Arizona Cardinals Top Pick: I Can Make Instant Impact

TEMPE -- Arizona Cardinals first-round pick Walter Nolen hasn't been in the desert very long, though he's getting acclimated to the climate quite well.

Nolen - who met with reporters this week - said he just moved in to his new place and can cook a mean dish of pasta (or something easy, as Nolen put it). He's also soaking up the Valley sun and adjusting to the heat, too.

Yet the Arizona temperature of summer matches the heat on Nolen to immediately produce as a top 20 pick in the draft.

Walter Nolen Wants to Make Immediate Impact for Arizona Cardinals

"Just me being me, I feel I can help in any way possible, honestly. It's just whatever the coaches got planned for me to do for them - I'm gonna do it to the best of my abilities," Nolen told Cardinals media.

The life of a rookie can be quite chaotic, and Nolen says one of the biggest lessons he's learned since emerging from voluntary OTA's and mandatory minicamp is to stay present:

"Just keep your feet where you are. Don't let nothing get too big and keep the main thing, the main thing. Really, just take care of your body," said Nolen. "That's your money-maker, so just make sure your body is prepared every day to handle what's going on."

Nolen is the young buck in a Cardinals defensive line room with big veteran names such as Calais Campbell and Dalvin Tomlinson, who have over 25 years of NFL experienced combined.

Nolen's tried to be a sponge and soak everything in from the respected veterans.

"Just being around guys like DT and Calais, I feel like they're going to take me to where I need to get, especially [since] they're on the backend of their careers. I feel like they put me in the spot where they wish they were at [when they were younger]," Nolen continued.

"So usually I'm one of the first persons in the building, but really some of the things they do inside the building, I started doing. Like the extra cold tub time, and getting in the sauna every day and staying in the training room."

Anybody can look good during this portion of the offseason, though when they pads come on for training camp, players begin to separate themselves - and Nolen will have his first opportunity for that when the Cardinals report to training camp later in July.

The rookie says he can't wait.

"It's been fun back out there playing football. I can't wait till we put the equipment on so it gets real."

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