The Arizona Cardinals lost J.J. Watt to retirement and Zach Allen to free agency, leaving a void of high-end talent on the defensive line. Now there are a bunch of young and unproven players.
As such, it is no surprise that the Cardinals had no player mentioned in Pro Football Focus’ rankings of the top 32 interior defenders in the NFL.
One former Cardinal, Allen, now with the Broncos, cracked the list and came in at No. 32, but no Cardinals player is mentioned.
But why would they?
The most accomplished defensive lineman on their roster currently is Carlos Watkins.
Watkins has been in the league for six seasons and has started 36 games but he is definitely not close to one of the best in the league. He is what you would call a nice veteran piece on a line.
After Watkins, Leki Fotu and Rashard Lawrence have the most experience. They are in their fourth year and have not yet proven themselves as even reliable starters.
Kevin Strong, Eric Banks, Ben Stille and rookies Dante Stills (drafted in the sixth round) and Jacob Slade (undrafted) round out the group.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon did wonderful things with the Philadelphia Eagles as a defensive coordinator, but he had dominant defensive linemen. We will see what he can do with a bunch of players mostly unknown in the league.
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