Cardinals’ first unofficial depth chart features Brice Butler as No. 2 WR
Aug 6, 2018, 8:59 PM
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The Arizona Cardinals have a couple of key position battles going down in training camp.
Questions will linger heading into the regular season for who will start at important spots, including the second wide receiver, cornerback and defensive end.
The first hint at the answers was released on Monday when the team’s first unofficial depth chart came out.
The depth chart included Brice Butler getting the nod as the team’s No. 2 wide receiver.
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The 28-year-old spent his first two NFL seasons with the Oakland Raiders and then played for the Dallas Cowboys from 2015-17. Last season, Butler posted a career-best 317 yards on just 15 receptions over 13 games. He scored three touchdowns and had 10 first downs on those catches.
Butler is expected to compete with J.J. Nelson, Chad Williams and Christian Kirk for the second-most catches in the receivers room to Larry Fitzgerald. Williams and Nelson were both down as second-team options behind Fitzgerald and Butler.
Elsewhere, the team still doesn’t have a timetable on the return of pass rusher Markus Golden from an ACL tear. That means someone else will have to start on the opposite side of defensive end Chandler Jones for the time being, and the depth chart lists Benson Mayowa in that spot.
Mayowa signed with the team in late April. The 26-year-old undrafted pass rusher out of Idaho played for the Dallas Cowboys the last two seasons, recording 46 tackles and 7.0 sacks with a forced fumble and fumble recovery over that span. He appeared in 27 regular season games and started eight times for Dallas.
Finally, it has been a revolving door for the corner starting with Patrick Peterson and former Brown Jamar Taylor has been placed there on the inaugural depth chart.
Taylor was acquired by the Cardinals this offseason in exchange for a 2020 sixth-round draft pick. On the depth chart, Bene Benwikere is behind Taylor, while Brandon Williams is the third-string name at the position. Williams started in three games two seasons ago and played in all 16 games last year.
Other notable spots on the depth chart include running back T.J. Logan as the starting kick returner and rookie wide receiver Christian Kirk as the lead punt returner.
