Rolle making successful switch

There was never a doubt that Antrel Rolle would commit himself to making a successful transition from cornerback to free safety.

"He just loves to play the game, and he doesn't care where he's playing," said Cardinals secondary coach Teryl Austin. "If you said, 'Trel, we have to line you up at nose tackle this week,' he'd say, 'All right, what do I have to do?' "

The questions about Rolle's move were more about time and space. How long would it take Rolle, who played cornerback in college and in his first three years with the Cardinals, to adapt to a position farther away from the ball?

Turns out, about a half a season. Rolle went through predictable rough spots early in the season, and his transition was slowed by an ankle injury suffered in training camp. He wasn't bad, but there were some bad angles taken and some tackles missed.

Over the past month, however, Rolle has settled into the free safety spot. Always a student of opponents' tendencies, he's now comfortable in applying the Cardinals defensive concepts to stopping them.

He returned an interception for a touchdown against the Rams in early November and had 12 solo tackles the past two games. He's even dabbled a bit on the offensive side of the ball, lining up at receiver and catching a pass for 9 yards last week against the Rams.

"When I see myself from Week 1 to Week 9 or 10, I'm like, 'Who is that dude out there?' " Rolle said. "I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. But that's all part of the process, you watch yourself grow, week in and week out."

Strong safety Adrian Wilson has played a large part in that process. Rolle has always been willing to study but had to grow accustomed to the physical differences between the two positions.

At safety, he also had to learn more about the entire defense. At cornerback, he usually had to worry about himself. Wilson taught him that knowing each position's responsibilities would help.

"It's not foreign for him any more to know what each guy is able to do," Wilson said. "It really helps our defense to have two guys (at safety) who kind of know what they're doing."

Wilson and Rolle are so comfortable now that they often play interchangeable roles. In past years, if a safety blitz was called and the offense flipped the strong side of the formation, Wilson moved to the other side, too.

Now, Wilson's just as likely to move back to safety and allow Rolle to move down. It's not always just Wilson coming down for run support, either.
"We know every formation, and we know each other's positions," Rolle said. "So at any given time, we have the ability and mind-set to adjust to formations. That's what we do, we just take chances. The best thing for a defense to do is keep an offense guessing."

Free safety has been a weakness of the Cardinals for years. They signed Terrence Holt in free agency last year, but he played poorly and was cut in the off-season.

Rolle, meanwhile, struggled at cornerback for portions of his first three seasons. The eighth overall pick in 2005, he excelled at playing the nickel corner and returned three interceptions for touchdowns last year.

There were rumblings all along that he would make a better safety than corner, and last off-season Rolle volunteered to make the move.

"Each week, he's getting better," Austin said. "I figured it would come; I wasn't sure how fast it would come. Boy, I couldn't be happier for him and the way he's played."

(azcentral.com)