Michael Carter and Emari Demercado are set to take on larger roles in the Arizona Cardinals’ offense following injuries to key running backs James Conner and Trey Benson. Carter, who spent most of last season and the beginning of this one on the practice squad, now finds himself with an opportunity he had doubted would come.
“You go from Pat Tillman (scout team player of the week honor) one week to starting the next,” Carter said. “It’s a lot. You can sit here and act like it’s not, but it’s kind of a lot.”
Carter will share responsibilities with Demercado and potentially Bam Knight. Both Demercado and Knight were on the initial 53-man roster, while Carter was promoted after recent injuries depleted the depth chart. On Thursday night, Demercado played 26 snaps, his highest since Week 6 last year. Knight has yet to play an offensive snap for the Cardinals but has contributed on special teams.
Knight and Carter previously played together with the New York Jets. “They don’t talk about him enough,” Carter said about Knight. “He’s a good player.”
Demercado has primarily served as a third-down back due to his pass protection skills over the past two seasons. However, when both Conner and Benson were healthy, Benson assumed that role, reducing Demercado’s playing time on offense until recently.
“I don’t really know what my role is going to be as far as play time,” Demercado said. “That’s not for me to decide. I’ve just got to prepare as I always do and obviously be ready for a bigger role.”
The Cardinals have struggled in their rushing attack so far this season, ranking 22nd in the league with an average of 105.8 rushing yards per game through four games. This is a decline from their performance last season when they finished in the top ten with 144.2 rushing yards per game and were second in yards per play.
Their upcoming opponent, the Tennessee Titans, ranks near the bottom defensively against the run, allowing over 140 rushing yards per game.
The loss of Conner and Benson may require adjustments across the offense. Against Seattle last week, Arizona used formations featuring three wide receivers more than 80 percent of plays—a shift influenced by available personnel changes after injuries. Offensive lineman Paris Johnson Jr. emphasized that improvement must start up front but acknowledged that adapting to new running backs takes time.
“It feels like losing someone on the offensive line because you know how they run, how they push it, and you have that connection of how they are going to play off a certain assignment,” Johnson said. “We’re not going to sit here and think the run game is gone. We have two more guys that are going to be killers for us up front and I’m excited for the world to see them do their thing.”
Both Demercado—who went undrafted in 2023—and Carter have overcome setbacks during their careers; Demercado ended last season on Injured Reserve while Carter faced uncertainty about his future in football after spending significant time on practice squads.
“You always are excited to get more opportunities,” Demercado said. “You just got to make the most of it. If you get that opportunity, you take it and run with it.”
Carter added: “The chip on my shoulder is gigantic right now” after all this practice squad time.
He also shared advice from a former coach: “If your mind is in the past, you get left in the past.”
Looking ahead at his new opportunity within Arizona’s offense—after briefly considering retirement—Carter reflected: “The only way past the adversity is you got to go through it. Can’t run from it,” he said.”You might as well go through it and do what you want to do. But I love football. I’m not really built for a desk job.”
