return), so the team will probably have to make a decision between Nate Potter and Bradley Sowell.
Defensive line: Alameda Ta'amu isn't going to start the season able to play, so they will need a backup nose tackle to Dan Williams, so the team will probably carry seven defensive linemen to start the year. Will that be Christian Tupou? Could undrafted rookie Bruce Gaston work his way onto the roster? Or will veteran Isaac Sopoaga get it done?
Inside or outside linebacker: Lorenzo Alexander provides some flexibility and he is a lock for the roster because of special teams play, so this roster spot could go to an inside guy or an outside guy. Marcus Benard comes to mind on the outside, which would shift Alexander back inside. But inside, there are Desmond Bishop and Glenn Carson who could be the pick. I think Kenny Demens has his spot basically locked up. Essentially, it looks like the team will keep one of the three -- Benard, Bishop or Carson.
