Good read.
LinkFrostee Rucker had big shoes to fill when he was signed by the Cardinals as part of an overhauled roster.
But he wasn’t just taking the place of one large pair of cleats in the locker room. Rucker had to fill the voids left by Nick Eason and Vonnie Holliday, two veteran defensive linemen with large shoes whose most important contributions to the team came as mentors to their younger teammates.
Rucker fit right in.
“In the short time he’s been here, he’s been helping guys with hands, feet,” defensive tackle Dan Williams said. “He sometimes reiterates some things that (defensive line coach Brentson) Buck(ner) tells us and breaks it down for us.
“He uses coaches’ lingo so the young guys kinda understand. He teaches the young guys how to take notes. He’s definitely been a big help to us so far.”
Rucker was constantly studying the playbook, not just because it was a new scheme but because it’s “a difficult system to pick up and the coaches are challenging us to be perfect.” He got to the locker room early and stayed late.
Rucker passed on plenty of tips he picked up in his eight years in the league. He taught the rookies how to take notes during meetings and how to study those notes. And he stressed to the younger players the importance of not just listening to what the coaches say but to understand why they’re saying it.