Despite his size, he graded out better as a pass-rusher than a run defender in college and won 9.4% of his pass-rushing snaps in 2022. The 2021 version should look significantly different , are expected to return from injury and an opt-out, respectively. The Rams dont have the same quality of depth as the other top-five defensive lines in these rankings. Here are PFFs top defensive lines heading into the 2021 NFL season, with 3-4 outside linebackers included since they fall under the edge defender label. Part of the reason Buffalo ranks merely in the middle of the pack here is that. No edge defender graded higher as a pass rusher on true pass-rushing snaps than him in 2020. This time last year, they were leading the league in pressure rate and threatening all-time marks for how often they were putting opposing quarterbacks under duress. 22. The Texans will need younger players, such as. Bengals defensive line. Nate Hobbs and Casey Hayward are both playing well, but teams have just found other players to target, with the linebackers and Johnathan Abram, in particular,being liabilities in coverage. Rookie Christian Barmore has already racked up 42 total pressures, the third-most among first-year players. Houston Texans. While many Giants have put together solid individual performances on defense, the unit is far from a well-oiled machine. He hasnt recorded double-digit sacks in a season since 2014, but he ranks in the 81st percentile of all players at the position in pass-rush win rate over the six years since. Thats to be expected after the team traded away one of the NFL's best interior defenders (, for all but 80 combined defensive snaps in 2020 because of injury. 26 Apr 2023 15:03:13 The Texans will need younger players, such as Charles Omenihu (52.1 overall grade in 2020) and Ross Blacklock (30.2), to take big steps forward if their defensive line is to be anything other than the NFL's worst such unit again next season. Sportsbooks have access to data on everything from defensive line speed to weather conditions and more, and they use these data . It should be a much-improved unit heading into next season. Arik Armstead, Samson Ebukam and even Arden Key have also been real factors in recent weeks in applying pressure on the quarterback. Minnesota also brought in, Pierce and Tomlinson both rank in at least the 83rd percentile of interior defenders in run-defense grade over the past four seasons. Pro Football Focus just released their rankings for the 2020 season and . Parsons has 60 total pressures despite playing as an off-the-ball linebacker most of the time. New York currently ranks 27th in aFPA to both the tight end and wide receiver positions, making the trio must-starts in Week 5. He finished with 18.5 sacks and was one of the few bright spots for the Bears in 2021. Thanks to that dominant performance in the trenches, the Steelers offensive line climbed one spot in the Week 16 rankings, moving up to No. The less said about the fourth team the better, as the New York Jets prop up the rankings in 32nd place. I think the ranking is based on total PFF score and then factoring in schedule and conference so I don't think it cares your WR room is injured. Frank Clark has his highest PFF pass-rushing grade (69.9) since 2018, and Melvin Ingram has accrued multiple pressures in every game since the team acquired him from Pittsburgh. Safety, led the team in total pressures (25) through the first 13 weeks of the 2020 campaign. Donald still managed 13.5 sacks along the line. New Yorks top four pressure producers in 2020 were all interior defenders. . Passing Leader: Tom Brady, 5316 Yds. , creating more one-on-one opportunities for both players. was their most productive pass rusher in 2020, but even he finished the year with only a 64.5 pass-rushing grade. One of the best seasons of Darius Slays career has helped propel Philadelphia up the rankings, among other standouts. The Saints season has gone off the rails since losing Jameis Winston to a season-ending injury, but their defense is as good as ever. Mason Cole - Out (Hamstring) - Cole played 36 snaps in Week 1 before going down with the injury and was replaced by Lamont Gaillard. San Franciscos defensive line went from borderline unblockable in 2019 to underwhelming in 2020. Jadeveon Clowney has seemingly gone from being overrated to underrated in the span of a few seasons. Detroits defensive line unit finished the 2020 season ranked 30th in PFF grade, ahead of only the Vikings and Texans. Receiving Leader: Cooper Kupp, 1947 Yds. Several offseason additions on the interior such as. The Los Angeles Rams are officially in a rebuild and it couldn't come at a better time. That group will look to match a league-leading 45.1% pressure rate in 2020. Rashan Gary did raise his overall grade from 55.8 as a rookie to 68.1 last season, though. should improve matters in 2021, but the Lions still have a ways to go to get back to average. Cornerback Trevon Diggs may not be quite as good as his league-leading interception total suggests, but those picks are the most valuable plays a defense can generate outside of also scoring on the turnover. Only the, There is no team worse at rushing the passer this season than the Falcons. should give Cincinnati a major boost on the interior, though. The next highest were the Green Bay Packers (79.9) and the Washington Football Team (76.6). Defense . It was a unit that played both the run and pass at an elite level in 2020. Poona Ford could receive more time there in 2021. That being said, Miamis blitz-heavy nature is suffocating to those quarterbacks. The team had few players who could create consistent true pressure while fielding one of the worst defenses in the league against the run. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES While we at PFF have made the argument that coverage is more valuable than pass rush, elite pass rushers are more reliable from year to year than elite coverage defenders. The group was led by Jeffery Simmons, Denico Autry and . NFL . Despite what his sack totals in recent seasons may suggest, is still the NFL's most dominant edge defender on a snap-for-snap basis. No edge defender graded higher as a pass rusher on true pass-rushing snaps than him in 2020. departure wouldnt have represented a major loss. We saw it this offseason in Cincinnati. The Kansas City Chiefs are back among the very best teams in the NFL following an ugly start to the year, and their defense is driving that resurgence after ranking as low as 30th in Week 8. Other big moves include the Baltimore Ravens defense tumbling as injuries just continue to decimate the group, and the San Francisco 49ers are back on the rise thanks to some impressive displays from their defensive front in recent weeks. At the same time, they are keeping 2021 first-round rookie, Tampa Bays defense continues to deal with injuries, forcing depth players to assume a greater role to varying degrees of success. Xavier Mckinney is showing the talent that made him a second-round pick in 2020, intercepting five passes and grading well across the board. Please check your email for a confirmation. Bosas rate was even higher last season (23.5%) than his career average. Offensive Line Rankings 2-11 New Yorks top four pressure producers in 2020 were all interior defenders. The back half of the season has not gone well for Carolina, but at least the defense remains a formidable unit. That includes key players along the defensive front in, . , elite pass rushers are more reliable from year to year than elite coverage defenders. Those numbers could even improve with a healthy season from Vita Vea in 2021. , and the team ranks just 28th in pressure rate, in part because its just too easy to pass the ball against that injury-riddled secondary. The Buccaneers ranked fifth in the NFL in team pressure rate (37.1%) and first in rushing yards allowed before contact per attempt (1.0). 32. Even T.J. Watt, phenomenal as he has been, has generated pressure at a lower rate than in the past. And any resemblance this unit bears to the famed Legion of Boom is purely aesthetic. The team plays some variant of Cover 1 or Cover 3 on 59% of its snaps, and opponents are too easily attacking that. But it does now after his 50-pressure, breakout season in 2020. He earned just a 30.0 run-defense grade in 2020. Readers return should give Cincinnati a major boost on the interior, though. Those two players were the team's best defenders in 2020 but have combined for just 237 snaps this season. He recorded a run-defense grade below 40.0 and a pressure rate well below 10% for the season. Bobby Wagner is, predictably, the only member of the unit with at least above-average PFF grades in every facet of play, and he has 51 defensive stops to his name. ranked only 14th in team pressure rate, in part because there arent many above-average pass rushers on their roster. He still needs to show he can play up to that level as a starter over the course of an entire season. It's time to mention Ward in the same breath as the best. No defense has forced more turnovers than Dallas. Mike Zimmer is still capable of dialing up plays to get his defense off the field, he just cant hide the problems on all of the other downs. The Packers' defense has struggled in recent weeks against some impressive offenses and some not-so-impressive offenses. 1 seed in the NFC, is that they are still expecting legitimate reinforcements in the form of. Clearly, this is not where a team paying two defensive linemen north of $20 million . The team now has a pressure rate of just 20.2%, by far the lowest mark in the NFL. The Rams boast the second-best pressure rate of any defense in the league, built largely on the back of Aaron Donald, who has been playing at his very best in recent weeks. All of a sudden, the Cardinals are struggling to stop the run, allowing 4.5 yards per carry on average and the worst yards, contact per carry figure in the NFL. Pro Football Focus ranked all 32 defensive lines heading into the 2021 NFL season and Philadelphia dropped three spots from last summer, coming in at No. Terrell who is playing at an All-Pro level. He is arguably the front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year, and he is now more of a one-man band compared to earlier in the year. This table explained. Several offseason additions on the interior such as Michael Brockers, Levi Onwuzurike and Alim McNeill along with the return of a healthy Trey Flowers should improve matters in 2021, but the Lions still have a ways to go to get back to average. Mike Moraitis. In 2019, he earned a sub-90.0 PFF season grade (79.3) for the first time in his career, ending an absurd stretch of dominance. As a result, its difficult to field a great defense with a below-average defensive line. Continue this thread. The questions for Arizona arise on the interior, where Watt should see more time than he has in the past few seasons with Houston. Youth is the theme across Carolinas defense. Kenny Clark and ZaDarius Smith are tremendous individual talents. We saw it this offseason in Cincinnati. Hes been the sixth-most valuable interior defensive lineman in the NFL over the past four years, per. When a team invests four consecutive first-round picks into one unit, this is the result theyre hoping for. Rookie. That was the case again last season, as the Eagles were one of just two teams with a pressure rate above 40% without the aid of the blitz. on the season, and even the better performers and those who have played the most snaps are giving up a. . It still remains to be seen whether they have enough pass rush outside of what Hunter is able to provide. The Jaguars' defense cant stop the pass well enough, and the problems originate in the secondary. Ranking all 32 NFL defensive line units ahead of the 2021 season | PFF. His inability to play up to the level he performed at in Seattle has left Kansas City thin along the defensive line beyond Jones, even after the team signed Jarran Reed this offseason. 2017-18. However, the Browns were far and away the highest in pass blocking grade at 86.5. this season. Ngakoue. He ranks in the 82nd percentile of players at the position in pass-rush grade and in the 88th percentile of edge defenders in run-defense grade since 2019. Hargrave ranks in the 91st percentile of qualifying interior defenders in pass-rushing grade since 2019. Highsmith finished his rookie season with a higher pass-rush win rate (16.5%) than Dupree (13.7%) last year. for the season. 9. The issue has been in the poor performers, with four players who have at least 150 snaps earning a PFF grade below 50.0. . The good news for them, as they look to secure the No. 1 . EDGE 2: 14.5%. 1. June 18, 2022 8:09 am ET. The AFC's No. He was the most valuable edge defender in the league last season by PFF's Wins Above Replacement metric, and he holds the same title across his three seasons with the Bears. Clowneys presence should keep teams from focusing all of their attention on. Gaillard posted a 83.2 pass blocking grade in the remaining 46 snaps . Whatever your favorite defensive statistic is, the Jets are probably the worst in the NFL at it. New York proceeded to add Sheldon Rankins, Vinny Curry and Carl Lawson to the group in free agency, placing an emphasis on improving the unit. Bell averaged 2.57 yards per route run in his final season in college. San Francisco will also need Javon Kinlaw (54.1 PFF grade as a rookie) to make a second-year jump to get back toward the elite group we saw two years ago. A team can lean more on the blitz when its starting cornerbacks are Xavien Howard and Byron Jones. Dante Fowler Jr.s first year with the team was nowhere near what the Falcons were expecting when they signed him to a multi-year deal last offseason. PFF Ranking: Unranked. He was the beneficiary of a favorable defensive environment where teammates drew much of the attention from opposing offensive lines. pff.com. Los Angeles will hope new head coach Brandon Staley can get the most out of the former first-round pick. He recorded a run-defense grade below 40.0 and a pressure rate well below 10% for the season. This ranking doesnt feel fair to Grady Jarrett. 1) Nick Chubb / Cleveland Browns PFF O-line Ranking: No. At 38.0%, they now have the third-best pressure rate of any team, trailing the Rams and Packers. Bosa and Ford's return to play alongside, could give the 49ers one of the best edge rotations in the NFL. The defensive line is no exception, with the Panthers expected to start Brian Burns, Derrick Brown and Yetur Gross-Matos next season. The Broncos have been forced deep into contingency plans at linebacker, with both starters lost for the season to injury, but players like Jonas Griffith are still performing well in relief. He finished with 11 career interceptions and three pick-sixes. Detroit's offensive line came in 10th in PFF's ranking of all 32 offensive line groups heading into the season. A game against, The Rams boast the second-best pressure rate of any defense in the league, built largely on the back of, lead all interior players, and he is only six short of catching, is his best since he went to the AFC Championship game with. Highsmith finished his rookie season with a higher pass-rush win rate (16.5%) than Dupree (13.7%) last year. Few defenses have as wide a range of performance as the Bengals this season. The Football Team are extremely vulnerable to the pass in general, but on third downs this season, they are giving up a 129.0 passer rating, by far the worst mark in the NFL. They still held up against an elite offense when they effectively stopped Green Bay from scoring in the second half in Week 16, but its just been less consistent than it was earlier in the season. San Francisco will also need. The unit loses Roy Robertson-Harris and Brent Urban heading into 2021 but returns nose tackle Eddie Goldman from an opt-out. The trio of Calais Campbell, Brandon Williams and Derek Wolfe on the interior is an impressive collection of run-stuffers, though. Baltimore enjoyed incredible depth in the secondary heading into the year and yet is still down to players who are being called up to the active roster during the same week to cover top NFL receivers. As the Eagles embark on a short-term rebuild, one unit that still has elite potential is Philadelphias defensive line. . There was concern for this unit when Larry Ogunjobi went down with a season-ending injury during Super Wild Card Weekend, but these linemen haven't missed a beat. Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, Montez Sweat and Chase Young all look to be impact starters through the early stages of their NFL careers. Its not often that a team signs a defensive end to a four-year, $60 million contract in the offseason and gets worse at the position. 2021 NFL Defensive Front Seven Rankings, by Unit. There isnt a member of the unit with an overall PFF grade this season over 77.0, and just one full-time starter is even above 70.0. This time last year, they were leading the league in pressure rate and threatening all-time marks for how often they were putting opposing quarterbacks under duress. 11 or better. They rank just eighth in blitz rate (28.5%) and 18th in pressure rate as a unit. The Jaguars' defense cant stop the pass well enough, and the problems originate in the secondary.