Arizona’s top two backs are now on IR
The Arizona Cardinals’ offense has been predicated on a good running game. This is OC Drew Petzing’s entire scheme is to dominate the line of scrimmage, run the ball, and control the clock.
So far this season, none of that has happened.
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To dominate the line, the offense must have a line, an offensive line to be exact. So far, the Cardinals’ front five has not been the force needed to sustain a very good rushing attack. Both tackles are doing fairly well, as is center Hjalte Froholdt. But the guards are having issues. What does this offense do with both LG Evan Brown and RG Isaiah Adams?
To be fair, Adams was thrown into the starting lineup too early, and now he has to learn while he earns. Injured OG Will Hernandez will eventually be back in the lineup, but for now, Arizona’s coaching staff just has to ride with what they have.
TE Trey McBride is a very good blocker and is considered an extension of the offensive line. His backup, Tip Reiman, isn’t as dominant as McBride, but is a good blocker himself. Both players use proper technique with good leverage.
Throughout all four games this season, the rushing attack has been stale. This decline has allowed defenses to play the run less aggressively and focus their scheme around stopping the passing game.
The Cardinals’ offense has been a combination of mostly ineffective runs and short-yardage passing. Petzing has never been an overly aggressive coordinator, but this is something new and is completely stagnant.
Without a good offensive line effort, this means the run game suffers, incompletions go up, so do interceptions and sacks, not to mention pressures.
RB James Conner was the rock at running back. Then, suddenly, he was lost for the season against the San Francisco 49ers in the Week 3 16-15 loss with a horrible ankle injury. Second-year running back Trey Benson took over the starting role this past weekend against the Seattle Seahawks. He suffered a knee injury late in the game.
While Conner is out for the year, Benson underwent arthroscopic surgery on his meniscus and is expected to be out for four to six weeks, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Arizona has a Week 8 bye, so it’s still possible that Benson only misses four games.
So, what now? Who is going to handle running the ball for Arizona? According to the Cardinals’ depth chart, that now falls upon Emari Demercado.
Exactly who is he, and what does he offer the Cardinals?
Beginnings
Demercado grew up in Inglewood, California, just southwest of Los Angeles and a stone’s throw from the Los Angeles International Airport. His heritage is from Jamaica.
He played running back and free safety for the football team at Downey High School. As a senior, he had 128 carries for 976 yards and scored 11 touchdowns with a 7.6 yards per carry average. He added eight receptions for 157 yards with an additional TD.
He was rated a three-star prospect and decided to attend Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California, a community college with just over 25,000 students.
At Saddleback for a single season, he was voted Captain and had 11 starts, 150 carries for 1,026 yards with 15 TDs, a 6.8 yards per carry average, and caught 54 balls for 443 yards and two touchdowns. He also logged zero fumbles. In a game against Grossmont, he tallied 160 yards with five touchdown runs.
At the conclusion of the season, Demercado was named his school’s Offensive MVP, First Team California Community College Football Coaches Association, First Team All-National Division Southern League, and voted the conference Offensive MVP while excelling in studies in engineering.
He took that experience and accepted a scholarship offer from TCU.
After redshirting, in his junior campaign, Demercado had two starts with eight games played, with just 46 carries for 199 yards. He was a pandemic athlete, which granted him a fifth season. In 2021, he started 11 games, gaining 446 yards on 96 carries with four scores, and 12 receptions for 94 yards.
As a super senior, he played the season having already earned his master’s degree in business analytics with a 3.7 GPA. He started all 15 games, ran for 681 yards on 121 carries with six TDs and a 5.6 yards per carry average. Demercado added 13 receptions for 65 yards and a single score. That season, TCU lost to Georgia in the National Championship Game.
For his college career, Demercado’s accolades include:
– 2023 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl invitee
– 2022 First-Team Academic All-Big 12
– 2021 First-Team Academic All-Big 12
– 2019 First-Team Academic All-Big 12
His X handle is @Money_E3 while his Instagram is @money_e2.
The next level
Leading up to the 2023 NFL draft, Demercado timed out at 4,4 in the 40 with a vertical leap of 32” and 9’-11” in the broad jump. The NFL draft came and went as he wasn’t drafted, but had his choice of a few teams to sign with as an undrafted rookie free agent. He chose the Cardinals.
Demercado had a very good training camp, and at the final cutdown, he had made the final 53-man roster. It didn’t take long for him to get carries because Conner injured his knee in the second quarter in the Week 5 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals played at State Farm Stadium. Demarcado was summoned to fill the void. At the time, Conner was the league’s third leading rusher.
RB Keaontay Ingram was Conner’s backup, but he was listed as inactive with a nagging neck injury. Demercado was next man up and rushed for 45 yards on 10 carries, plus scored his first NFL touchdown off an 11-yard scamper with 7:33 left in the third quarter.
He finished his rookie season with two starts and played in 14 games, 58 attempts for 284 yards, and scored twice. He added 21 receptions for 119 yards. He suffered a toe injury in Week 8 and missed one game. In 2024, he played sparingly with just 24 carries for 223 yards and a single TD.
Demercado hasn’t played much in the four games this season. He did have a nice touchdown catch against the Seahawks that tied the game at 20-20 with 28 seconds remaining in the game after Arizona had been dominated offensively all game and came back from a 20-6 deficit. He looked solid in a change-of-pace role behind Benson.
Going forward
In 2023, Conner returned to the lineup. Not this year. And Benson is gone for at least a month. It would have been a glorious site to see both Conner and Benson in the same backfield at the same time. But now, this means the rushing attack is solely in the hands of Demercado.
For one, he is a very smart kid. He is also tough as nails and will run right through his defender. He has dependable hands and is a willing blocker. Demercado is a well-built runner who plays with good balance through contact. Excellent football IQ who has only fumbled once in the NFL and zero in college.
As far as his acceleration through open gaps, that is just average. He does have some footwork deficiencies as well, and at times will take too much time in reading block development. He does have the ability to rip off chunk runs and does a nice job of getting what is there.
As an NFL player, he is averaging 6.0 yards per carry, which is exceptional. Demercado has, this far, made the most of a tenuous opportunity, and being suddenly the starting RB on an offense that has struggled is not the ideal situation to be in. But here he is.
It isn’t unthinkable that Demarcado could continue to defy expectations. The fact that he went undrafted is now an afterthought. Many good running backs have gone this route, such as Arian Foster, Joe Perry, Priest Holmes, Marion Motley, and Phillip Lindsay.
Will the Cardinals now become interested in bringing in another running back? Maybe. But for now, it is Demarcado’s role as the new starter.
Fans and the media have perceived Demarcado to have slow footwork and a lack of explosiveness. But he teased some untapped potential in those areas. He will fight through heavy traffic, can pick up that blitzing linebacker, is a friend to the checkdown pass, and has a burst once he gets into the open field.
Cardinals’ fans are counting on it.
Category: General Sports
