Kaleb Proctor out for the 2026 season

LaFleur said Proctor will miss “quite a bit of time” and eventually added, “if not the whole year.” It sounds like the fourth-round rookie will likely need season-ending surgery. Proctor was a standout performer at the 2026 NFL Combine after notching nine sacks at Southeastern Louisiana in his final season of college ball. Though he was likely slated for a part-time role in his first pro season, it’s still a blow to an Arizona defense that ranked 29th in points allowed last year.

Proctor saw his stock improve as much as any interior lineman in the class with his impressive showing at the NFL combine. He forged a 4.79s 40-yard dash, showed off a 33-inch vertical jump, and posted an excellent 4.71s 20-yard shuttle; all from a 6-foot-1, 291-pound frame. That’s not to say that Proctor wasn’t on the map for his previous production, as he was the Southland Conference Player of the Year while registering nine sacks and 13 tackles for loss while also batting down a pair of passes. Obviously, the biggest question is how that translates, as Southeastern Louisiana isn’t exactly a known football powerhouse. But it’s easy to understand why he’s drafted with that kind of production and those kind of athletic traits. He’s someone to keep an eye on this summer fighting for a role on the Cardinals’ defensive line.