Does Alec James have a shot at making the Arizona Cardinals? We discuss with Bucky’s 5th Quarter

The Arizona Cardinals are bringing in defensive end Alec James and with the Arizona Cardinals lack of depth at edge, he could have a chance to make the team.

We caught up with Jake Kocorowski of Bucky’s 5th Quarter to get a little insight into Alec James.

What are James’ strengths and weaknesses?

With James throughout his career, he’s a no non-sense guy that goes about his duties and does them well. He played in 53 games with 26 starts and was named one of the team captains in 2017. During his senior season, he really exploded in terms of sacks (6.5) in Jim Leonhard’s 3-4 base scheme (though a lot of nickel was used last year depending upon the match-up). We’ll see how the Cardinals utilize him, but I feel he can pick up assignments easily and could make things interesting on the defensive line.

Weakness-wise, I don’t know if there really was one that I could think of outside of not being exactly flashy. Owen mentioned James being a “jack of all trades, master of none” with not necessarily having a pass rush plan outside of designated stunts used. With his training at NX Level near the Milwaukee area (same trainer as J.J. Watt), I’m really intrigued to see how his strength (26 reps on bench) and speed (4.75 40-yard dash) at the...uh...next level (#DadJoke, #punintended).

Is there a room for James to grow as a player or do you think he’s reached his ceiling?

I think there is. Based on his pre-draft training and his performance at Pro Day, I think he’ll be able to showcase more strength and speed. I’m not sure what they’ll ask of him, but he was stout against the run, and in the right situations, he has shown the ability to get to the quarterback at the college level.

Can those traits be translated to the pro game is the biggest question, but at the very least, I feel the former will. We’ll see what improvements he makes as a pass rusher with more full-time training.

Also, check out a great podcast from Jake with Alec James: James loves the movie Kazaam, as he discussed during last week’s podcast with him.

Thanks to Jake and Bucky’s 5th Quarter for the look at the two undrafted free agents.