The Arizona Cardinals officially have a crowded running back room. They used their top draft pick to select Jeremiyah Love. They signed Tyler Allgeier in free agency, paying him $7 million this year. They retained James Conner, their lead back for the last five years. They still have former third-round pick Trey Benson as well.
Allgeier joined the Cardinals believing that he would have a greater role than he had with the Atlanta Falcons, playing behind Bijan Robinson.
For head coach Mike LaFleur, it is a good problem to have.
“I’ll never be upset with having too many good NFL players at a position, you know, and the two guys that you mentioned in Tyler and James, they they’ve played a lot of productive football in this league,” LaFleur said on the “Rich Eisen Show. “‘ll date back to 2019 in San Francisco. We had four backs that contributed that year — sometimes by injury, sometimes by the hot hand, but there were four NFL backs on that roster that all contributed in different ways.”
The Cardinals know all too well what can happen to a running back room. Last season, they expected Conner and Benson to shoulder the offensive load. Both suffered what ended up being season-ending injuries. Even Bam Knight got hurt, who was their fourth-string running back to start the year.
“Unfortunately, that’s what happens, particularly at the running back position, amongst other positions,” LaFleur said. “This game’s violent. Guys go down, but at that position, the wear and tear that they take through a 17-game season.
“Again, I’m never going to apologize for having too many good players at one position.”
For LaFleur, the problem isn’t finding enough touches. His job is to win football games. Yes, he will have to manage egos, but if somehow the Cardinals are winning, players will be happy.
The problem is, when a team is not good, players want to play.
But that is more a player problem than a coach problem.
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Arizona Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur unfazed by potential RB logjam