The Seattle Seahawks' NFC West rival, the Arizona Cardinals, have finished third or worse in the division in the last three seasons. They almost managed to have a .500 record last year at 8-9. They are clearly getting better, but the recently got some bad news.
The team's 2025 first-round draft pick, Walter Nolen, suffered a calf injury in training camp, and the injury appears to be fairly severe. Nolen missing time in the regular season is definitely a possibility. As he is only a rookie, that could stunt his growth in year one.
Of course, that could potentially help the Seahawks in at least one of the two games they play against Arizona this season (Seattle and the Cardinals play in Week 4), though a team doesn't want to defeat another simply because the other is injured. One doesn't want to have excuses for losing.
Seattle Seahawks could be facing an Arizona Cardinals team without Walter Nolen in Week 4
Still, Nolen was expected to start right away, and form what the Cardinals hope is a vastly improved defensive line. The D-line was completely revamped with Nolen and free agent signees Calais Campbell and Dalvin Tomlinson.
Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon certainly had no answer for when Nolen might return, and cautioned those few Cardinals fans that exist that they might not see the rookie at the first of the season.
Gannon told the media that Nolen will "miss some time." He added, "I don't know (when Nolen might return). I really don't. We'll see how it goes. Each one's a little bit different. Each injury's a little bit different. Each guy's a little bit different."
Any injury is tough for a player and a team so early in training camp, of course, but a rookie missing time causes more issues. A first-year player needs to get reps in and learn how to acclimate to his new teammates and the speed and power of the NFL. The only way to learn that is to play, and not watch.
All Walter Nolen can do right now is watch, though. He can try to learn the playbook, but cannot apply his newfound knowledge. Nolen needs to learn what helps the veteran players next to him need to do to be successful, and what he can do to help them be so.
Unless Nolen returns quickly, which seems unlikely, he won't be able to get as many reps when he does return. Instead, the Cardinals might be forced to give players such as former Seattle Seahawks first-round bust LJ Collier more snaps. That is good for Seattle, though.