Bené Benwikere continues patching holes for Cardinals

TEMPE, Ariz. — Bené Benwikere joined the Arizona Cardinals as a depth option in March. After the preseason and training camp went well, he made the 53-man roster looking like a backup cornerback at best.

Arizona’s coaching staff, as well as they already knew him, probably couldn’t have predicted how valuable he’d become.

Benwikere isn’t sure they knew where to deploy him. He just knows the versatility helped.

“I’m sure it (helps) because they just know they need a DB,” he said. “They don’t know what position they may need and they don’t know maybe what they have. Like, I feel like here maybe some of the coaches weren’t really sure what they were … going to do if they brought me in. I could play either one.”

Through nine games, Benwikere has played the fifth-most snaps on the team.

How’d it come to this? For one, he took former starting cornerback Jamar Taylor’s job in Week 4 and hasn’t given it back. But Benwikere has also proved valuable in dime packages and as injuries hit across Arizona’s defensive backfield.

Three weeks ago against San Francisco, he split his time between playing his starting corner spot and acting as a deep safety with the injured Tre Boston out.

This week, with a knee injury keeping starting nickel corner and leading tackler Budda Baker out of practice Wednesday and Thursday with a knee injury, Benwikere just might be leaned upon again.

Head coach Steve Wilks said Wednesday the team didn’t know how long Baker might be out. On Thursday, defensive coordinator Al Holcomb didn’t duck the possibility that the team’s leading tackler is sidelined.

“Budda’s a special player. He wears a lot of hats on our defense, which is hard to replace. But the players that we have, Bené fits into that mold as well, as far as being a multiple position player,” Holcomb said.

“Next man up. We got to get the production out of the position … but I’m confident in Bené’s ability.”

At this point, Benwikere is used to changing positions, sometimes by the week.

“I’ve learned I can’t have a preference,” Benwikere said. “A lot of people — even in bouncing around, it was always ‘Hey, we need you playing corner this week, we need you at safety. We need you at nickel. I like corner, I like playing outside, but I don’t think I can take that mindset … anymore because I’ve always moved around.”

Having spent 2014-16, his first three NFL seasons, under Wilks’ staff in Carolina made him familiar with the scheme. It gave him a leg up as a free agent this past summer.

But Benwikere’s versatility proved instrumental, too.

He was cut by the Panthers in 2016 after the team allowed more than 300 receiving yards to Falcons wideout Julio Jones and since bounced from Miami, to Green Bay and to Cincinnati.

Benwikere was traded before the 2017 season to the Cowboys, where he finally latched on. All of his stops saw him practice inside and out, and it was at the end of last year when Dallas began to practice him at safety.

He didn’t play it in a game until the 49ers outing with the Cardinals.

So far, they’ve done a lot with him.

Benwikere has 42 tackles, three passes defensed and an interception this year. Last week at Kansas City was his most active outing, as he finished with nine tackles.

Now, there’s a chance he could be on the move yet again, replacing Baker, the Cardinals’ leader in tackles (75) and tackles for loss (8).

“I think he brings a level of energy, tenaciousness,” Benwikere said. “He’s just a playmaker, a baller. He finds his way to the ball, tackles, sacks …. helps create turnovers and just getting everybody lined up.

“That’s what it’s going to be, is just making sure we’re all communicating,” Benwikere said of the possibility Baker is out. “After that, we have to make the plays.”

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