Cards' young linebackers good, getting better

With emerging stars shining across the field, it's becoming clearer with each week that a youth movement is transforming the Cardinals' defense. One group in particular, though, has emerged quite noticeably this season. Led by the young trio of Sam Acho, Daryl Washington and O'Brien Schofield, the Cardinals' linebacker corps appears poised as any to take a place among the league's elite. "We're setting ourselves up for a great future," Acho said Thursday. "What we've done this year has been great. We've still got a couple games to go, but it's set up for something big." Rookie cornerback Patrick Peterson may be the most well-known of the young pieces -- thanks primarily to his return-game talents -- but the linebacker trio forms a foundation to be built upon. Youngest among them is Acho, a rookie drafted in the fourth round out of Texas. Circumstance thrust the 23-year-old into the starting lineup when former All-Pro Joey Porter needed knee surgery. Acho has more than seized the opportunity. A defensive end at Texas, Acho adjusted quickly and picked up first-year defensive coordinator Ray Horton's scheme faster than expected. "When you draft a 4-3 defensive end in a 3-4 system, you know there's going to be a learning curve," linebackers coach Matt Raich said. "He really picked it up fast, and he's very cerebral. He's like a sponge, just listening and performing well." On his way to 35 tackles and the second-most sacks (five) on the team this season, Acho hasn't just listened to his coaches. He's also listened to the veterans who still anchor the defense. "I'm still getting more comfortable and more confident with each and every day. With older guys like Clark (Haggans), Joey Porter and Paris Lenon, all those guys are teaching me and teaching O'Brien how to play the game, so it's been really helpful." Schofield saw Acho blow past him on the depth chart while the second-year linebacker struggled adjusting to Horton's new scheme in training camp. That put Acho in the starting lineup with Porter out, but Schofield eventually caught up and started progressing quickly. Having amassed 33 tackles and 4.5 sacks this season, Schofield has started turning some heads. The rest had to turn after last week's win over the Browns, as it was Schofield's back-to-back sacks of Seneca Wallace that gave Arizona a chance. The second sack forced the fumble that set up the game-tying Arizona field goal, and the Cardinals won in overtime. "What you always want to see from young players is progress, and I have to give OBrien credit for that, Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. He has made progress. Probably not as much as expectations were for him, but those were probably unrealistic based on what he had to face. Schofield's ceiling may actually be higher than his first two seasons make it seem. After blowing out his knee in the 2010 Senior Bowl, he didn't get a training camp before his rookie year, and this year's lockout provided only a brief camp to learn the new system. With things now settling down a bit, Schofield is evolving into the pass rusher the Cardinals need him to be. At the center of it all is Washington, in his second year with the Cardinals after being drafted in the second round from TCU. Washington has built on the 78 tackles a one sack in his rookie campaign, making for an even better 2011. He's so far totaled a team-leading 84 tackles and four sacks. "He only started one year at TCU, so he lacked game experience," Raich said. "He started half the games last year when Gerald Hayes was hurt, and he progressively got better. He started out slow, and as the season went on, he was just doing better and better." Much like Acho has, Washington benefited early from the veteran mentoring of Lenon, Porter and Haggans. Right away, Washington said, those leaders treated him like a third- or fourth-year player. "I took that and ran with it," Washington said. "It really just motivated me for those guys to look at me and say 'OK, well this guy has potential.'" It sounds clich when Washington says he wants to improve "everything" about his game, but when he repeats it twice, it becomes clear he's not just spitting out a stock answer. He says he learns from younger players as much as he learns from older players, and in his mind, there's nowhere to go but up. "The scary thing is he could get a lot better," Raich said. "That's what's great about him. His potential is out of the ballpark. He just needs to keep pushing himself." The youth-experience dynamic has been key to the defense's emergence the past seven weeks -- and not just at linebacker. Once things started clicking for the defense, the veterans took the task of keeping young players grounded. The youngsters have provided the speed and athleticism that should make for a daunting defense next season. The players and coaches, though, don't see a separation. They see one group thriving with a variety of strengths. "I wouldn't call us a rookie team or a veteran team," Acho said. "It's a great mix. We've got a good conglomerate of older guys and younger guys meshing together and helping each other win." Said Whisenhunt: "To me, it's not really as much about the individual players. It's great that we've gotten reps for these guys and we've been able to build the mentality and the camaraderie, but I think it's more about the team and everybody contributing." The Cardinals arent technically out of the playoff picture yet, but their chances are slim. They're still focused on now but can't help but get excited thinking about the team's future at linebacker. Raich is just as focused as the next guy on the remaining games, but he's particularly excited about his linebackers' potential after a season together in the complicated defense. "The biggest thing is them understanding and realizing they could be one of the top (linebacker corps) in the NFL," Raich said. "They weren't sure (early this season); they we're just trying to learn their craft. Now, coming into next year they're going to say, 'I know my craft, now I'm going to go out and play at a high level.'"