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With being a Super Bowl favorite, you have to have a good roster, and after finishing fifth in the offensive "triplets" in the NFL, the defensive triplet rankings are out, and Bill Barnwell again loves what the Arizona Cardinals have to offer.
The most amazing part, Barnwell doesn't include Tyrann Mathieu in the triplets because of his December injury and yet he still ranks the Cardinals as the fourth best defensive triplets in the NFL.
From Barnwell
Pretty nifty when you can form a trio of stars and leave out Tyrann Mathieu right? Mathieu would be in this grouping ahead of Jones based on his 2015 form, but the torn ACL he suffered in December raises questions about whether he'll keep that up in 2016, especially because it took him a year to return to form after tearing his ACL at the end of the 2013 campaign. Mathieu may still be useful, but it's enough to push Arizona's new star edge rusher into the triplets combo. Jones could end up being a one-year rental, but he's the exact sort of mid-peak pass-rusher the blitz-happy Cardinals haven't had during Bruce Arians' tenure.
This triplets is different than the others, as it features one defender from every level, as Calais Campbell heads up the defensive line portion, coming off another Pro Bowl, incoming pass rusher Chandler Jones leads the linebackers and of course Patrick Peterson is the star of the secondary for the Arizona cardinals.
The balance the Cardinals have on defense, having a very good to great player at every level and in some instance multiple players, is what could make the Arizona Cardinals defense special this season.
If I had to make a triplets for the Cardinals, I don't know if I would change any of them, but knowing that you could possibly have Robert Nkemdiche, Deone Bucannon and Tyrann Mathieu as the Cardinals defensive triplets in 2017 is amazing in and of itself.