3 major shockers for the Arizona Cardinals 53-man roster in 2023

The Arizona Cardinals shocked the NFL landscape with several of their moves when they cut down to their 53-man roster last week.
Arizona Cardinals v Minnesota Vikings
Arizona Cardinals v Minnesota Vikings / Adam Bettcher/GettyImages
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Arizona Cardinals defensive end Carlos Watkins
Jul 28, 2023; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Carlos Watkins (94) performs a / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

3 - No waiver claims at defensive line

While the starting defensive line looked good in the preseason, it was a different story for the backups, especially in that Week 2 debacle. But here the Cardinals stand, at the time of this writing, with no waiver claims at the defensive line.

Even more interestingly, they kept just two additional linemen for the practice squad in Eric Banks and Ben Stille. Now, this will likely change as the season progresses, but it’s curious nonetheless to see such little help at what could still be a weak position group. 

If L.J. Collier, Carlos Watkins, and Jonathan Ledbetter stay healthy, and if Leki Fotu finally improves, then this unit could carry their preseason success into the regular season. Only Dante Stills and Kevin Strong factor in as full-time backups while Watkins will undoubtedly see time in a rotational role, so there is little margin for error here. It will be interesting to see if Monti Ossenfort does anything else before September 10th.

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