New Addition Cody Ford Betting on Himself
The Arizona Cardinals traded a 2023 fifth-round pick to the Buffalo Bills for offensive lineman Cody Ford on Monday. Injuries to starting guards Justin Pugh (stinger) and Will Hernandez (ankle) along with several backups led to the need from the Cardinals' perspective.
Ford played well in the Bills' second preseason game against the Denver Broncos.
The NFL is a fickle business and Ford is well aware of the constant changes that come in the professional football landscape.
"Definitely had a feeling that something was gonna happen," Ford told reporters Thursday when asked if he was expecting a trade. "There's no really such thing as a surprise. I had an iffy feeling about stuff."
Ford was drafted in the second round in 2019 to be the Bills' future right tackle. He started 15 of his 16 games there as a rookie.
However, Ford played only guard the past two seasons. In 2020, he played at both guard spots and eventually suffered a season-ending knee injury. Last season, he appeared in 15 games at right guard and started seven games. The Bills gave a signal of Ford's potential departure when they drafted Spencer Brown in the third round of the 2021 NFL draft to be the team's right tackle.
That's all in the past for Ford. The 25-year-old is ready to put all of his chips on himself in Arizona.
"I wanted the new opportunity," Ford said. "I'm taking this gamble on myself. And that's the beauty of it. Whatever happens, it's all on me. I'm pretty confident. I'm ready to rock and roll."
Ford gets to relive his college days, too. He played college football at Oklahoma and was teammates with Kyler Murray and Marquise Brown. Murray was the No. 1 overall pick by the Cardinals in 2019 and even vouched for the team to select Ford in the second round.
"Kyler sent me a text," Ford said. "He said, 'Dude, we're trying. We're trying to make it happen.' "
Arizona ended up selecting cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. with the No. 33 pick. The Bills selected Ford five picks later. Ford's script three years later would turn out just like Brown's earlier in the offseason. The Cardinals end up reuniting Murray with two of his former Oklahoma teammates on offense.
Now, Murray and the rest of the team are helping Ford during the quick and stressful process.
He said, "(Murray) has helped me out as much as he could. But I think most of the help is coming from the guys in the room, which makes me feel really good."
Ford flew to Arizona for a physical on Tuesday. In a blink of an eye, he was on the plane to Nashville later that day and participated Wednesday in the Cardinals' joint practice against the Titans in Pugh's absence with the Cardinals' first-team unit.
Ford received much-needed assistance from veteran left tackle D.J. Humphries.
"I think getting D.J. to communicate in this particular manner is helping (Ford's) growth as well," right tackle Kelvin Beachum said. "Being able to have both of them working together in such a short amount of time with such immense pressure, not only to do it in a joint practice like they had to do, but (Thursday) start working through some things and put themselves in a position just to communicate."
Ford also told reporters that he spent time with offensive line coach Sean Kugler, who is helping him learn the offense's nuances.
The veteran lineman will have to prepare fast because head coach Kliff Kingsbury said Ford will play against the Titans Saturday night.
"We've just got to keep him coming along," Kingsbury said.
