Top Arizona Cardinals draft picks face obstacles to winning Defensive Rookie of the Year

As the Arizona Cardinals drafted no offensive skill player last month, they have no one to compete for the league's Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

They do, though, have Defensive Rookie of the Year possibilities.Their first-round pick, defensive lineman Walter Nolen, perhaps has the most likely shot, although he has a few things impeding him.

They also have cornerback Will Johnson, drafted in the second round.

Ben Solak broke down the different possibilities for the Defensive Rookie of the Year award for ESPN.

It would be quite the feat for Nolen to pull it off.After all, the last time a defensive tackle won the award was in 2014.

It was Aaron Donald, who had nine sacks that year.

Ndamukong Suh also won it in 2010 with 10 sacks.

Now, Nolen likens himself to Donald, saying he can do it all, but he also has a major obstacle on his team playing time.He is one of eight solid defensive tackles on the roster.

It will be hard to get enough playing time to put up big numbers when guys like Dalvin Tomlinson, Calais Campbell and 2024 first-round pick Darius Robinson are also on the roster.

And that doesn't even consider Justin Jones and Bilal Nichols, both quality NFL starters.

Johnson has the playing time problem, too.

He will have to beat out at least two of the three guys who played consistently on the boundary Sean Murphy-Bunting, Star Thomas and 2024 second-round pick Max Melton to get significant playing time.

Here is the other: no one drafted outside the top 40 of the draft has been Defensive Rookie of the Year since John Offerdahl did it in 1986.

Johnson was drafted 47th.

So it might be fun to think about the possibility of one of the Cardinals' many defensive draft picks winning the top rookie award, it isn't a practical hope.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast.

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