Arizona Cardinals Training Camp: 5 players to watch in 2014

5. Deone Bucannon

With the Cardinals losing Tyrann Mathieu for an undetermined amount of time to start the season, rookie SS Deone Bucannon will be called on early to be a factor for this defense. The Cards’ 27th overall pick in this year’s draft could be an answer to Arizona’s defensive issues in 2013 with tight ends.

He’s a big, physical safety with a barrel of potential and an excellent talent for stopping the run game, but he did have issues being over-aggressive at Washington State with a lack of recovery speed to make up for mental mistakes. He will hit people though, and he will hit them hard, which is a reason why his style of play matches up well with Todd Bowles’ system.

Mix in his impressive numbers at the combine with learning from a coach like Bruce Arians, and you can see the development of Bucannon excelling. But the Cardinals likely need to go to him early may expose his weaknesses at the pro level, especially against the mobile QBs in the NFC West.

This could leave Arizona vulnerable to draw plays/bootlegs and will leave the Cardinals depth shallow at safety. His progression though training camp will speak volumes on what we can expect come the start of the regular season.