Arizona Cardinals Rookie Gets Massive Praise From Franchise Legend

There will be no shortage of hype in the desert for Arizona Cardinals first-round pick Walter Nolen.

The Ole Miss product and former consensus top-two high school recruit saw his potential explode last season after two mediocre years at Texas A&M. The Cardinals made him their selection at 16 overall with hopes of him becoming an anchor for a rebuilding defensive line.

That group saw no shortage of moves made to improve it. As arguably the biggest weakness on last year's Cardinals team, Arizona went out and signed Calais Campbell and Dalvin Tomlinson in free agency, they re-signed LJ Collier, and then drafted Nolen.

The room suddenly became exponentially deeper, which makes it all the more impressive that the rookie is finding ways to stand out.

The veteran Campbell has certainly noticed, and made a comment about Nolen's progression:

Arizona Cardinals Rookie Walter Nolen Gains Praise From Calais Campbell

"He has unbelievable lateral quickness. Very few players can go kind of backdoor and to come down the line and make a [tackle for loss]. He's one of those guys that has that unique ability where he has quickness. His quickness is at a different level, and he has good instincts," Campbell said of Nolen.

This comes as high praise for one of the most accomplished players in league history. Campbell is also a franchise legend who is making his return to the desert after several years abroad.

As a potential Hall of Famer down the road, it's always encouraging to receive love from a guy of that caliber.

As we mentioned, Nolen is growing into his absurd potential. The 21-year-old has strength, athleticism, and overall frame to dominate at the next level. He went from OK with the Aggies to All-American with the Rebels.

Now in a Cardinals defense coached by Jonathan Gannon and Nick Rallis, we could see Nolen take yet another big leap into becoming the monster he seems destined to become.

For Campbell to acknowledge Nolen's play style means more than what we just mentioned. The term, "looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane" has been associated with countless players who look like Nolen and possess his level of potential, but you won't hear anyone say that about him.

His ability to blend his God-given gifts and talents and translate them to success will be what helps him acclimate to the next level quickly. He's already ahead of the curve thanks to those gifts, but if he truly is grasping the game and standing out to one of the greats then you have to be excited about what comes next.

There's no certainty with how quickly he will find the field or how consistently that may be thanks to so much depth at the position, but he may become a guy that becomes difficult to justify keeping on the sidelines.

Latest Arizona Cardinals News