Nolen's Leg, Again, and the Cardinals Have No Answer on the Defensive Line

Walter Nolen III re-injured his left leg shortly after Arizona activated him, per reporting from earlier this week. The injury log on this defensive line has gotten long enough that it's worth just stating where things stand: Josh Sweat is unavailable, Kaleb Proctor is on injured reserve, PJ Mustipher is on injured reserve, and now Nolen — the player Arizona was counting on to help fill those gaps — is back in the training room before preseason has even properly started.

What's left is thin. Zach Carter, Darius Robinson, and Andrew Billings are the names on the depth chart with any claim to a role, and none of them carried meaningful production last season. The Cardinals claimed two players ahead of the Hall of Fame Game, which is the organization doing what it can, but waiver claims at this stage of the offseason are depth filler, not solutions.

I've written two notes on this position in the last two days, and the situation has gotten worse each time. The Hall of Fame Game is essentially a non-event for most teams — a chance to look at fringe roster guys. For Arizona, it's the first real look at a defensive line that has no reliable depth and no obvious path to finding any before the regular season.