Eric Green

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FLAGSTAFF — For years, the position has been one of mystery and intrigue.

And it might still be a reach to say the Arizona Cardinals have solved their perennial cornerback dilemma, but it sure seems to be in safer hands.

Just a year ago these soap opera questions — can you hear the organ music in the background? — could be heard at training camp:

A) Can Eric Green make it in a make-or-break year?

B) How good is free agent Rod Hood?

C) Is Antrel Rolle really a cornerback?

The answers turned out to be:

A) Yes, for the most part.

B) Quite good. He was the most productive player at the position.

C) Not really. He lost his starting spot in training camp. Though he had some spectacular moments, he's moving to safety.

So now Green and Hood return as proven starters. And first-round draft pick Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is off to a quick start at camp.

"There certainly aren't the questions about that position this year that there were last year," coach Ken Whisenhunt said.

Still, there can be improvements, such as making more big plays.

Take Green: One can count his career interceptions on one finger.

That's right. He has one career interception, and that came in his rookie season of 2005.

He had a chance to make a huge play in last year's season opener at San Francisco.

The Cardinals were frantically clinging to a 17-13 lead in the game's waning moments when the 49ers fumbled into the end zone. Green had a chance to pounce on the ball, but his cleats got stuck in the turf.

He missed a chance to fall on the ball; the Niners got it back and scored the winning touchdown.

Nevertheless, Green had his best season.

He didn't give up big plays, and he was among the team's leading tacklers before he missed the final five games with a groin injury.

"Whenever you can eliminate the big plays, you have to be a little satisfied, because that's what will kill you," he said.

"That's what will win games for other teams."

Heading into his fourth season, he said, "It's starting to get a little easy to me. I don't think that much. I know what to expect.

"The thing I'm more focused on is catching the ball, making the plays."

Green will be an unrestricted free agent after this season but said, "I don't want to go anywhere else. I made it clear to my agent. I made it clear to the team: This is where I want to be.

"If I can play 15 years here, I'll do it. It's a lovely place to be. The organization has been good to all of us."

For his part, Hood started every game last year and had five interceptions, returning two of them for touchdowns.

Hood, who usually plays on the left side, arrived from Philadelphia, where he started occasionally on a team with Pro Bowl corners.

"I think I had a good season being a first-year starter," he said. "I made a lot of plays. But I left some plays out there. You're always trying to improve on the little things. I want to work on finishing.

"A couple times last year I got beat when I was in great position. I just didn't make the play, making the interception or knocking the ball down."

Hood estimated he got scored on "four or five times" and that in maybe two of those situations he "could have made the play, knocked it down or picked it off."

Then there's Rodgers-Cromartie, who picked off two passes in one of the early practices in camp.

"He's going to be real good," Green said. "He's definitely the fastest guy on our team. He can run with anybody in the league."

Rodgers-Cromartie's challenges will be adjusting from a small-college program at Tennessee State and bulking up — he is listed at 6 feet 2 inches, 182 pounds — so he can take the pounding that comes with a 16-game NFL season.

Otherwise, the cornerback position no longer seems so full of mystery and intrigue.

"It feels a lot different," Whisenhunt said.

For the Cardinals, that's a good thing.