Cardinals' Calais Campbell is ready for collision at State Farm Stadium
Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Calais Campbell has returned to his former team looking to bring a sense of physicality back to the franchise in 2025. Campbell has been intentional in building camaraderie with teammates at training camp, particularly with fellow defensive linemen L.J Collier and Dante Stills who are coming into their own as pass rushers in the NFL.
Stills and Collier were both vital to the Cardinals pass rush in 2024 accounting for eight of the 30 total team sacks on the season. The Cardinals ranked just 15th in sacks per game last year, but with the addition of Campbell, fans may see those statistics improve soon.
Outside linebacker Josh Sweat will also have an impact on how the team's pass rush fares. However, as a team veteran, players will desire to be edified by the leadership of Campbell in the locker room and his resilient career has merited him this responsibility.
Campbell finished the 2024 regular season with an impressive 11.5 stuffs and five pass deflections. Sure, Campbell isn't the powerhouse he once was in his prime, but turning 39 years old in September, he has shown a consistent ability to be disruptive in the A-gap by stuffing the run and yielding quarterback pressures. Campbell's impact will be study piece on film as the season progresses and will play as a reference point to assess how well the Cardinals defense does versus the run this season.
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
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