Arizona Cardinals putting big faith in Robert Nkemdiche

The Arizona Cardinals are putting a lot of faith in second year defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche, and there will be growing pains along the way…

Robert Nkemdiche was probably feeling the weight of a giant chip on his shoulder when he lasted deep into the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft before he was selected by the Arizona Cardinals.

When Nkemdiche’s draft night slide ended, he acknowledged that there were things that happened off the football field and his free-fall down the board was a repercussion of thsoe decisions.

As a rookie, Nkemdiche proved the skeptics right, unfortunately. His ability to contribute on the field was clearly a work in progress, as he played in just five games. For the optimistic Cardinals fan, Nkemdiche should have come in as a rookie and paired with Calais Campbell to give the team a fearsome, athletic couple of defensive linemen to wreak havoc on opposing quarterbacks.

The rigors of the NFL proved to be much more than Nkemdiche probably anticipated.

Now entering his second NFL season, however, the Cardinals appear to have put a ton of faith in their former first round pick. Of course, you draft a guy with your top pick for a reason. That’s not often to let him sit on the bench.

Calais Campbell left in free agency this offseason to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and suddenly, the burden of responsibility has shifted in a big way to Nkemdiche. Campbell played over 77 percent of the Cardinals’ defensive snaps last year, 333 more snaps than the next defensive lineman (Corey Peters, 46.23%)

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In other words, the Arizona Cardinals are going to be counting on Nkemdiche big time to pick up the slack. They have to replace 830 very productive snaps from Campbell, and it won’t be easy. That’s why they picked Nkemdiche with a premiere draft pick. Along with that high draft status comes high expectation.

Playing 82 snaps as a rookie, Nkemdiche could see nine or even 10 times the number of snaps he saw as a rookie this year.

That is, assuming all things go well.

Cardinals defensive coordinator James Bettcher doesn’t exactly have a star-studded cast of defensive linemen to work with this year, and an unproven Nkemdiche isn’t helping him sleep any better at night. The former Ole Miss star is going to have to prove he’s put in the work this offseason to handle that increased responsibility.

If not, the Cardinals’ defensive front could be in big trouble.

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