Former 5th-round pick Tim Hightower guns for Cardinals starting job

Hightower gunning for starting job with Cardinals

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — One year ago, Tim Hightower came to training camp hoping to make the Arizona Cardinals roster as an fifth-round pick out of Richmond.

After setting a club record for touchdowns by a rookie running back, Hightower showed up this fall contending for a starting job on the defending NFC champions.

“For me, it’s the same mindset,” Hightower said during a break from training camp on Thursday. “I had some success last year, but hey, I wasn’t a Pro Bowl running back. My team didn’t win the Super Bowl. There’s so many different things that you can always improve on.”

In some ways, Hightower is no more secure than last summer. His tenuous spot on Arizona’s roster was underscored when the Cardinals drafted Ohio State star Beanie Wells in the first round last spring.

Unlike Hightower, who wasn’t invited to the NFL combine, Wells came from a respected national powerhouse. Hightower said he welcomed Wells’ arrival.

“It’s another challenge,” Hightower said. “And that’s what teams do. They’re going to create competition. That’s what brings out the best.”

The Cardinals’ running backs often take a back seat on a high-octane offense featuring Pro Bowlers Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. But coach Ken Whisenhunt expects more from his running game this year, and he and his staff are keeping a close eye on Hightower.

It’s early in camp, but Hightower has impressed the coaching staff. He showed up at about 218 pounds, a loss of about six pounds from last season, and he said he feels quicker.

Wells, meanwhile, was carted off from his first pro practice with an ankle injury, and he may be out until next week.

“He’s looked very good out there in practice,” Whisenhunt said of Hightower. “But I think any time you obviously draft a running back in the first round, it really makes you focus on what you have to do because you know that there’s going to be that competition there.”

Whisenhunt said he wasn’t concerned about how the team’s decision to draft Wells would affect Hightower.

“I think the difference is the pressure he’s putting on himself,” Whisenhunt said. “He really wants to be good.”

The Cardinals have five running backs in camp — Hightower, Wells, Jason Wright, Chris Vincent and LaRod Stephens-Howling, a seventh-round pick from Pittsburgh — as they look for a permanent replacement for Edgerrin James, who was let go after three seasons.

Actually, Hightower already replaced James once, taking over the starting job when James faltered last year. But Hightower faded down the stretch and watched as James became the starter again in the playoffs.

Relegated to a backup role, Hightower produced some big plays as the once-woeful Cardinals made an improbable postseason run to their first Super Bowl.

Hightower ran for a score in the playoff opener against Atlanta, then rushed for 76 yards and caught a touchdown pass in the second-round victory over Carolina.

In the NFC championship game, he made two drive-sustaining runs as the Cardinals surged toward the decisive touchdown — which Hightower scored on an eight-yard reception.

Hightower finished with 10 touchdowns, most by a Cardinals rookie running back in a season. But he rushed a disappointing 2.8 yards per carry, gaining a total of 399 yards.

The season felt like a roller coaster to Hightower.

“It was one of those things where you’re kind of an unknown early, you have a little bit of success, you’re placed in the starting role and then you’re taken back and forth,” he said. “Mentally for a second, it can kind of make you second-guess yourself and say, ‘Hey, what am I not doing? Am I not good enough?’ “

Hightower said James and former running backs coach Maurice Carthon helped him through the hard times. They’re both gone, but Hightower still remembers their advice — to take the same approach to practice and workouts no matter where he sits on the depth chart.

“I kind of take it from the perspective of, I had this opportunity, but now there’s a lot more expected,” Hightower said. “And I expect a lot more of myself, given the greater opportunity.”