One Cardinals transaction announcement created two vacancies, then exposed how differently offensive work gets replaced. Arizona placed running back Jeremiyah Love and receiver Kendrick Bourne on injured reserve Tuesday, with Love set to miss at least four games, and elevated rookie Harrison Wallace III to the active roster from its practice-squad ranks. The backfield has a player who just produced a compelling audition.
Replacing Bourne presents a different problem.
Tyler Allgeier made the running-back decision easier on Sunday against Dallas. He carried 11 times for 147 yards, caught five passes for 44 yards and scored once on the ground and once as a receiver in Arizona’s 33-30 overtime victory. The Cardinals finished with 202 rushing yards.
That performance does not forecast another 147-yard afternoon, but it gives Arizona something more useful than optimism: a recent example of Allgeier handling a substantial role in multiple parts of the offense.
The first sequence is simple enough. Love had 23 yards on nine carries before leaving. Allgeier supplied Arizona’s biggest rushing total and contributed as a receiver.
Love had totaled 268 yards on 76 carries across six games, a 3.5-yard average, before the injury. Those numbers do not make Love’s absence impossible to absorb, but they do underline the amount of rookie work that now needs a new home.
Allgeier is the obvious lead option because Sunday demonstrated both volume and range. He did not merely compile a large rushing total on a heavy workload; he reached it on 11 attempts and added 44 receiving yards. That is an unusually efficient afternoon, and defenses will react differently if he becomes the consistent focal point.
A featured back also needs relief, pass-protection work and ordinary carries when the explosive play does not arrive. James Conner remains on injured reserve, the backs behind Allgeier include Evan Hull on the active roster and practice-squad back Jerome Ford, leaving Arizona with a straightforward personnel question behind its leading candidate.
The receiver issue begins where the running-back issue ends. Bourne’s production through eight games amounted to 26 receptions and 263 yards, but those catches were attached to routes, alignments and targets that cannot be transferred as neatly as handoffs. Losing one receiver can require several players to absorb different pieces of the job.
The promotion gives Arizona another option. The team still has to decide who takes the missing snaps and targets.
