Safe bet with Rolle? Only time will tell - Cards defensive back adjusting to safety spot

In football, spring accomplishments and evaluations come with an asterisk and a warning.

*These statements and observation might not hold true this fall, when regular-season games begin.

The Cardinals know that in May every team is undefeated and no player has failed. With that caveat out of the way, everyone seems confident that switching Antrel Rolle from cornerback to safety could be one of the key moves of the off-season.

"As far as purely playing the safety position, he's looked very comfortable and very confident," coach Ken Whisenhunt said.

It's a move many expected the Cardinals to eventually make when they took Rolle with the eighth overall pick in 2005. Some scouts back then thought Rolle would make a better safety than corner, and Rolle struggled at times during his three years at cornerback.

But Rolle appears to have all the tools to succeed at free safety: He's a good tackler, has good instincts, runs well and has the ability to intercept passes and run with them afterward.

As the team's third corner last year, he returned three interceptions for touchdowns, including two in one game.

Now, it appears Rolle will have the best of both worlds. He'll play free safety in the base defense and move to cornerback in some nickel situations.

"I think it was a good move," Rolle said. "I wanted to move back there. I felt like I could help the team more back there, roam around, pretty much freelance and be a deep safety."

Some cornerbacks resist such a move, and in his first three years, Rolle always maintained he would prefer to play corner. After last year, however, it didn't make much sense to keep him there.

Rolle had lost a starting spot to Eric Green and Rod Hood, and the club had cut last year's starting safety, Terrence Holt.

So the Cardinals moved Rolle and drafted cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in the first round.

"I think the biggest thing for Antrel is he wants to be a starter, he wants to be a great player in this league," secondary coach Teryl Austin said. "I think he'll do whatever it takes to be that kind of player."

There is much to learn, however. Cornerbacks have to know just one side of the field, while safeties must take in the whole field and the entire offensive formation.

There are signals to be called, information to be passed on to linebackers and corners. The pursuit angles are different, as is the time he has to react to plays.

"The main thing I have to work on is reading the quarterback from that depth," Rolle said, "just slowing down a little bit. I'm used to being at corner, so my instincts are a whole lot faster. You have more time, and you can't get too antsy."

With the plan to keep him responsible for the slot receiver in nickel situations, Rolle will keep one foot in his old world.

"That's one of the things I mentioned that no matter what happened, I never wanted to move from the slot," he said. "That's a natural fit, being that I played there in college and I fit in pretty good there last year. It's a great position for me."

But it's only May and Rolle hasn't won the free safety job yet.

He's running with the first team, but he'll be pushed in training camp by Aaron Francisco and possibly Matt Ware.

"He looks like a natural for the position," Whisenhunt said. "I'm excited to see what he does in the preseason games and when we get the pads on."

(azcentral.com)