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Arizona Cardinals have top ten front seven... But third best in NFC West

Pro Football Focus ranked front sevens and the Arizona Cardinals were good, but their division is great.

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NFL: New England Patriots at Arizona Cardinals Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Cardinals turned over quite a bit of their front seven on the defensive side of the ball, but despite that movement, Pro Football Focus had them as one of the top ten defensive units in the NFL.

As Pro Football Focus gets us ready for the 2017 NFL season, they are going through and providing their own data and grades on every position and position group in the NFL.

Now, they are at the defensive front seven.

A heart debate has raged about who is atop the division, but first, the Cardinals who they ranked at eight in the NFL:

The Cardinals strength will be getting after the quarterback, as Chandler Jones was the seventh best edge defender last season, and Markus Golden finished his sophomore campaign grading at a solid 81.5, 24th best among all edge defenders. Deone Buchanan and Haasan Reddick are exciting young players, but are both undersized linebackers, and combined with the loss of elite interior defender Calais Campbell, the Cardinals have question marks against the run.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the Cardinals ranked so highly, but when going through the list, it was even more interesting to see three of the top eight teams reside in the NFC West.

The Seattle Seahawks sit at two, behind the Houston Texans, and the Los Angeles Rams sit at the fifth spot.

Is the Cardinals front seven really the third best in their own division?

Is the division that good at the point of attack on defense?

If this comes true, the NFC West will again be the most physical in the NFL.