PHX Reporter

There are only a couple of ways an NFL head coach can call a player "pudgy" publicly -- either to shame the player or to highlight their improvement. Emari Demercado chuckled when it came up Tuesday, when coach Jonathan Gannon mentioned that he told the second-year running back back in February he looked pudgy. Demercado had been given the heads-up Gannon had made the comment, and yes, it was framed in a way that Gannon has been impressed with Demercado's game.

"It caught me a little off-guard," Demercado acknowledged of the original encounter. Demercado, an undrafted rookie in 2023 who not only made the team but earned the regular third-down role, had taken a week-long trip to Hawaii right after the season -- "I had a good time, I'll say that much" -- and then on his first day back at the facility for a workout, he happened to run into Gannon.

"I like it," Demercado said. "Holding me accountable."

Not that Gannon really had much to worry about with the back, which is one of the reasons he made the roster in the first place. James Conner is the star RB1. The Cardinals drafted Trey Benson in the third round; Michael Carter looked good last season after his arrival; and the team signed special teamer DeeJay Dallas in the offseason. To think Demercado could have trouble making the team this year wasn't unreasonable.

But listening to Gannon talk about him -- and seeing the key reps Demercado continues to get in practice with players everyone knows will be on the team -- casts a different prism through which to see him.

"It feels like he has some juice in there," Gannon said. "I might've called him pudgy. He looks good. He's rocked up. He looks explosive, and second year in the system, he's playing faster mentally."

Demercado can run with ball but made his mark as a pass protector, remaining atop RB depth chart in that regard. "He's big enough and has toughness to step into gap and stone somebody," Gannon said. "That's a luxury."

Then Gannon adds Demercado is "going to be a factor on fourth downs" in terms of special teams, making it hard not to see him squarely within 53-man picture. As for all running backs gunning for roster spots, Demercado calls it "fun."

"Personally, I've never been 'The Guy,' so I always have to find my way to make my mark," he said.

"Pudgy" is now history.

"I have a little notepad I write on," Demercado said. "Today I wrote on there, 'Find a way.'"