Given the opportunity to dominate Arizona’s snaps at running back in the second half of the 2019 NFL season, Kenyan Drake played so well, the Cardinals used their transitional tag in the offseason to make sure the former Alabama standout returned for 2020.
When Arizona kicks off its 2020 campaign against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Drake will start the season as his team’s undisputed No. 1 ball-carrier for the first time since high school.
“He’s worked really hard,” Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said. "When he got here last year, I think he knew this was kind of his chance. Either he was going to play at a high level or not have a ton more opportunities. He took it and ran with it.
“I’m excited to see what he can do. He has the mindset of one of the top guys. He thinks he can be that, and we’re very high on what he can do in this system.”
Arizona obtained Drake from the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 28 for a fifth-round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft. He started at running back for the final eight games of 2019 and produced 643 yards and eight touchdowns on 123 rushing attempts and 171 yards on 28 receptions in his first half-season with the Cardinals.
That prompted Arizona to commit to an $8.483 payday for Drake for the 2020 season in the hopes that he can pick up where he left off. Drake hopes his work will pay off with victories. The Cardinals haven’t been to the postseason or had a winning record since 2015.
“I look at how a lot of guys that are in this situation,” Drake said, "they use it as a stepping-stone to not only have personal success but have team success to help put their team in the best position these first four games. Kliff put a stat up in the team meeting earlier how the Cardinals since 2016 are like 3-21-1 in the month of September, and I feel like I want to be a part of this turnaround, to help this team continue to reach the goals that they want to reach.
“It starts with this Sunday against the 49ers, so I want to go out there, play up to my ability, help the people around me, handle my one-eleventh, obviously, and just continue to play to the standard that I hold myself to.”
After being traded, Drake arrived in Arizona on Monday, then ran for 110 yards and one touchdown and caught four passes for 52 yards against San Francisco in his Cardinals' debut in a Thursday night game.
“I look at film from the game,” Drake said, “… and I look at my footwork, hand placement, blocking assignments, landmarks, things of that sort, and I feel like I’m night and day compared to what I was then in terms of my knowledge of the offense and my responsibilities, so I’m excited.”
With 2019 No. 1 draft choice Kyler Murray entering his second season as the Cardinals' quarterback and All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins coming aboard in a trade, Drake thinks Arizona will have a better offense in 2020 than the one that finished 16th in scoring and 21st in yards among the NFL’s 32 teams in 2019.
Starting the season with San Francisco will test that. The 49ers won the NFC championship and gave up the fewest yards in the conference last season.
“We have a lot of confidence in the players and the coaching staff to get this game plan kind of rolling,” Drake said. "Obviously, it’s on a week-to-week basis because we can’t look past this great team that we’re going to play this week in San Francisco. But we definitely feel like we have a lot of confidence, and we just want to go out there and prove it week in and week out. …
“They’re a great team, obviously, with the things that they did last year. But we feel like we’re a better offense than we were last year with a year under Kyler’s belt, under Kliff’s belt, mine personally. We just kind of want to go out there and prove we can play on the same field as those guys, obviously, with those guys kind of close to winning a Super Bowl championship.”
Cardinals fans raised the alarm when Drake turned out for practice on Aug. 24 in a walking boot. But the running back said he’s ready to play.
“To be honest, I was out the boot in like two days,” Drake said. “The boot wasn’t really much of a concern. I guess it was something that wasn’t really public, so people didn’t know if I had it on or not. I was out of the boot pretty fast.”
The Cardinals and 49ers kick off at 3:25 p.m. CDT Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
· Washington uses new rule to promote Cam Sims
· Bradley Bozeman relies on 2 lessons with Ravens
· Cam Newton on Patriots' debut: ‘Excitement level is on a thousand’
· Henry Ruggs III’s first NFL game really will be his first NFL game
· Meet the NFL rookies with Alabama football roots
· Ravens Pro Bowler to see what Browns rookie Jedrick Wills has
· Mark Ingram retains ‘burning desire to prove that I’m one of the best’
· Philip Rivers ready for new start with Colts
· Falcons' Julio Jones hikes toward another NFL milestone
· Chiefs pick up in NFL season-opener where they left off in Super Bowl
· Houston Texans skip national anthem before NFL season-opening game
· NFL Week 1: Schedule, TV and odds
· Alabama Roots: $100,000-a-week NFL players
· Terrell Lewis to miss at least first 3 games of Rams' season
· 54 Alabama alumni ready to play in NFL Week 1
· 26 Auburn alumni ready to play in NFL Week 1
· Cody Parkey, Cam Sims on first-of-its-kind NFL list
· Angelo Blackson makes quick return to the NFL
· Ronnie Harrison ‘relieved to be out of Jacksonville’
· Steelers bring back quarterback Devlin Hodges
· Damien Harris to miss at least first 3 weeks of Patriots' season
· Bo Scarbrough goes on injured reserve to create roster spot for his ‘idol’
· Washington coach explains decision to put Reuben Foster back on injured reserve
· Tua Tagovailoa to open NFL career as backup with Dolphins
"load" - Google News
September 13, 2020 at 08:00PM
https://ift.tt/2GXizEg
Kenyan Drake getting his chance to carry the load for the Cardinals - AL.com
"load" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2SURvcJ
https://ift.tt/3bWWEYd
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Kenyan Drake getting his chance to carry the load for the Cardinals - AL.com"
Post a Comment