Meet the Undrafted Free Agents: Kekaula Kaniho brings experience, positional flexibility and aggression to the Arizona Cardinals

It is time to get to know the undrafted free agents the Arizona Cardinals signed over the next three days.

This is important, if you want to know why, feel free to reach out, but I will be highlighting all 12 of the undrafted free agents the Arizona Cardinals signed to give them a little acknowledgement.

Let’s keep things going with Kekaula Kaniho of Boise State.

From the team:

Boise State safety Kekaula Kaniho (kay-COW-luh / kuh-NEE-ho) (5-11, 188) set a school record by appearing in 60 games during his five-year career. He was a three-time All-Mountain West selection after totaling 217 tackles, 5.0 sacks, six interceptions and 22 passes defensed for the Broncos. As a fifth-year senior in 2021, Kaniho had 34 total tackles (25 solo), one interception and one pass defensed.

From Emory Hunt and his Football Gameplan Draft Guide:

Fantastic pressure player. Played almost like a WLB at Boise with how active he was in the backfield. Excellent blitzer off the short corner, and also as a run defender he’s great. Knows how to pressure the ball and will force the QB into some unwanted decisions. - Core special teams candidate in terms of coverage, but also has a PR TD on his resume. - Good quickness, burst and instincts to have a key situational role as a pro.

I really like Kaniho as an opportunistic special teams fit early in his career.

He tested as a very average athlete, but has a gamer quality that reminds me of Tony Jefferson. Of course the biggest issue with a comparison of Jefferson is Jefferson was younger and 30 pounds heavier as an undrafted rookie.

However, stylistic and instinct wise that is who Kaniho reminds me of. I am not saying he will be the player Jefferson was, but he has similar qualities that make you root for him to succeed.

Welcome to the team, Kekaula.