The Arizona Cardinals have to remake their outside linebacker room this year because of the departure of Chandler Jones in free agency. Markus Golden returns on one side, but the room is made up mostly by guys trying to reestablish themselves as pass rushers or by guys trying to make a name for the first time.
One player trying to make a name for himself is rookie Myjai Sanders and one trying reestablish himself is Dennis Gardeck.
Gardeck had seven sacks in 2020 in only 93 defensive snaps before tearing his ACL. Sanders was a third-round pick who has flashed some potential.
Sanders says Gardeck has been very helpful and he even compared him to one of the best pass rushers we have seen in recent history,
He referred to Von Miller when describing Gardeck’s play.
“It’s just How fluid he is with what he does,” Sanders told reporters Tuesday. “He never wastes a step. He’s always going forward. Everything he does is intentional. He’s really precise about what move he’s going to throw, and it starts in the meeting room. He always says what he’s going to do before we get on the field, and he actually does it.”
Gardeck is undersized as an edge rusher at 6-0 and 232 lbs. He did not have a sack in 2021 after his seven in 2020.
He will have an expanded role this coming season.
But Sanders says he hasn’t seen anyone with the same pass-rushing force and ability, “not since Von Miller,” who has 115.5 career sacks in 11 seasons.
Perhaps it isn’t an apt comparison. Miller is longer and more athletic, but he does have great technique.
But for a rookie to even mention one of the greats of this generation with a player like Gardeck, it shows just how much respect the veteran has had on Sanders and the impact he has had in his early development.
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