The Cardinals selected Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen III with the No. 16 overall pick in 2025, but he was only able to appear in a handful of games, as he sustained a fair number of injuries.
Nolen missed the team’s first seven games with a calf injury, and he went on to make his debut against the Dallas Cowboys, in which he recorded a sack. Nolen provided a presence on the defensive line that allowed other rushers, such as Josh Sweat and Calais Campbell, to get home to the quarterback.
With all three of these guys returning in 2026 and having a new and improved defense, the potential is through the roof, depending on whether or not all of them can stay healthy at the same time.
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People also forget that the Cardinals found themselves a steal in the fourth round, selecting Ohio State’s Cody Simon with the No. 115 pick.
Due to injuries to the linebacker core, specifically to Mack Wilson Sr., Simon was thrown into action with little development. It turns out that the team should have started him all along, as he had a breakout rookie campaign that saw him record 76 total tackles, as well as 0.5 sacks.
With a full season under the belt, as well as his being familiar with defensive coordinator Nick Rallis, who returned under the new coaching staff, the sky is the limit for this unit.
It will be intriguing to see how the defense puts it together when training camp roles around on July 22.
