Get that ring to make it fill circle, I'm sure the Cardinals Fans will have your back here in Glendale, Ball out in the stadium you called home for 4 years, show all the fans who hated on you that you were worth the 13th pick in 2017, let that motivate you!!! @Haason7Reddick https://t.co/XJ9jA2fNjs
— Marcos Labrada (@PancakesSoul) January 30, 2023
Do I have an affinity for Haason? Yes, Do I @ him on Twitter a lot? Yes. Was I very vocal about not letting him walk? Absolutely! Haason Reddick has grown to be my favorite player outside of the Cardinals organization. He is my favorite because of the journey that Haason took to be in the NFL, it’s a true underdog story.
Haason was born in Camden New Jersey. He really didn’t play football or prioritize it in high school, but he became a walk-on for the Temple Owls. He started out playing running back and safety but quickly moved to linebacker before being moved to defensive end his sophomore year, where he played the rest of his college career.
Going into the 2017 draft, Haason posted very athletic numbers with an 11’1″ broad jump, 36 1/2″ vertical, and a 4.52 40-yard time, and had 24 bench reps. In the Senior Bowl, they played him at inside linebacker due to his size and stature and he was highlighted for his ability to cover. The draft was held in Camden, New Jersey, so he became the story of the draft as the “hometown kid”. I mean you couldn’t write a better story for Haason, his own mom pulled a loan to have funds for a meal plan.
Here are some notable things said about Haason during his combine:
Let me get 1 thing straight, I’m not defending Steve Keim, I think he made this selection knowing Haason was moving to inside backer, and I truly feel he was chasing the ghost of Daryl Washington since this was the pivotal moment where Washington was reinstated and released by the Cardinals before the draft.
Team statement on Daryl Washington. Washington was reinstated by the NFL today on a conditional basis. pic.twitter.com/l1lfh4ZmvF
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) April 25, 2017
They thus released Daryl Washington the following Thursday.
A statement from FA LB Daryl Washington, who — due to AZ's crowded depth chart & inability to find common ground on a price — was released pic.twitter.com/5TXe3qHk47
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 11, 2017
I listen to the Black Hollywood Live podcast and it was clear that Daryl Washington was a Texas man through and through. He played at TCU, and he spent a good portion of the podcast using the platform as a way to let his intentions know he wanted to be a Dallas Cowboy. I can’t find any reports about anything culminating from the interest but it says a lot that the dispute of coming to an agreement about money seemed to play out horribly for the former All-Pro inside linebacker.
There is no secret that since Daryl was suspended, the postion has been a problem for the Cardinals. In fact, the last time the Cardinals beat Cam Newton was with Daryl on the roster, and Daryl was a nightmare for Cam.
Here are his PFF grades against Cam Newton 2011:
Overall Defense: 90.8 Run Defense: 71.8 Tackle: 81.1 Pressure: 80.9 Coverage: 83.2. He had 2 sacks and 1 interception. He would’ve had 2 interceptions if not for a roughing the passer call. This was Cam Newtons first ever game, and the Patrick Peterson punt return for the go-ahead lead and win.
Against Cam Newton 2013:
Overall Defense: 91.4 Run Defense: 65.8 Tackle : 83.6 Pressure: 80.5 Coverage: 91.2. He had 2 sacks and 1 interception he probably could’ve taken to the house if Cam Newton wasn’t so athletic. This was his first game back after serving his suspension. He was considered to be the best blitzing ILB in his short career. He had 9 sacks in 2012 and became a 2nd team All-Pro. Being that they let Karlos Dansby hit free agency because at the time Daryl was on the roster, once Daryl was suspended indefinitely now there was a void at inside linebacker.
They drafted Kevin Minter in the second round of the 2013 draft but didn’t see the field because of Daryl and Karlos (who was another athletic freak linebacker). Kevin had somewhat of a similar build, but he couldn’t replicate what was done by the past 2 second round Linebackers the Cardinals drafted.
In that tenure the Cardinals expieramented with a player they took in the first round of the 2014, they drafted a hard hitting safety by the name of Deone Bucannon. Deone was supposed to be a linebacker similar to Kam Chancellor, or the next Adrian Wilson. I don’t think when the Cardinals drafted Deone they were anticipating using him as the “moneybacker” which just meant playing Linebacker as a safety, which is why he kept the number 20 as his number. He was asked to play inside linebacker by Bruce Arians, he had a good year at $LB in 2015 but after the that his career just kept taking a dive.
All that has led to 2017 with Haason Reddick and this moment right here.
And this moment below makes me sad.
https://www.pff.com/news/draft-pff-scouting-report-haason-reddick-lb-temple
During the 3 years of uncertainty where Haason was moved from inside to outside and vise versa, he had 3 DC’s in that span with 3 different schemes and philosophies.
It wasn’t memorable and he wasn’t doing enough to warrant him not being a bust at this point. His name will forever be tied with the names of Patrick Mahomes and Desean Watson. Hindsight is 20/20 after all. In 2017, the most pro-ready quarterback in the draft was Mitchell Trubisky, the most talented quarterback physically was Patrick Mahomes, and the most accomplished was Desean Watson. Apparently, the Cardinals were very interested in Patrick Mahomes. I have my own thoughts about that but given we never seemed to prioritze a rookie QB the entire BA era, then as soon as we move on Keim moves up to draft Josh Rosen the following year. Anyways, a common thing to do as a fan is use hindsight to pass unfair judgement on a player. Unfortunately one of those players the Cardinals passed up on, while not looking to draft that position in that draft was TJ Watt who was taken by the Steelers with the 30th pick. What a shame, the Cardinals drafted a guy meant to play off-ball LB, and miss-used him, when they couldv’e drafted a man who no question was an edge rusher.
The horrible season that was 2019 hit its peak when the Cardinals out of the bye week, faced off against the Los Angeles Rams. By that time Haason Reddick had been having a decline in snaps, losing them to Joe Walker. Haason had one snap the entire game, and he gave up a 2-yard touchdown to Tyler Higbee.
This was an embarrassing loss, and this touchdown being highlighted, along with the season, and David Johnson also being in the dog house, prompted fans and media members to trade Haason Reddick, or flat-out cut him. I can honestly say if I asked Haason what his low point in his career was, he will point to this moment.
There was a literal turning point at this time, against Pittsburg the following week, Haason was officially moved to outside linebacker, predominately SAM Linebacker. He was only given 6 snaps at the position, but due to the poor play by Terrell Suggs at WOLB, both the Cardinals and Suggs decided to part ways. This was the turning point for Haason.
Haason Reddick thrived at the SAM linebacker spot
Moving Hasson to Sam Linebacker changed his career path, and subsequently helped the Cardinals defense pull off a great upset over the Seahawks in Week 16. It helped the run defense which was notoriously bad at defending outside zone runs to the weak side. It helped defend against tight ends and running backs to the flat and most importantly it moved Chandler Jones off the Sam Linebacker position and moved him to rush the quarterback in a full time role.
Going back to that Seattle game, Chandler had 4 sacks in the game, 2 hits, 2 hurries while Haason had 1 hit, 4 hurries. I wish I can pull up all-22 film to have examples, but Russell Wilson was known to punish the Cardinals over aggressive tendencies to set hard edges by escaping the pocket. That became a lot harder to do when an athletic edge was able keep square and contain Russ in the pocket. That was the first step and first thing that was noticed when watching Haason man the Sam Linebacker position. He drastically improved his play, posting four solid grades in that four game span, being good in tackling but better yet, showing promise against the run with his best run grade coming against the Los Angeles Rams grading 89.0.
2020 became a retooling year where the idea was to build on what was working at the end of the 2019 season. This glimpse was what I think saved Vance Joseph from Black Monday, in my opinion. Unfortunately for Haason, the offseason only cast more doubt on him. So it started out with the Cardinals not picking up Reddick’s 5th year option.
Report: Cardinals not picking up Haason Reddick's fifth-year option https://t.co/4WI2AjcBlT
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) May 4, 2020
It was no secret during the 2020 free agency period and draft that the Cardinals were shopping Haason, lucky for us there were no suitors. They ended up signing Devon Kennard who the Lions cut, was a valley native, and had 7 sacks. He was supposed to be the upgrade opposite of Chandler Jones.
We Cardinals fans knew what happened that season, with Haason getting 5 sacks in the first 7 games and having 2 sacks in a win against the Cowboys. He was also instrumental in the Seahawks “Game of the Year” upset having 1 sack, 2 hits, 2 hurries. He remained steady until he went on a four game tear, starting off with his best career game against the Giants setting the franchise single-game sack record (tied the next season by Chandler Jones in the 2021 season openor against the Titans) with 5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and a 97.1 pressure rate. The next game against the Eagles he recorded 1 sack 1 QB hit, and 8 hurries, 2 forced fumbles, recording a 87.2 pressure rate. The very next game against the 49ers he recorded 2 sacks, 2 hurries, 1 forced fumble and a 92.7 pressure rate. Finally, against the Los Angeles Rams, he ended with a modest 5 hurries. Haason ended up with 12.5 in 2020.
There was much talk about whether the Cardinals should bring back Patrick Peterson or Haason Reddick. With the state of the cornerbacks, Patrick seemed to be the move that made sense, but I was holding hope that the Cardinals would make a fair offer to Haason, or use the franchise tag for a prove-it year. A few days after free agency, Haason signed with the Panthers, reuniting with Matt Rhule (his former college coach) making a smart decision mainly because Rhule and his coaching staff will use him correctly and maximize his usage. That ended up working perfectly, Haason notched 11 sacks that season leading to this during the 2022 off-season.
I’M COMING HOME!!!! #FlyEaglesFly
— Haason 7 Reddick (blue check) (@Haason7Reddick) March 14, 2022
I thought he meant coming back to Arizona, but I realized that even though he called Arizona home for 4 years, he didn’t feel wanted or like he was at home. He was signed on a multi-year deal by the Eagles to play in his home stadium, going on a magical run, and now coming to play in Superbowl LVII at State Farm Stadium, where he played for 4 years. So let’s welcome Haason back, even in a different uniform. Let’s cheer him on and give him a warm “welcome back”.
