ESPN reporter: Frostee Rucker could be veteran who doesn’t make roster
Jun 2, 2016, 11:01 AM | Updated: 4:27 pm
Arizona Cardinals' Frostee Rucker watches from the bench during the second half the NFL football NFC Championship game Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Bob Leverone)
(AP Photo/Bob Leverone)
To say the Arizona Cardinals have a stacked roster would be an understatement.
For the most part, everywhere you look there are solid starters, if not stars.
Having a roster as deep as theirs creates some interesting dilemmas, however, as the team will have to cut it down from 90 to just 53 players by the Week 1 opener against the New England Patriots.
A good many of the players who will be cut between now and then are younger athletes who are trying to buck the odds and stick on the roster, but there will likely be a handful of veteran players who will be looking for new jobs at some point over the next few months.
Projecting those guys can be difficult, though the folks over at ESPN gave it a shot. The site asked each of their 32 NFL Nation reporters to select one veteran who might not make the 2016 roster, and Josh Weinfuss, who covers the Cardinals, picked defensive lineman Frostee Rucker.
The Cardinals have done a good job keeping the number of veterans who may get cut to a minimum by emphasizing their personnel development on young players. If there was one player who’s on the bubble, however, it could be Rucker. The 32-year-old had offseason surgery to repair an ankle injury, and with the young depth the Cardinals have built on their defensive line, he may be among the expendable options. — Josh Weinfuss
Rucker has been a solid player since signing with the Cardinals in 2013, and posted a career-best five sacks in 2014. He started 13 games for the Cardinals in 2015, tallying 43 tackles, three sacks and nine tackles for loss. He also notched one fumble recovery, one forced fumble, 12 QB pressures and 12 QB hits.
However, as Weinfuss noted, he did undergo surgery in the offseason and it will be interesting to see how he bounces back. Though a leader in the locker room, the Cardinals have added enough young talent on the defensive line to possibly make him expendable.
The selection of Robert Nkemdiche in the first round of the draft along with return of defensive tackle Corey Peters will change things, and Rodney Gunter, who played in all 16 games as a rookie last season (including 11 starts at nose tackle), has been receiving work at other spots along the defensive line.
“Rodney’s got great flexibility,” Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said. “He can play either end; he can play six-technique, he can play the nose — so he’s in great shape that way, played them all last year.
“And Corey has end potential also. Yeah, we have great flexibility with our defensive line.”
