Rookie CB shines in a role that he probably won’t play for much longer

Arizona Cardinals rookie Max Melton has become a dual threat with his progress as a cornerback and also on special teams as one of the Gunners in punt coverage.

His defensive snaps have increased over the season, but there were fewer in Sunday’s game against the Seahawks because he was unable to practice the Thursday before the game due to an illness.

He was back in training on Friday with full participation and no injury status, but was then downgraded to questionable early Sunday morning.

Head coach Jonathan Gannon said what happened on game day was that Melton “woke up sick, sick. I think it actually started a little bit in the middle of the night and then I honestly didn’t think he was going to play. (He) kind of recovered and was able to play. But we have him in there. I thought he played well in teams, especially well in teams. He played some snaps on defense.”

Melton explained his ordeal to Cards Wire, saying, “I had pain all over my body, headaches, chills and sweats. My throat swelled, I couldn’t eat, and I lost weight. Literally everything that could go wrong with your body went wrong. I kept getting better until I woke up on the plane as we landed in Seattle and everything came back. I felt a little better that night and went to bed feeling a little better.

“When I woke up it was crazy. But the doctors did a good job making sure I could play well. When I got on the bus on the way to the stadium, I thought I could play. When I got to the stadium I thought I could definitely play. Call our medical staff. it was all of them. When kick-off came I felt like myself again and during the game I felt great.”

His defensive snaps were at 44 percent, having played 79, 100, 97 and 62 in the last four games.

Meanwhile, special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers loves the job Melton and Joey Blount do as gunners.

“When you have a dominant shooting game, we haven’t dominated all the time this season, (but) when you have a dominant shooting game, you dictate to the return team that either you catch the ball fairly or you’ll do something about him . If you allocate resources externally, not as much happens against the protecting group. It certainly makes a difference when the shooters play well.

“And if they have skills that require attention, that usually helps. And when you have two guys like that, you have to make decisions now because as special teams coaches we’re in a unique position because we coach against players like Max and we have players like Max. So what would we do against a player who plays really well in that position, against OK? Where does the ball go? There are a lot of factors that come into play, but having good gunners definitely helps your punter, your punt team, your field position, all those things.”

Speaking of players, Blake Gillikin boasts a 49.5 average (11th in the NFL) and is tied for third in net average with the Raiders’ AJ Cole at 44.3. Jacksonville’s Logan Cooke leads the league in net with 46.4 and Detroit’s Jack Fox is second with 46.1.

In 36 punts, Gillikin has 18 inside the 20, 12 were fair catches, six were knocked down and only one resulted in a touchback.

Asked if he was as consistent a player as ever, Rodgers replied: “Yeah, I mean, he’s had a good run; a good series of games. Its location, its hangtime, its distance and it has a lot of things to offer. We have to keep reporting on it. We need to improve some things in terms of protection. I thought both gunners played really well in the game this week (and) Blake was pretty darn good.”

Against Seattle, he averaged 51.7 with a net score of 50.2 on six punts, four inside the 20, and four fair catches.

Rodgers also knows he probably won’t have Melton as a shooting guard for much longer.

“Max is a really good player and he’s really fast,” Rodgers concluded. “He’s getting chances defensively and I think he’ll continue to develop and probably won’t be a shooter in the next few years. But that’s his role at the moment and he’s fine.”

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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Rookie CB shines in a role he probably won’t play for much longer