By: Jake Rajala

The Arizona Cardinals defensive line carries a healthy J.J. Watt, but they still have a couple of question marks at numerous spots entering the 2022 season. Pro Football Focus wasn’t excited about the Cardinals direction at DL – as they ranked their DL unit 27th in the league. It was clear that PFF wasn’t optimistic about the Cardinals replacements in Cameron Thomas and Myjai Sanders for Chandler Jones, who had 19 sacks in 2019 and 10.5 sacks in 2021.

Thomas is the third-round pick for the Cardinals tasked with being an impact player in his first season. Thomas has expressed how much he respects and imitates the magic from Watt. Per Arizona Sports 98.7, the rook stated, “I modeled a lot of my game after J.J. Watt, especially at San Diego State, how much versatility I had. J.J. was another guy that I was able to learn a lot of inside and outside and just dominate. I’m hoping to do the same”.

Watt may not be a sack machine (9 sacks from 2019 and 2020 combined) at this point in his career, but his presence and versatility have still been phenomenal. PFF labeled him as the 14th best IDL at this point — and he can certainly excel on the edge on occasion.

The Cardinals will also expect Rashard Lawrence and Zach Allen to be key pieces of their IDL. Lawrence missed six games last season and he will look to stay healthy for a strong junior season. Allen is coming off his best season (4 sacks, 14 QB hits, 5 TFLs, and 1 int). He will certainly stride to have his best season next to a healthy Watt. If the Cardinals DL can stay healthy, they can absolutely be a middle-of-the-pack DL unit at the very least.

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By: Jake Rajala

The Arizona Cardinals were one of the biggest surprises in the NFL last season. I believe the team that Cynthia Frelund nicely projected a high ceiling for the Cardinals in 2021, would be able to separate themselves from nearly every team with a few breakout players in 2022. With that said, I’m going to untwine three breakout candidates on the Cardinals.

Rondale Moore

The Arizona Cardinals 2021 rookie Rondale Moore will keep Kliff Kingsbury up late at night creating plays for him in space. Moore will nicely replace Christian Kirk (who is in Jacksonville) and his ability to make YAC is magic. I expect Moore and Hollywood Brown to really be leaned on in DeAndre Hopkins’s absence. Moore unveiled 435 yds in 14 games last season and I really expect him to have similar production as Kirk last season (988 yds) while making his presence felt with big plays.

Zach Allen

The pass rusher Zach Allen had a modest four sacks last season and he will be asked to replace Chandler Jones in 2022. Allen will benefit from playing next to J.J. Watt and it may finally be time for Allen to put it all together in his fourth NFL season. The Cardinals young buck with a first-round pick coming out of the draft would do himself and the Cardinals defense a big favor by unveiling 8+ sacks in 2022.

Isaiah Simmons

It’s time for the athletic freak Isaiah Simmons to react faster and be a pivotal force on their defense. Simmons made positive steps last season, as he had 105 all-purpose tackles. He needs to stand out in crunch time and be an effective TO macine. The former Cardinal Haason Reddick was a late bloomer out of AZ, perhaps Simmons can finally have his biggest season in 2022.

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