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Arizona Cardinals: 5 offseason needs in 2020

By Russell S. Baxter

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 29: Head coach Kliff Kingsbury of the Arizona Cardinals on the sidelines in the first half of the game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 29: Head coach Kliff Kingsbury of the Arizona Cardinals on the sidelines in the first half of the game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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SEATTLE, WA – DECEMBER 22: Running back Kenyan Drake #41 of the Arizona Cardinals runs with the ball during game against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on December 22, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. The Cardinals won 27-13. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA – DECEMBER 22: Running back Kenyan Drake #41 of the Arizona Cardinals runs with the ball during game against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on December 22, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. The Cardinals won 27-13. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /

2. Re-sign RB Kenyan Drake

He proved to be one of the better midseason trades less than a year ago. The house cleaning by the Miami Dolphins enabled the Arizona Cardinals to grab running back Kenyan Drake for a reasonable price.

And once head coach Kilff Kingsbury started using him a little more, most notably down the stretch, he paid dividends. For Big Red, he wound up with 123 carries for 643 yards and eight touchdowns in only eight appearances with the club. It’s also worth noting that the versatile performer totaled 28 receptions for 171 yards for Big Red.

In four seasons with the Dolphins and Cardinals, Drake has totaled only 600 touches. It’s added up to 3,282 yards from scrimmage and 23 touchdowns. In other words, he hasn’t shown a lot of wear and tear and has made only 24 starts while playing in 62 NFL contests.

Of course, the four-year pro is also slated to become an unrestricted free agent on March 18. So will be interesting to see if the Cardinals plan on bringing him back.

There’s already been some whispers that veteran David Johnson is not in the teams’ plans going forward but that certainly remains to be seen. And 2018 fourth-round pick Chase Edmonds ran for 303 yards and four scores in ’19. But retaining Drake would be a wise move for a team that improved from last in the league in rushing in 2018 to 10th this past year.

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