Steve Keim Admits Cardinals Didn't Use Haason Reddick Properly
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Arizona Cardinals fans have a few different names that come and go during the "what could have been" conversations, though one name sticks out like a sore thumb: Haason Reddick.
Reddick was drafted by the Cardinals in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Temple, where he displayed the ability to get after the quarterback nearly better than anybody thanks to his athleticism.
However, Arizona opted to use him as an off-ball linebacker, removing him from prime position to rush the passer. The experiment didn't last past one contract with the Cardinals, and now Reddick is just dandy in Philadelphia after helping the Eagles reach the Super Bowl with 16 sacks in 2022.
Reddick found himself in conversations for Defensive Player of the Year while Cardinals fans found themselves watching from afar, wondering how Arizona swung and missed so badly on a prospect like him.
The very man who drafted him shed some light on what the Cardinals tried to do with Reddick.
On the Green Light Podcast with Chris Long, former Cardinals GM Steve Keim opened up about Reddick's tenure in Arizona.
"Howie [Roseman] and I had some conversations about him and I said, 'just rush him.' We drafted him 14th overall and he went to the Senior Bowl that year as a stacked linebacker, which I thought made no sense. He was a guy a Temple who not only was a walk-on at Temple, but he was a guy who played anywhere from a five [technique], a seven, rushed the passer extremely well, was active, obviously a tremendous skill set with his speed and explosiveness," Keim said.
It's awfully odd that Keim admitted that playing Reddick off the line of scrimmage was a silly move just prior to his team doing the same thing, perhaps pinning some blame on the coaching staff.
"So we tried to play him at MIKE linebacker, or I should say we played him at SAM and WILL and thought he'd be a good cover guy who can run, cover and those sort of things. The one thing he didn't do great is he didn't play a lot of stacked backer, which as you know is really hard to process and see things if you're not used to it. So over time, we found out that he couldn't really adapt to that position. I told our coaches we gotta put him back at outside linebacker and give him a try. I know that some of our coaches that he was too small, which to me when you look at the nature of the position over the years - there's been guys who have been 5-foot-10 who have rushed the passer. They have a unique skill set and they can compensate with their ability to rush.
"Haason has such explosiveness, we moved him back to OLB that last year he was on contract - I think he had 11 sacks and the rest is history."
The Cardinals are now again in search of a strong pass rusher after names such as Chandler Jones, J.J. Watt and Zach Allen have departed in the last two offseasons.
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