More friction. More storylines.
The Arizona Cardinals enter training camp with the highest expectations they’ve had under the current regime led by general manager Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon.
Before training camp at State Farm Stadium kicks off next week, we’re taking a closer look at the biggest storylines surrounding the team.
Let’s take a trip along the revamped interior defensive line, shall we?
Who could be the odd men out at DL this Cardinals training camp?
You won’t find a position that was given more of a facelift this offseason than Arizona’s interior defensive line.
Last season, the defense landed in the bottom half of the league in rushing yards (126.4 per game) and touchdowns (18) allowed on top of a subpar pass rush. To address that, Arizona brought in some immediate impact players in veterans Calais Campbell and Dalvin Tomlinson.
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The duo, Campbell especially, have played a ton of football and should not only be legit on-field options, but also huge off-field assets to the youth in the room.
That youth includes 2025 first-round pick Walter Nolen III. The No. 16 overall pick certainly looks the part and could be in Arizona’s defensive plans for years to come if he pans out like he’s expected to along the interior.
For those keeping score at home, those are three roster locks right there (barring injury).
Then there are the incumbents who are eyeing another round in Arizona, led by Darius Robinson, Dante Stills and L.J. Collier.
Robinson, one of Arizona’s 2024 first-rounders, was forced to watch most of his rookie season from the bench due to injury.
He’s looking noticeably bigger and brings even more confidence to the table following a small sample size of reps and full offseason dedicated to the craft.
Collier and Stills? They’re coming off career years, with the latter representing the lone Cardinals defensive tackle to post a top-10 run stop win rate (38%) in 2024.
What DL decisions will be in play for the Cardinals?
Three plus three equals six, the same number of defensive linemen Arizona kept on the initial 53-man roster last year.
Maybe that number increases to seven in 2025 based on the direction of the defense, but even then, there’s going to be some very hard decisions to make.
And they begin with a pair of veteran free agent additions from a year prior in Justin Jones and Bilal Nichols.
After being Arizona’s biggest free agent signing last offseason, Jones made three starts before a torn triceps sidelined him for the rest of the season.
Nichols had his own injury issues, appearing in six games (five starts) until a stinger/neck injury put him on the shelf.
Neither participated during Arizona’s offseason programs (OTAs and minicamp), though Jones was seen working off to the side. If they have to start camp behind the eight ball due to injury, that hurts their chances even more.
Dead money hits come into play if the Cardinals decide to release either but seeing one or both come off the initial 53-man roster wouldn’t be a surprise.
And what about undrafted rookie Elijah Simmons, who has clearly caught the early attention of his teammates and coaching staff just by his 6-foot-1, 334-pound build? Plus, Kyon Barrs was added to the group Saturday most recently from the UFL after he went undrafted in 2024.
We’ve seen undrafted rookies carve out roles under this current regime. Just ask cornerback and 2023 undrafted free agent Starling Thomas V, who’s appeared in 29 games (22 starts) for Arizona heading into Year 3.
Is there another diamond in the rough waiting to be uncovered in Arizona?
Either way, all eyes are going to be on the logjam within the defensive line room and who ends up on the cutting room floor by the end of camp.
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