The Arizona Cardinals were one of the first teams to make cuts on August 30, the day before the 53-man roster deadline.
Arizona decided to cut 10 players. Those names include OL Shaq Calhoun, RB Tavien Feaster, C Michal Menet, DL Cam Murray, CB Picasso Nelson, WR A.J. Richardson, LB Evan Weaver, P Ryan Winslow and LB Bryson Young.
The last player is KeeSean Johnson, a 2019 sixth-round pick that most experts had making the team. He has combined for 36 receptions and 360 yards with one touchdown over two seasons.
Arizona cut three draft picks from the last three years. Menet was a draft pick this year and Weaver was last year.
Johnson was battling against Andy Isabella, Greg Dortch and Antoine Wesley in the preseason. Arizona will have to make 15 more cuts by August 31.
Today’s moves won’t be official until 1:00 P.M. Arizona time.
Wide Receiver Depth Reason for his Departure
It was true what we said on August 26:
It’s most likely that two of KeeSean Johnson, Andy Isabella, Greg Dortch and Antoine Wesley are making the 53-man roster deadline on August 31.
It just didn’t seem like a possibility for Johnson missing the 53-man roster. With having DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green, Rondale Moore and Christian Kirk as the top four, it gets interesting seeing what to make of the end of the WR room.
Draft scout Damien Parson of Cover1.net had this to say about Johnson’s profile.
“KeeSean Johnson is 6 foot 1 and 201 pounds. He is not the most explosive or has the most twitch. He does have the frame and quickness out of his breaks to work the intermediate to short areas of the defense. In 2020, 127 of his 173 receiving yards came from the slot.”
Parson said it best that Johnson’s explosiveness was less than ideal. While Johnson can be productive on the field, his special teams’ work isn’t as useful. Dortch can punt return and Andy Isabella has gotten time in the kick returning department in the past. General manager Steve Keim must be taking that into consideration.
You could make the argument that Dortch has been one of the best offensive performers on the team. Not only has Dortch excelled on offense, but he also made a statement returning punts against the Dallas Cowboys. Dortch had three punt returns and averaged 11 yards per return.
While he may only be 5’7 and 175 pounds, Dortch has caught all five targets for 71 yards in the preseason and was the highest-graded offensive player against the Chiefs according to Pro Football Focus.
You can’t forget about Antoine Wesley either. Playing for Coach Kliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech and being familiar with his system should be noted.
Keim could easily just keep Isabella and have the roster with five receivers. But with Green and Moore’s injury history on top of Isabella’s inconsistency, it’d be wise to keep six receivers.
Disappointing 2019 Wide Receiver Class
The 2019 wide receiver class of Andy Isabella, Hakeem Butler and KeeSean Johnson looks pretty bleak at the moment.
Arizona cut Butler last season and was just waived by the Philadelphia Eagles last week. It’s looking like a dreadful wide receiver trio that Keim should forget about. Butler wasn’t active for a single game in 2019.
It hasn’t clicked yet for Isabella, but as of right now, the Cardinals remain super patient with the third-year receiver. Before landing on the Reserve/COVID list for a second time, Isabella was having a good camp.
It might be unfair to criticize Keim’s drafting of Johnson as he was a sixth-round pick. There seemed to be a connection between Kyler Murray and Johnson, but today’s moves showed that Johnson wasn’t the right fit.
Johnson can still land back with the Cardinals if he clears waivers.
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