The Cardinals aren't using Nkemdiche to his strengths. Even at Ole Miss, he was never a stack, shed and tackle DT. His strength is as a weak side 3 technique where he can use his quickness to explode through the weak side B gap and disrupt plays in the backfield.
Darnell Dockett was having similar frustrations with the Cardinals' 34 philosophy. Dockett thrived on penetration and not so much in the stack, read, gap control responsibility.
The good news about the plays the writer of the article highlights is the one play where Nkemdiche quickly shed Winters to make a play on Fitzpatrick's scramble up the middle. The Cardinals need more of that, especially versus the likes Russell Wilson and Cam Newton.
Just to be clear---when I say weak side what I mean is the side opposite the TE. Thus, a 3 technique on the weak-side would have Nkemdiche lining up on the outside shoulder of the guard---which pretty much guarantees that the only player who can block him (on the line) is the guard. It's too far away from the center to help and the tackle has one-on-one responsibilities on the edge rusher. In time, if the coaches put Nkemdiche and Jones (or Golden) in tandem on the weak side, man, they could wreak havoc.
