Cards’ Marqui Christian wants to be ‘quarterback on defense’

The Arizona Cardinals’ fifth-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, Marqui Christian, could see his way toward some opportunities on the Cardinals’ defense.

Joining a top-notch secondary requires Christian to step his game up to the next level.

Defensive backs coach Nick Rapone is helping mold Christian into an NFL-caliber safety.

Christian spoke with Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Thursday about what Rapone told Christian to do in order to succeed in the off-season.

“Be as prepared as you can coming into camp because it’s a whole different ball game,” Christian said. “Learn all the positions on the back end, really be a quarterback for the defense, like really learn the ins and outs of everything.”

Christian adds both depth and versatility to the Cardinals’ defense.

Christian won the 2015 Cliff Harris Award, which is given to the small-school defensive player of the year as he played a hybrid safety-linebacker position at Division II Midwestern State.

In his senior season, Christian racked up 95 tackles, three passes defended, three fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles and two tackles for loss.

With Rashad Johnson signing with the Tennessee Titans and Tyrann Mathieu recovering from a knee injury, Christian could contribute to the Cardinals’ cause on more than just special teams.

In order to contribute, Christian must adapt to the playbook.

“It feels like I’m doing really well. At first they threw a lot at us so there were some mistakes here and there, but they were mistakes we could clean up,” Christian said. “Just being able to rip it out on the field and get so many reps during rookie mini-camp, it was just about flowing.”