"People want football to be microwavable," defensive line coach Brentson Buckner said. "Football is not microwavable, especially on the defensive line.

"I've been happy with him," Buckner added. "I never got down on him. I didn't expect him to come in and do all that dominating, because I knew the position. It takes time. It takes some guys even longer. He is starting to come around. He's in great shape. He's fully back from the ankle. You see the natural ability take over. Now it's all about Robert."

Nkemdiche played in just five games as a rookie, with three tackles. It would have been a shock, except the Cardinals had just gone through the previous season without their No. 1 pick – tackle D.J. Humphries – active for even one game. Nkemdiche's season was disappointing, but it wasn't even on the list of the reasons the Cards struggled to a 7-8-1 record.

Coach Bruce Arians noted a couple of times that Nkemdiche – who didn't turn 22 until the season had started – had to first grasp what it was like to play in the NFL and what that meant. Buckner said it took Nkemdiche a moment – or many moments – to adjust to not being a superstar from the time he arrived. In high school and when he got to college at Ole Miss, he was dominant just by showing up.

"They're young kids," Rucker said. "They don't know how a locker room is, they don't know how to be professional, they don't know how to study, that guys are counting on them and it's not just about you. This spring, I've seen Robert change his whole demeanor towards work. That's all you ask from a guy."

Nkemdiche said he just wants to take his rookie season as a learning experience, saying that he never let himself get frustrated.