Cardinals' Projected Starters on Defense: Strengths and Weaknesses


By Walter Mitchell

Using Theo Mackie's projected starters on the Cardinals' 2026 defense, let's make a quick chart of the players' strengths and weaknesses, per their 2025 PFF grades.

SOLB Zaven Collins 

Strength ---> RDEF 71.8

Weakness --->TACK 38.8

DI Walter Nolen 

Strength ---> PRSH 80.1

Weakness---> RDEF 57.4

NT Roy Lopez

Strength ---> RDEF 68.9

Weakness ---> TACK 53.0

DI Darius Robinson

Strength --->TACK: 52.9

Weakness---> RDEF 30.1

WOLB Josh Sweat 

Strength ---->: PRSH 73.6 

Weakness ---> COV 43.4

SLB Mack Wilson Jr.

Strength ---> PRSH 80.4

Weakness ---> TACK 41.9

WLB Cody Simon

Strength ---> COV 57.9

Weakness ---> TACK 36.3

CB Will Johnson

Strength ---> RDEF 61.2

Weakness ---> TACK 51.2

CB Denzel Burke

Strength ---> COV 61.2

Weakness ---> TACK 34.5

CB Garrett Williams

Strength ---> COV 64.2

Weakness ---> TACK 29.1

SS Budda Baker

Strength ---> RDEF 76.6

Weakness ---> COV 35.7

FS Dadrion Taylor-Demerson

Strength ---> TACK 74.8

Weakness ---> COV 57.3

2025 Team Defense

NFL 2025 Teams | PFF Premium Stats

DEF ---> 50.7 ---> #31

RDEF ---> 46.7 ---> #29

TACK ---> 28.6 ---> #32

PRSH ---> 62.1 ---> #29

COV ---> 44.2 ---> #27

https://www.foxsports.com/articles/nfl/2025-nfl-defense-rankings-team-pass-and-rush-stats

YARDS ---> 357.7 ---> #27

PASS ---> 230.8 ---> #24

RUN ---> 126.9 ---> #25

POINTS ---> 28.7 ---> #29

RED ZONE ---> 63.2% ---> #25

3RD DOWN ---> 43.1% ---> #27

2026 Defensive Coaching Staff:

Defensive Coordinator ---> Nick Rallis (4th season with AZ, 9th in NFL)

Senior Advisor ---> Teryl Austin (1st with AZ, 23rd in NFL)



Defensive Line ---> Pete Kwiatkwoski (1st with AZ, 1st in NFL) --- Texas Longhorns DC 2025



Outside Linebackers ---> Matt Feeney (2nd with AZ, 5th in NFL)

Inside Linebackers ---> Rod Wilson (1st with AZ, 8th in NFL)



Defensive Backs ---> Christian Garcia (2nd with AZ, 6th in NFL)

Cornerbacks ---> Zac Etheridge (1st with AZ, 1st in NFL) --- Miami Hurricanes DBC 2025



Quality Control (Scouting Opponents' Offense) ---> Brent Jackson (1st with AZ, 23rd in NFL)



Quality Control (Scouting Opponents' Offense) ---> Alec Osborne )2nd with AZ, 2nd in NFL)

Keys to Improvements:

1. Rallis and Austin working to make schemes much more aggressive.

2. Kwiatkowski and Feeney making the defensive line more physical and disruptive at the point of attack and revitalizing what has been a largely dormant pass rush for the past three years.

3. Wilson teaching the ILBs to play faster, more instinctively and more reliably as tacklers and stickier in pass coverages.

4. Garcia and Etheridge teaching the "want to" and proper techniques of tackling while tightening up the zone coverages and making significant progress in man-to-man coverage.  Identifying the best suited man-to-man defenders, especially in having the best man defender cover the slot.

5. Jackson and Osborne creating stronger scouting reports on the opposing offenses in terms of evaluating personnel strengths and weaknesses, plus schematic and situational coaching tendencies.

6. The entire defensive staff working their tails off to make the "caution and cushion" defense a thing of the past.






Comments

  1. RedrunJune 30, 2026 at 7:11 AM

    Simply put - Tackle Dummy! 115 missed tackles in 2025 ranked them 25th out of 32 teams. Coupled with soft zones made Cardinals Defense laughing stock of league. Our only hope is the newly acquired coaching assistants (Coach K & Austin) make a heavy impact to the fundamentals and schemes of Rallis defense. But according to (Collins interview) Rallis is rolling back same defensive schemes with little to no change (hopefully that is smoke screen - if not Rallis may be fired mid-season).

    ReplyDelete
  2. hevchvJune 30, 2026 at 7:59 AM

    OMG. I knew tackling was an issue but I just threw up in my mouth.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Since 61June 30, 2026 at 8:08 AM

    Kwiatkowski and Etheridge built college defenses that were genuinely elite at the exact things Arizona has been worst at — Texas was top-tier at generating pressure without blitzing constantly, and Miami's secondary play under Etheridge was built on aggressive man principles rather than the soft zone shells AZ has leaned on. That's not a coincidence.
    The staff's success depends on whether Kwiatkowski, Etheridge, and Wilson's aggressive teaching philosophy ends up influencing how Rallis actually calls games, or whether it just becomes "well-coached players executing a still-too-cautious scheme."
    Worth watching is whether Teryl Austin, as senior advisor, has any actual say in play-calling and whether he's been brought in partly as a check on Rallis's tendencies rather than purely a mentorship role.

    ReplyDelete

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