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One of the biggest concerns for the Arizona Cardinals moving forward is how the draft picks from previous years play out.
Deone Bucannon has taken off this season, is playing better and better each week and looks like the player he was in 2015.
Robert Nkemdiche played 47.2% of the defensive snaps against the New York Giants, the highest of his career. It paid off with his fantastic fumble recovery touchdown against the Giants.
D.J. Humphries looked good, hopefully the injuries are behind him next year.
The one question is simply... What has happened to Haason Reddick?
After starting the season at inside linebacker, out of necessity due to Deone Bucannon’s injury, Reddick looked prime to take on a larger role as a player who would play inside linebacker and pass rusher in certain packages.
That dream died on October 1st when Markus Golden was lost for the season due to an ACL tear, and Reddick was moved back to outside linebacker position for the season to backup Kareem Martin.
This was a punch in the gut, Reddick was drafted as an athlete who could play inside linebacker and line up elsewhere as the season progressed.
Reddick, now an outside linebacker only, has seen his snaps played drop consistently throughout the season and it was never more on display than in the Cardinals shutout victory over the New York Giants.
Reddick played six snaps... SIX! That was down from 13 against the Redskins, 23 against the Titans and eight against the Rams.
Why?
Maybe more concerning is that the best defensive performance from the Cardinals came when Reddick saw his role most reduced.
Is it just the rookie wall, or what?
Why is Reddick seeing his playing time disappear as the Cardinals fell out of playoff contention? Should it not have been the opposite?
Budda Baker, Nkemdiche, Olsen Pierre, they are seeing a rise in their playing time, yet Reddick’s is falling?
Hopefully it is nothing, but let’s pay a little more attention on Sunday.