Arizona Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur gives sneak peek into DL rotation
· Yahoo Sports
The Arizona Cardinals have made some changes on their defensive line for 2026. Dalvin Tomlinson and Calais Campbell are out. They added less heralded names. Two of them are expected to be their two main guys at nose tackle.
They signed Roy Lopez and Andrew Billings.
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Billings has been a starter for almost his entire career, although he projects as a backup nose tackle this season. He is big.
Lopez is back after a year with the Detroit Lions.
Head coach Mike LaFleur talked about both guys, giving fans a clue about their expected roles.
"Can you imagine trying to move (Billings)?" he said during minicamp. "He's another guy that loves chopping it up there in between those 'A' gaps. He and Roy have had a really good 10 days.
"It's good to get Roy back. Obviously, I didn't know Roy, but this building did. To bring those two guys in that played a lot of football at the position, you think about first and second down, and that's key and critical to make sure you're plugging up those gaps."
The Cardinals allowed over 2,100 rushing yards and 19 rushing touchdowns in 2026, giving up 4.4 yards per attempt. They were a bottom-third unit in the league.
Lopez and Billings will be important cogs in hopefully improving that run defense in 2026.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Arizona Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur gives sneak peek into DL rotation