Arizona Cardinals OLB Jordan Burch might have difference-making gift

In his final season at Oregon, Arizona Cardinals edge rusher Jordan Burch had 8.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss and six passes defensed in 10 games.

It was that production, combined with athletic ability and size (6-4, 280), that resulted in Burch landing in Arizona with a third-round pick (78th overall) last year.

He played in all 17 games in 2025, but had only one sack, three passes defensed and one tackle for loss in 504 defensive snaps (44 percent).

It is often said that young players make their largest jumps in their second season. The Cardinals believe Burch has all the makings of being one of those guys this year, especially if the defense plays the run better and can then take advantage of known-pass situations in addition to the offense becoming more productive, actually have leads in games and keeping the defense off the field.

Burch has been getting snaps in the early part of camp with the first team, prompting defensive coordinator Nick Rallis to say last week, “He's executing his assignments at a high level. So there's never really a discussion of like, ‘Gosh, Burch, you keep messing this up, correct this.’ Like he's on it and he puts a lot of time into study. So he's playing fast.

“I think he's a guy that really shows up when we put pads on after this first block when we're allowed to. But it's different parts of his game. The three things are set the edge in the run game, rush the passer, be able to cover, and he's making strides in all those.”

Head coach Mike LaFleur echoed those sentiments Tuesday and said it’s simply up to Burch how good he becomes.

When asked what he has to do to progress at rushing the passer, LaFleur said, “I wouldn't even say just as a pass rusher. I think he just needs to continue improving in all aspects of it. I think you guys recognize the traits and the size and all that. I've really enjoyed getting to know him. I think he's an extremely deliberate person in terms of his approach. There's that fine line between obsessing over stuff and now you're kind of caught up; you're not just letting it loose.

“But also just putting in a little extra work, and every day he's out there, he gets in an extra 5-10 minutes before practice. Working on just little things, hands, footwork, stuff like that. I've told him, ‘I think you can be as good as you want to be.’ He's an extremely gifted individual, and I know he loves this game, and what I want to see from him is continue like he is doing, put in the work, and then when it's time to go, just cut it loose, dude. Just cut it loose.”

As for what he saw early on that moved him to communicate that message, LaFleur said, “Having to game-plan him against him a year ago. So you you know, like you felt like you kind of knew these guys, right? You've played against some of these guys six times over three years, four times over two years, and obviously him. You could see it on tape. And sometimes it takes getting to actually know a guy to see what's going on inside. And I see a guy that really cares about this game and wants to be great. He attacks it.”

At the end of the day, LaFleur concluded, “Once he feels comfortable that he can just go cut it loose, now just go cut it loose and go do what you've been gifted to do.”

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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Arizona Cardinals OLB Jordan Burch might have difference-making gift

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