ARIZONA — There’s many things to scoff at around the Arizona Cardinals and their 3-7 start to the season.
Rookie defensive lineman Walter Nolen III hasn’t been one of them.
Nolen, with just three weeks of football under his belt, has managed to impress more than most defensive players on Arizona’s roster after making a recovery from a lengthy calf injury that saw him miss all of training camp, preseason and the first half of the Cardinals’ schedule.
Nolen’s 86.5 PFF grade is among the top at his position, and Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon described the Ole Miss product as “disruptive” when asked about Nolen:
“Disruptive. I think (in) the run and pass game he’s doing a good job. He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, which just being a couple games in here (and) with the time that he missed, it’s kind of the first thing I look for. But schematically (he) executes at a pretty high level and he is disruptive,” said Gannon.
Nolen holds promise as a twitchy interior player that can put pressure on quarterbacks and win one-on-ones more often than not. Thus far he’s got seven tackles, one sack, one pass batted down and three running plays stuffed.
“Yeah, I think how I would deem his point of attacks or his one-on-ones, he’s winning a healthy dose – which is good to see,” Gannon continued.
“’Debo’s (DL Coach Winston DeLattiboudere III) done a good job with him. He put time in the task. I always think you have to be able to take a positive in any situation, right?
“Obviously, he got hurt and he is not playing — that’s a negative, but the positive of that is you have to study, focus and visualize the time extra with him because he wasn’t playing so when they break meetings or after practice or whatever it is. He’s on the details right now and he’s only going to continue to get better.”
On a defensive line that desperately needed a game-wrecker that will extend past Calais Campbell’s tenure, the Cardinals may have just gotten that with Nolen.
It’s still early – very early – in Nolen’s career to make any drastic claims about the No. 16 overall pick.
However, it’s more than so far, so good when it comes to the excitement on what Nolen could be moving into the future.
