The Arizona Cardinals are going through a roster teardown and one unit that does not offer a lot of optimism for 2023 is the defensive line. It is comprised by mostly unproven players in the league.
In fact, Pro Football Focus ranks the Cardinals’ defensive line dead last entering this coming season.
The Cardinals lost three impactful starters from last season in J.J. Watt, Zach Allen and Markus Golden, which would be a reason for concern regardless. However, the problem is that the Cardinals did not really attempt to replace those players.
Arizona has only one defensive lineman who played more than 350 snaps last season, and that was interior defender Leki Fotu, who ranked 125th out of 127 players at his position in PFF grade.
Although we highlighted edge defender Cameron Thomas as a potential breakout candidate for the Cardinals, this unit might struggle mightily during the 2023 season.
The most accomplished player on the defensive line entering this season is Carlos Watkins, who has been, at best, simply a serviceable rotational player.
Rashard Lawrence has shown promise but has not stayed healthy, while Jonathan Ledbetter was pretty solid last season.
But this unit will not scare any opposing offense. They might be efficient but it is highly unlikely they are dominant.
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