Arizona Cardinals: Winners and Losers from OTAs so Far

It seems like it has been forever since the Arizona Cardinals have played, and with both free agency and the draft over, the past month or so has probably been pretty boring for the average NFL fan.

Most people are still in offseason mode around this time of year, and OTAs are the first real taste of the new season.

This is everyone's first chance to see the new players in action, and there has been a lot of good news coming out of Arizona. With mostly good news, however, expect some bad news as well.

Highlighted over the next few slides are the winners and losers of the Arizona Cardinals training camp so far.

Winner: Daryl Washington

Middle linebacker Daryl Washington is slowly becoming the leader of the Arizona Cardinals defense. In 2011, he led the team in tackles (107) and was tied for first among all inside linebackers in sacks (5).

Even though he had a great season, Washington is only looking to improve, as he has used this year’s OTAs to familiarize himself with the complex defensive scheme that Ray Horton has brought to the desert.

On top of that, Washington has also put on close to 15 pounds since entering the NFL. Getting bigger and smarter are two things that many people want to do, and it is something that Daryl Washington has done so far this offseason.

Loser: Jeff King

One of the worst ways for an individual to start the NFL season is to get injured, and that is exactly what happened to tight end Jeff King heading into Arizona Cardinals OTAs.

While working out at the Cardinals' facility, King suffered a partial tear of his quadriceps tendon.

Though he has already had surgery to repair it, the veteran tight end will have to wait until training camp to get on the field.

This is not good news, considering Arizona saw several key players fall to injury last season.

Winner: Darnell Dockett

I am going to go out on a limb and say that most people would be content with playing at the level that Darnell Dockett has played at during his time in Arizona.

Apparently Dockett is a little different from the average person, however, as he is raising the bar, and forcing himself to pay a fine for every mistake he makes.

Last week in OTAs, Dockett fined himself $200 for being held. He explained himself, saying “I believe you only get held if you allow people to hold you.”

When a player of his caliber is doing and saying things like this, it is really hard not to respect him.

Dockett has been a beast for the Cardinals so far, and it gives me goosebumps to think of him playing at the level that he is striving to play at. 

Loser: Patrick Peterson

While second year corner Patrick Peterson is making strides and looking to become one of the top corners in the league, he did take a little bit of heat for a comment he made in practice.

After being beat on a deep pass to Larry Fitzgerald, Peterson tried to avoid blame by telling Dockett that Fitz pushed off.

Dockett responded by saying that they were not going to call it, and then said, “We’re just trying to raise the standards around here and not have excuses.”

This may not seem like a big issue, but with players and coaches talking about how everything is coming together well, this is one of only a few issues that the Cardinals still face.