Will Johnson has his spot now.
Yes, the rookie cornerback will be among the starters for the Cardinals as they open the regular season in New Orleans, but in this case, Johnson's spot is the rest of the season, sitting next to Budda Baker in meetings.
"I usually sit by myself, but I might look at someone and say, 'Come here and sit,'" Baker said, reenacting tapping on the table in front of him.
"I saw Will sitting there, I said, 'Come sit here.'"
Baker did the same thing with Starling Thomas V last year. At that point, Thomas was a year into his career and already a starter. Johnson hasn't played a regular-season snap yet, although he may be the rookie under the hottest spotlight. Once first-round pick Walter Nolen III lost training camp (and he remains on PUP with his calf injury), Johnson was next up for attention. The fact everyone, including himself, thought he was going to be a first-round pick before falling to the second round, adds to the story.
Johnson was part of Jonathan Gannon's restructured preseason plan to get rookies more playing time than in the past; Johnson appeared in all three preseason games and played 50 snaps. It was uneven, including multiple penalties, but Johnson took it as the learning experience it was meant to be.
"There is always room to grow," he said. "Look at the good, look at the bad, and figure out what you're going to do off of that."
What stands out about Johnson – something that second-year cornerback Max Melton emphasized back in the first week of training camp – is his smarts and grasp of the playbook. Melton said Johnson was much further ahead of where he was as a rookie.
"When you practice the right way, which I feel Will has been doing, it makes it easier to go into the game," cornerback Garrett Williams said. "Practicing that way and being around guys who have been in the league, it's more 'OK, let me do what I've been doing.'"
Johnson still has to execute in a game, and the young defensive backs as a group need to continue to work on their handsy approach which led to preseason flags. But defensive coordinator Nick Rallis believes Johnson's love of prep will aid his readiness.
"I'm excited to go make some plays that matter," Johnson said.
-- The Cardinals don't often go to New Orleans. They were there in Kyler Murray's rookie season – his recollection: "Sh*t was moving so fast." – in 2019 when the Saints rolled. They've only played there five times since their last win there in 1996, and the last three trips (including the playoff loss in the 2009 season, Kurt Warner's final game) have been dropped by an average of 25 points a game.
This one is different, though. The Saints are in a rebuild. The Cardinals expect to be coming out of theirs. This is a game the Cards need to control as an opener, and they have the talent to do it.
-- That 2019 game is the last time the Cardinals went to the Big Easy, but there was supposed to be a preseason game there in 2021. And what an odd day that was. Hurricane Ida was bearing down on the city, so kickoff for the preseason game was moved up 12 hours. So the Cardinals took off the day before as usual – but while the Cardinals were in the air, the game was cancelled. The charter flight ended up doing a U-turn over Texas to come back home. Oddest flight I've ever been a part of.
-- There seems to be an undercurrent storyline this year of Kyler Murray running more often. That question is still met with a TBD, based on the game. But there is little question the knee within which he tore his ACL should not be an issue. Murray said he felt good, and quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork said he can see Murray more confident.
"I remember in Denver, he kind of made a juke move the same to the one he made to tear his ACL and he came back smiling, 'Hey, that felt really good,'" Woolfork said. "That was one moment. But he's playing more freely."
-- The Cardinals were a top-five team in explosive run plays last season. But they were 25th in explosive pass plays, a subject that has been a constant talking point all offseason. The hope is that Marvin Harrison Jr. will spark a resurgence in that area.
"Whatever you need to do to win the game," coach Jonathan Gannon said. "But I do think we need to increase our explosives in the pass game. Score more points."
-- Numbers that matter: Last season, the Cardinals set a franchise record with 5.29 yards per rushing attempt, and their 92 accepted penalties was only one more than the fewest-penalized team in the league (Rams). If it is possible to repeat both, the Cardinals should be better in other areas for it to translate into more victories. There is no question the Cardinals will make the effort to run the ball as well.
-- Who runs it is a question. All of camp has featured the discussion of co-RB1, but we will see how many touches Trey Benson gets as long as James Conner is healthy.
-- Rallis, at age 32, asked what it was like to coach the 39-year-old Calais Campbell. "He's like a father figure to me."
Clearly Rallis is in regular-season form.
"I've had players the same age as me or older than me pretty much my whole NFL career," Rallis noted. And from Campbell's viewpoint, once he's with a team and past coaching introductions, the coaches are just the coaches, and they trade info. (Although Campbell acknowledged sometimes he may vibe better with the coaches than some of his teammates, given that age gap.)
-- Speaking of Campbell, one thing that has always been under the radar is his work on special teams. Special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers said Campbell will continue to get work on field-goal block and it seems probably he will be on the field goal unit as well.
"Calais is a problem for other teams when he's on the field for the block team," Rodgers said. "We played him last year (when Campbell was in Miami) and the first guy I was talking about was him."
-- Last Campbell note: He'll be only the third position player in the 100-plus years of franchise history to play a game at 39 years old. The others? QB Jim Hart, who was 39 in his last Cardinals game, and the legendary Jim Thorpe, who was 41.
-- Last word comes from left tackle Paris Johnson Jr.: "All the reps we've put in … now it's time to put that on show. Can't do too much talking. Now it's time to put the foot on the ball."
See you Sunday.
