Arizona Cardinals should see improved pass rush

The Arizona Cardinals should have a dramatically improved pass rush in 2016 with the addition of Chandler Jones and improvement of Markus Golden…

With one of the most well-constructed rosters in the NFL, where could the Arizona Cardinals improve the most this offseason?

The pass rush.

It’s not really a big revelation or anything, but the Cardinals finished last regular season with just 36 sacks and struggled badly in the playoffs getting to the quarterback. The team’s leader in sacks was Dwight Freeney with eight, and he played just 11 games, finishing with a whopping nine tackles on the season.

Freeney forced three fumbles, something he’s always been able to do in the NFL, but his production in the pass rush department was really the only consistency the Cardinals had in that area last season. Obviously lineman Calais Campbell is a force on the defensive line with his size, athleticism, and length, and he finished with five sacks.

One player who came on for the Cardinals was second round pick Markus Golden, who had four sacks — three of which came in the final six weeks of the season.

Golden’s development and the offseason addition of Chandler Jones from the New England Patriots gives the Cardinals some serious potential off the edge, and this is a unit that should be vastly improved with the Cardinals’ talented defensive line occupying blockers and creating problems of their own.

Coming out of college, Golden was known for his toughness and motor, not necessarily his ability to bend the edge with regularity. He’s a guy who is going to get hustle sacks, but as he grows into his role in the NFL, the sack numbers could rise because of his heavy hands and ability to muscle past linemen.

It will certainly be easier for Golden to produce on one edge with Chandler Jones on the other. Jones is a dynamic rusher who is developing into one of the best in the NFL. The Cardinals stole him from New England for the price of a seemingly failed former top 10 pick and a draft pick.

In 2013 and 2015, when Jones missed only one game, he racked up 24 total sacks and five forced fumbles. Of those 24 total sacks, 12.5 came in 2015 with the Patriots as did four forced fumbles.

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As Jones has developed into what I believe to be one of the elite edge rushers in the game, the Cardinals took advantage of an opportunity to address their clear area of weakness heading into the offseason. This isn’t even to mention the acquisition of Robert Nkemdiche as a first round pick out of Ole Miss, who will create pass rush opportunities from the defensive line.

The Cardinals are more athletic, tougher, smarter, and younger in the pass rush department than they were at this time last year. There should be drastic improvements from day one for a team that was as complete — if not more so — than the Carolina Panthers at times last year.

They should push to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, and having a big time pass rush is going to be paramount in getting them there.

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