Arizona baseball had won five of its last seven games, which included three road wins, entering Friday evening’s matchup with Kansas State.
Arizona
Cardinals' Greg Dortch getting the respect, opportunity he's earned
GLENDALE — “It’s been a storm, but I wouldn’t change anything.”
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Greg Dortch has made the most of his very limited opportunities since joining the franchise as a self-proclaimed “camp body” in 2021 after failing to stick with four other organizations.
Three years and two jersey changes later, though, Dortch is seeing his patience, hard work and devotion to faith pay off.
“Everything I’ve been through has made me who I am today,” Dortch said Tuesday.
“It means a lot to be where I am now, but this is really just the beginning.”
“In this life in general, you have to have patience. Things might not always go your way, but you just got to be patient and continue to work,” the wideout added. “I think when you continue to work, you put yourself in the position where opportunities show up for yourself. Once opportunities show up, that’s when you take advantage and things start to change.”
For the first time in his Arizona career, Dortch no longer has to wait for poor play or an injury to pop up to see ample playing time.
Seeing his name listed as a starter on Arizona’s depth chart ahead of its preseason opener against New Orleans was further proof of that.
“I feel like G’s got this look in his eye that he’s ready to fight, like he’s ready to go all the time,” head coach Jonathan Gannon said Tuesday. “He’s about ball. I don’t know what a gamer is but he’s a gamer. … I appreciate that about him. He speaks softly and carries a big stick and I’m glad he’s one of us.”
“It’s always the same with him. He’s never up here, he’s never down here. He’s just ready to buckle up and play. He loves to play and he’s great in meetings. He’s great with maximizing his five buckets. He’s been awesome. He’s going to have a big year.”
A Red & White Dortch lighting to get through another day away from State Farm Stadium. #AZCardinals pic.twitter.com/N2eux15K3J
— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) August 5, 2024
But for as much as Dortch has shot up the ranks — especially since the new regime has come to town — the wide receiver is showing no signs of letting up anytime soon.
“It feels great but it’s not here yet,” Dortch said. “I still have to go out and put in the work, still have to show up every single day and be consistent. That’s what this job takes. It feels good to have people believe in you, but come Sunday, if I don’t put in the work and it doesn’t show on Sunday, it doesn’t mean anything.”
And while Dortch is expected to have an elevated role in the offense this season, he’s still very much looking forward to his special teams work.
His abilities as a returner were a big reason he was able to crack an NFL roster. He’s not about to relinquish those duties completely or willingly.
“It’s super important to me,” Dortch said. “Anytime I’m on the field, I’m trying to make a play. The more I can be on the field, whether that’s kick return or punt return, I’m just trying to help the team win. Special teams is big to me. I would hate to have a major role on offense and be taken off of special teams.”
In these four-round projections, the Arizona Cardinals don’t get a tackle until the fourth round.
We are just days away from the 2026 NFL draft, and that means some final mock drafts. What direction will the draft take the Arizona Cardinals?
Draft Wire’s Curt Popejoy put together a four-round mock draft for the Cardinals. They go defense early but rebuild the offense for 2026 and moving forward, including landing their potential franchise quarterback.
Cardinals 4-round mock draft
Here are the players in the first four rounds Popejoy projects for Arizona.
- Round 1: Ohio State EDGE/LB Arvell Reese
- Round 2: Alabama QB Ty Simpson
- Round 3: Clemson WR Antonio Williams
- Round 4: Florida OT Austin Barber
What we think of the picks
The Cardinals want to trade out of the third pick and draft a tackle, so not getting a tackle until Round 4 seems unlikely, although they did meet with Barber. They do have options at right tackle for 2026 already on the roster.
Reese would be a great pick if they don’t trade back, as they badly need pass-rushing help off the edge.
Drafting Simpson seems inevitable at this point, so it has to be in a mock draft, although the feeling is they will need to go up into Round 1 again to get him.
Williams has speed and is almost six feet tall, but he does have short arms.
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
Due to significant injuries to the CB position last year which includes a shoulder surgery for Terrion Arnold, the Lions CB position scored a 6/10 need on my Lions Defensive Draft Need Rankings. Thus, an early-round selection of a young, healthy prospect like Keith Abney would not come as a surprise. He enters the draft with very low medical concern level.
Here is the excerpt from my medical report on Keith Abney:
(Ages in parentheses are at start of 2026 season and are factored into the concern level. Injury info and ages based on available public information are unverified and subject to update. Games played data courtesy of sports-reference.com.)
Keith Abney, CB (21) – Arizona State
Projected round 2-3. #43 on Jeff Risdon board Feb 19.
Concern level 0/10
There is an isolated report of a hand injury but no corroborating information. Even if the hand injury is true, that’s of minimal to no long-term concern.
His availability in his final two seasons has been perfect. Overall, Abney appears to be medically clean and is at an excellent age.
He finished college with 6 INT and 21 PBU.
For more Lions coverage, follow us on X, @TheLionsWire, and give our Facebook page a like. Follow Jimmy on X, @JimmyLiaoMD
In the first game of the series, Arizona (14-23, 5-11 Big 12) battled in a low-scoring affair but fell short in a 2-1 loss to Kansas State (24-12, 8-8 Big 12). The Wildcats from Tucson held the Wildcats from Manhattan at bay for a good majority of the night.
Given that Kansas State leads the Big 12 in conference play in batting, on-base percentage, and slugging, Arizona had a rather good performance, but it was not enough.
Owen Kramkowski pitched seven scoreless innings before allowing the first Kansas State run in the top of the eight. He finished with six strikeouts and kept the high octane Wildcats at bay.
“I thought the defense played well behind him too,” said head coach Chip Hale. “There’s a lot of ground balls, and we made plays where we were positioned in good places, and he was pitching in the eighth inning. That’s unbelievable.”
Garrett Hicks (3-1) came in to try and stop the bleeding for the Wildcats and did so by not allowing Kansas State to take the lead in the eighth. It was in the ninth when the lead was surrendered.
It took until the sixth inning but the first run was scored by Arizona. Andrew Cain singled to left field and after Maddox Mihalakis flew out, it was Beau Sylvester bringing Cain home with a triple through right center field.
Sylvester extended his hitting streak to eight games and it proved to be not enough to get Arizona to the finish line.
Kansas State tied the game at the top of the eight when back to back singles got runners on at first and third. Then a passed ball allowed the third base runner to come home.
Arizona had a chance to retake the lead in the bottom of the ninth after Cain singled to deep right field. With Sylvester back at the plate, it seemed like it was a perfect set up.
A wild pitch nearly got past Kansas State and Cain tried to take advantage of it and steal home. However, Kansas State was able to corral the pitch and get Cain out at home.
AJ Evasco started the ninth inning with a double for Kansas State and back to back fly outs eventually got him home to give Kansas State the lead and the win.
With eight players being left on base, Arizona will need to bring those runners in more often than not if they want to tie the series Saturday afternoon.
As a young team, the Wildcats have had to walk a very tight line between disappointment and dejection and will need to continue handling these losses with grace if it wants to turn a corner.
“It’s the way it goes, it’s baseball,” said Hale. “If we don’t handle it, we will come out tomorrow and won’t be ready to go, so hopefully they handle it.”
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