Every team has unsung heroes and players who are less appreciated than others. Some do more than they get credit for. Every team needs underrated players.
Who is the most underrated player on the Arizona Cardinals? According to Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar, it would be linebacker and special teams ace Dennis Gardeck.
No offense to the University of Sioux Falls, which has has just four NFL alumni in its history, but it’s fair to say that Dennis Gardeck came from an unusual place as an undrafted free agent in 2018 to his current status as the Cardinals’ most productive edge-rusher. It was a career for Gardeck in 2023, as he put up six sacks and 42 total pressures. Not world-beating numbers, but when you consider what Gardeck had around him, and the fact that he got home to the quarterback without a lot of help more often than not, the arrow is pointing up here.
Gardeck is currently in the last year of a three-year, $10 million deal, so another season like his last one could give him some decent bank in the next free agency cycle.
Not a lot of NFL players are able to stand up in the league out of the University of Sioux Falls, but @AZCardinals, but EDGE Dennis Gardeck is one. Went from no time in his first two seasons (2018-2019) to six sacks and 42 total pressures on 242 pass-rushing snaps in 2023. pic.twitter.com/AedZekpmuJ
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) May 23, 2024
Gardeck is a perfect example of being underrated. He led the Cardinals with six sacks. He was a team captain. He is undersized to play the edge and now has had a six-sack season and a seven-sack season.
He is well known in the locker room and locally, and even with a Pro Bowl selection in his career, you will be hard-pressed to find a fan outside of Arizona know who he is.
You don’t get much underrated than that. No one knows who you are and you lead your team in sacks.
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