Arizona Cardinals will see a bevy of talented rookie defenders in 2018

The 2018 NFL Draft has come and gone and one of the big storylines coming out of it was the defensive talent, or lack of, the Arizona Cardinals drafted.

That doesn’t mean they won’t see talent from the defensive side of the ball.

In fact, Pro Football Focus came out with their five favorites for defensive rookie of the year, and the Cardinals will see four of the five.

The favorite is Roquan Smith, the talented Georgia linebacker who was drafted by the Chicago Bears. Smith is going to put up ungodly numbers in Chicago, who is desperate for linebacker help.

Next is the player who I thought was one of the best in the draft and fell all the way down to 17 in Derwin James. James will be playing with the Los Angeles Chargers and he’s going to be a vital part of their improved defense.

Another AFC West rookie who the analytics site loves is Maurice Hurst. Hurst fell to the Oakland Raiders on day three because of a heart condition, but his ability to be a disruptive force was never in question.

Finally, and although it is cheating a bit, the Cardinals will get the see new Dallas Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch in the preseason on Sunday Night Football.

The only favorite they won’t see is new Packers cornerback and alleged almost Cardinal Josh Jackson.

It’ll be quite the display of young defensive talent against Arizona this year, we’ll see if the Cardinals young offensive talent will be able to hold up their end of the matchups.