The Arizona Cardinals move into the 2026 offseason with a mix of depth and hopeful building blocks for the future under first-year head coach Mike LaFleur \u2014 though the presence of Walter Nolen III ranks among the most promising on the team.<\/p>\n
Arizona’s first-round pick began his season on reserve\/PUP with a calf injury, eventually making his return in November (Week 9) before suffering a season-ending knee injury in Week 16. <\/p>\n
That knee injury and the specifics around it wasn’t revealed, which has been common practice in Arizona. <\/p>\n
However, the public recently learned Nolen’s knee injury was a meniscus and not the previously feared ACL tear thanks to…. a TikTok posted by his girlfriend. Months ago. <\/p>\n
During a video posted back in January, Nolen’s girlfriend (ttyler.nelson on TikTok) posted a video<\/a> which eventually showed a chair sitting in their shower. <\/p>\n “This is a chair in the shower because he tore his meniscus and had to get surgery, and so now this is how he showers,” she said. <\/p>\n Nolen would have been in the running for defensive rookie of the year honors had he been healthy for a full 17 games, as the small sample size we saw of the Ole Miss product displayed every bit of promise as a dominant defensive lineman at the NFL level. <\/p>\n In six games, Nolen accrued 11 tackles (5 TFL), two sacks and two passes defensed. <\/p>\n \u2705 First NFL Game \ud83d\udcfa ESPN pic.twitter.com\/mlKstxy0gM<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2705 First Sack for Walter Nolen III<\/p>\n