PFF: Ranking All 32 Nfl Defensive Front-sevens

from Ranking All 32 Nfl Defensive Front-sevens

Director of Analysis Ben Stockwell ranks the league’s defensive front-sevens from top to bottom, with the Broncos reigning supreme.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro-ranking-all-32-nfl-defensive-front-sevens/?utm_content=buffer0b03a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=nfl

Continuing our season preview of NFL positional units, we now examine every teams’ defensive front-seven, ranking them from best to worst. In a sub-package league, the construction of a front-seven is a fluid thing, rather than a static one, with some sub-package players featuring more than starters. To this end, these rankings were constructed by looking at the entirety of the front-seven and how much each player will contribute, rather than a look at just the starters.

Each team we check in with has the starters in base packages (listed as the “Projected starters”) alongside a select group of players who are likely to be key contributors in a rotation, sub-package, or as competition in training camp for some incumbent starters.

With those qualifiers in mind, here are the NFL’s defensive front-sevens, ranked 1–32, entering the 2016 season.

…

4. Los Angeles Rams

Projected starters: DT Aaron Donald, DT Michael Brockers; DE William Hayes, DE Robert Quinn; LB Mark Barron, MLB Alec Ogletree, LB Akeem Ayers

Other names to know: DT Dominique Easley, DT Cam Thomas; DE Quinton Coples, DE Eugene Sims

Key stat: The Rams recorded a stop on 63.0 percent of run plays in their base defense last year, third-best in the league.

The Rams front seven is a tale of two position groups really, but the quality of their defensive line still pulls them near the top of these rankings. Their defensive line is stacked with Aaron Donald the star of the starting crew and bringing Dominique Easley off the bench will give the Rams quality depth at defensive tackle for a second year in a row. If Robert Quinn can reproduce his 2013 form then this defensive line would boast two of the best players in the entire NFL. The intrigue at linebacker is how Alec Ogletree will fare having finally made the switch to middle linebacker to replace the departed James Laurinaitis.