Overall, the Arizona Cardinals’ backups showed out in their 36-23 preseason victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
The preseason is to see how your depth pieces look on the field after the grind they’ve put in during OTAs, mandatory minicamp and training camp. During the Arizona Cardinals and Cincinnati Bengals preseason matchup, both teams had most of their starters sitting.
Arizona had 310 total yards and had only two penalties.. Arizona also had no turnovers and gave up no touchdowns in the first three quarters.
Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury was pleased after the game, especially with the team’s effort.
“That was our main goal to play clean, play physical, play fast and I thought we did those things,” Kingsbury said.
There were plenty of positives to choose from the Cardinals. Without further ado, here are the Cardinals’ risers from their preseason win.
Trace McSorley
The third-string quarterback got the start for Arizona and was a dual-threat throughout the evening.
The Penn State product was 3-for-5 for 19 yards, ran for 12 yards and had a passing touchdown on the opening drive.
There were two instances of near-interceptions for McSorley. But overall, the 26-year-old looked poised in the pocket.
He finished by completing 13-of-22 passing for 163 yards and had four rushes for 32 yards.
While head coach Kliff Kingsbury didn’t open his playbook wide, he also didn’t run vanilla plays for McSorley. There were a couple of designed quarterback runs and the play-action touchdown from McSorley to his opposite side fooled the Bengals’ defense.
At the end of his night, McSorley made a magician play, escaping with a spin move from two defenders in the pocket, running and throwing to wide receiver Andy Isabella for 36 yards.
The fourth-year quarterback is vying for the No. 3 quarterback spot on the 53-man roster.
Greg Dortch
The back-to-back training camp standout had 53 receiving yards at halftime to lead the team. He also had a highlight-reel 30-yard catch for a first down.
Dortch can contribute to special teams as well. He returned five punts for 89 yards, including a 55-yard return in the third quarter.
With Rondale Moore taking more of a role on offense, Dortch is the leading candidate for the punt returner job. Dortch is entering his second training camp with the Cardinals after making the practice squad last year ahead of the season.
He had no punt returns last season and all four of his kickoff returns came during the final three weeks of the regular season.
Victor Dimukeje
Scroll to Continue
Dimukeje made the 53-man roster last season and has the chance to do the same in 2022, especially after his preseason performance against the Bengals.
The 2021 sixth-round pick had two sacks, two quarterback hits and a tackle for loss. He was constantly putting pressure on the Bengals quarterback.
Our very own Aaron Decker of All Cardinals Fan Nation was right in calling that the outside linebacker could “have a great night” against the Bengals. Decker noted that Dimukeje has put pressure on the team’s quarterbacks during training camp.
Entering the preseason, Dimukeje had his work cut out for him to make the team. He’s competing against rookies Myjai Sanders, Cameron Thomas, Dennis Gardeck and Devon Kennard at edge rusher.
Matt Burke
While coordinator Vance Joseph heads the defense, the new defensive line coach is happy with his group’s performance.
Cincinnati didn’t have any success running the football. It wasn’t pretty at first when Bengals running back Chris Evans ran for 60 yards on the team’s first offensive play. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, an offensive holding call on tight end Thaddeus Moss negated the play. Bengals running backs had 23 rushing attempts for 41 yards for the day.
Seven players either had a quarterback hit or tackle for loss, with Jessie Lemonier having a strip-sack.
Andy Isabella
Isabella hasn’t had a memorable Cardinals tenure. He had one reception in 2021 after recording 30 combined catches in the previous two seasons. The 25-year-old asked permission to seek a trade during the 2022 offseason, but wasn’t dealt.
Fast forward to the 2022 preseason. He recorded four catches for 57 yards on seven targets Friday night, which was second on the team.
Of course, the Cardinals have Marquise Brown and Rondale Moore in their receiving room. DeAndre Hopkins will be coming back in Week 7 after a six-game PED suspension.
He’ll continue to compete with Dortch, while the injury to Antoine Wesley only invites more competition.
Honorable mentions
Christian Matthew and Josh Jackson
The rookie cornerback Matthew and free-agent addition Jackson had good moments in coverage, which is extremely important given the lack of strides from the cornerback group.
Jonathan Ward
The third-year running back has a tough hill to climb to make the roster, but he ran with a purpose, rushing for two touchdowns near the goal line. It didn’t help for him that rookie Keaontay Ingram also ran it in for six.
OL group
There was a reason why Ward and Ingram combined for three rushing touchdowns. Projected right-guard starter Will Hernandez and the backup offensive line were stable in allowing rushing lanes and for McSorley to stay in the pocket. Former third-round pick Josh Jones, who struggled last season, showed his potential at his natural tackle position.
The Cardinals will soon make a decision after their preseason win since NFL teams cut to 85 players by Tuesday.
