NFL Draft Update: Seahawks Rival Arizona Takes Haason Reddick

The Cardinals try to revamp their aging defense by taking linebacker Reddick

Reddick is a good player. The Cardinals made a wise choice. Of course, they also chose a player based on potential and raw athleticism. Reddick played defensive end at the University of Temple. He played outside linebacker, his presumed position in Arizona, during the Senior Bowl only.

Reddick has great speed but is too small for defensive end in the NFL. Reddick ran a 4.52 40 at the combine but is only 6’1″ and 237 pounds. His speed will allow him to make a quicker adjustment to his new position than some players. The question will be how quickly he can make the move to outside linebacker. Will he be expected to make an immediate impact? Or does Arizona expect him to possibly be a longer term answer to a defense that has an average age of 136 years old.

The Cardinals, of course, are not quite that old. But they will have one of the older defenses in the NFL in 2017. Arizona appears to have made a concerted effort to win big this year. Most likely, Reddick is part of the coming rebuild the Cardinals will face in 2018 and beyond.

Starting a rebuild on defense, though, is a smart move. A bad team, which Arizona will probably be in two to three years, can at least stay in games with a decent defense. Reddick will be expected to have a big role on these bad teams. Speed rusher? Check. Aggressive? Yep. Now the Cardinals just have to hope Reddick can stay healthy and learn well at his new position.

Otherwise, Reddick will just be a wasted pick on bad teams.