Cardinals’ D-line in bottom half of league, per PFF

Their unit comes in at No. 18 overall.

The Arizona Cardinals should have a better defensive line in 2020 than they did in 2019. After all, they were decimated by injuries last season. Darius Philon was released after his arrest for assault. Robert Nkemdiche showed up to camp overweight and was cut. Zach Allen, Jonathan Bullard and Clinton McDonald all ended up on injured reserve.

But they signed Jordan Phillips and drafted Leki Fotu and Rashard Lawrence in the fourth round.

Even still, the defensive line is a slightly below average unit, according to Pro Football Focus.

In their rankings of all 32 defensive line units, the Cardinals come in 18th.

PFF looks at the interior defenders and the edge rushers, so they get extra consideration because Chandler Jones is included.

Chandler Jones is the star player on the Cardinals’ defensive front. Jones is always just outside of the very best edge rushers in the league in terms of total pressures or PFF grade, but he has managed to consistently generate more sacks than his pressure total should generate — something that is typically not a skill. Last season, Jones posted a pass-rush grade of 90.0, good enough to rank in the top five among edge rushers, and he pressured the quarterback 75 times.

He is by far the team’s best pass-rusher and should be among the league leaders in pressures again in 2020. The lack of help for Jones could be a significant problem, as nobody currently on the roster had more than 26 total pressures a season ago. Jordan Phillips had 10 sacks and might be confused for a legitimate pass-rush presence, but those sacks represented 10 of the 26 total pressures he managed all season long. The tape shows a series of unimpressive plays on those sacks. Phillips hasn’t topped 30 total pressures in a season and will likely be a run defender only this season.

Corey Peters offers the same type of impact, albeit a more proven version, and fourth-round pick Leki Fotu makes a trio of run-focused interior defenders. Second-year player Zach Allen may be the player most likely to take a step forward and make an impact, but his rookie season lasted an underwhelming four games before injury landed him on injured reserve. Allen needs to show major improvement for the Cardinals to be anything more than reliant on the skills of Jones again in 2020.

PFF is not as high on Phillips as the Cardinals. They did not pay him $10 million a year to be just a run defender. They also believe Fotu has some pass-rushing upside as well. Allen does need to make some sort of an impact for the defensive line to improve because Peters shouldn’t play more than about 40% of the snaps at his age, although he is still solid. It’s just that other guys need to step up and be better.

Although he did not grade out all that highly according to PFF, Jonathan Bullard was surprisingly effective in 2019 before his injury. Despite playing in only nine games, he had a career-high in sacks, tackles for loss and QB hits.

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Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.

Ep. 269

Ep. 268

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Ep. 267

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Cardinals DL Corey Peters says virtual learning period a good opportunity for some players

“This is a situation where you can’t look for an excuse,” Peters said. “You’ve got to look for solutions and put your best foot forward.”

With no on-field work this offseason so far, Arizona Cardinals players and the rest of the players in the NFL have only had virtual meetings. No one has been able to rep what they have learned on the field.

Cardinals defensive tackle Corey Peters, appearing on the RapSheet + Friend podcast, said it hasn’t been a big deal for him, considering his time in the league and entering his second season in the same defensive system.

He has the reputation for being one of the most professional players in the league as well.

He admits, though, it would be tough to try and make it in the league as a rookie. “I would hate to be a rookie,” he said, noting the complexity of NFL defenses compared to most college systems.

He also shared a truth that is applicable every season but even more so this year without practice time.

This year will give some young players what former Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians would say the chance for exposure or to get exposed.

“This is a situation where you can’t look for an excuse,” Peters said. “You’ve got to look for solutions and put your best foot forward.

“It’s going to be unfortunate but some guys are going to fall by the wayside because they’re going to squander this opportunity for this virtual learning period. But I think it’ also going to provide an excellent opportunity for the guys that really take it seriously, get in that play ook and come in prepared to go.”

When training camp comes around, we will see who those players are.

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Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Sub scribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.

Ep. 267

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Ep. 266

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Corey Peters hopes Robert Nkemdiche gets 2nd chance in NFL

Nkemdiche was warned about what would happen if he didn’t shape up, but Peters hopes he gets another shot in the NFL.

One of the most disappointing first-round draft picks in recent history has been defensive Robert Nkemdiche. After three underwhelming seasons and showing up to training camp last year overweight and out of shape, he was released. He was picked up by the Miami Dolphins and later released.

He appeared in two games and had no stats.

He apparently is trying to get back in the league and get signed by a team.

Cardinals defensive lineman Corey Peters would like to see it happen. He tried to help Nkemdiche when they were teammates. It appears there were many conversations about what he needed to do as a professional.

“One thing about Robert, Robert is a good guy, a great guy, a person you want to have as a friend, but he has to grow up some,” Peters told reporters on a video conference. “People warned him about what was coming and what would happen.

“I talked to him recently and now I think that he has a better understanding and he seems to be working hard and doing things to make amends and trying to get back into the league. I hope he gets another opportunity.”

Nkemdiche’s talent abounded, but he never got it together. It would be quite impressive if he were to get another opportunity and to take advantage of it.

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Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Sub scribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.

Ep. 267

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Ep. 266

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7 potential salary cap casualties for the Cardinals in 2020

If the Cardinals want to add even more cap space this offseason, these are players who could be cut or traded.

The Arizona Cardinals will have as much as $74 million in salary cap space when the new league year begins, depending on what moves they make with their own pending free agents before then.

They can increase that cap space by curring or trading players.

Who are potential salary-cap casualties?

RB David Johnson

Johnson’s cap hit in 2020 is more than $14 million. However, the Cardinals can’t simply cut him or they will lose more than $4 million in cap space because it would generate more than $18 million in dead money because his 2020 salary is fully guaranteed.

Cutting him is not an option, but trading him is. In a trade, they would save more than $8 million in cap space, although it would generate $6 million in dead money.

His future with the team is perhaps the most pressing question of the offseason.

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