The Arizona Cardinals have made it almost a yearly practice to select an offensive lineman on Day 3 of the NFL draft. Since 2012, they have selected Senio Kelemete, Nate Potter, Earl Watford, Evan Boehm, Cole Toner, Will Holden, Lamont Gaillard, Korey Cunningham, Josh Miles and Michael Menet.
None can really be considered a success story for the Cardinals, although some have had some level of success elsewhere.
Perhaps that will change with Miles, who enters his third NFL season after being selected in the seventh round in 2019 out of Morgan State.
He appears to be on track to make the team and has made big strides entering Year 3.
“I think Josh Miles is probably our most improved lineman,” offensive line coach and run game coordinator Sean Kugler told reporters Saturday. “I really felt when we took him three years ago, that it was probably going to take about three years. I really felt Year 3 you would start seeing the dividends of him paying off.”
He made the team each of the last two years but has played three offensive snaps.
Kugler thinks he is ready to start playing.
“He’s an outstanding athlete, he’s long, he can bend, and he plays with an edge, Kugler added. “He just didn’t have the football background that some of these other guys had coming from big programs so it’s been a developmental process for him. But he’s ready to step on the field here pretty soon. I’ve been very proud of him.”
He is listed as the primary backup left tackle in the team’s initial unofficial depth chart heading into the preseason opener.
He has looked good in practice and appears to be a lock for the roster as a backup tackle.
If he can develop into something more, he could become a late-round success story, something the Cardinals haven’t had in a while.
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