National Football League

D-line coach: Cardinals will have plenty of depth this season

Published Jun. 23, 2015 5:12 p.m. ET

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The Arizona Cardinals addressed one of their biggest need this offseason in the defensive line. Last year, the Cardinals struggled down the stretch as players began to wear down. 

The Cardinals relied heavily on Calais Campbell, Dan Williams, and Frostee Rucker and did not have many other players to help give those guys a breather. 

This season, the Cardinals will have plenty of options and should be able to stay fresh throughout the entire season. Defensive line coach Brentson Buckner will continue to have Campbell and Rucker as well as Corey Peters, Cory Redding, Rodney Gunter, Matt Shaughnessy and Ed Stinson.

"Now I have the confidence to bring a whole another group of three," Buckner said, via ESPN.com. "We're fresher in the fourth quarter, which makes us fresher in the middle of the season, at the end of the season, and hopefully we get to the playoffs and we get a run.

"We get six or seven guys that can play, so it doesn't matter who's out there."

The added players will allow Buckner the flexibility to play certain match-ups. No longer will he have to continue with the same guys even if something is not working.

"Now I got a group of guys that can play left and right and two of them can play end and nose tackle," he said. "So I can just match up. 'Oh, you're a better matchup for this guy at nose this week, you go to nose. You go to defensive end.'

"Or if I want faster guys, I can go to a three-end look and still play our 3-4 defense and then get more speed and more of that athleticism on the field."

(h/t ESPN)

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