Linebacks and D-backs rankings. My opinion, not necessarily yours. Linebackers 1. Eagles. Trent Cole is still a good pass rusher as a 3-4 linebacker, albeit not as explosive as he was at de. Mychal Kendricks and Demeco Ryans are both great tacklers who are a big reason for Phillys top ten run defense last year. That and their tendency to be ahead of their opponent but cant take cradit away from them. Connor Barwin is a decent pass rusher and is decent in coverage. Not great but decent. 2. Redskins. Brian Orakpo is an explosive pass rusher when healthy and Ryan Kerrigan is decent in that area while being above average in coverage. Perry Rildy Jr. was a decent linebacker last year but now it needs to be seen if he can produce without London Fletcher next to him. Keenan Robinson last saw game action in 2012 with a total of 9 tackles so he is entirely an unproven commodity. 3. Giants. Jon Beason turned their defense around last year from his 2nd game with the team on. Before he arrived, the Giants were vying with Dallas to put up historically bad defensive numbers, but after his arrival the Giants from that point on wards ranked 6th in total defense. Jameel McClain and is an average to above average starter who helps pull their NFL LB corps ranking up. Jaquain Williams and Devon Kennard are both unproven players and it is unsure who out of them will start. 4. Cowboys. It was announced that Rolondo McClain will start at MLB week one, which would be good if this was 2010. He hasnt been in the league since 2012 where he was being fazed out of the Raiders worst defense in the league, retired for 2013 to deal with drug issues, and now is the starting LB for last years worst defense. Its a good story but he is an unproven commodity and last time he did play in games that count, the worst defense in the league was fazing him out. Bruce Carter is a decent 4-3 outside lineback so it isnt all bad for Dallas at this position. Kyle Wilber has started 6 games so he needs to prove himself this year. D-backs 1. Giants. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was one of the most effective d-backs in the NFL last year and using him as a man-man corner is more to his strength than a zone coverage corner he was used as in Philly. Prince Amukamara has proved himself to easily be the 3rd best corner from his draft class, behind Richard Sherman and Patrick Peterson. He did a damn fine job of holding Calvin Johnson to 3 catches for 43 yards the last time he played a game that counts and he held Dez Bryant without a touchdown last year so he is definitely no slouch as a number 2 corner. Ive decided to have slot corners be in the conversation as well and arguably the best slot corner in the game is on this team as well in Walter Thurmond who is fresh off winning a superbowl with one of the best pass defending teams of recent memory. Antrel Rolle was 2nd team NFL All-pro last season, which means he was a top 4 safety last year and only guaranteed to be behind the 1st teamers Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor. Stevie Brown is coming off an acl tear so it is hard to see him putting up similar numbers to his all-pro 2012 season so he has to reprove himself this season. 2. Eagles. Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher are both good corners. Not great but they wont be solely responsible for losing a game, someone else would have to mess up with their mess up. Brandon Boykin is another slot receiver in discussion for best slot-corner in the league after putting up great numbers there with six interceptions. Malcolm Jenkins is an upgrade at strong safety, need to make sure talent wasnt because of Rob Ryans defense which shouldnt be too much of an issue since Philly also runs a 3-4 without a great star pass rusher. Nate Allen is a decent free safety option. 3. Cowboys. Brandon Flowers and Morris Claiborne were both well below average starters last season and need to prove that they are better than they showed. Orlando Scandrick is a very good slot-corner, but he might miss the first 4 games if the NFL doesnt change its policy before Sunday. Barry Church put up crazy tackle numbers last season, which is really good, but if you look at the rest of their defense you realize that someone had to tackle. JJ Wilcox needs to show improvement and ability to start this season after a so-so rookie year. 4. Redskins. Deangelo Hall is one of the NFLs best gamblers, but that leads to him getting beat often. David Amerson was marginally better than Morris Claiborne and Brandon Flowers last season. I dont know who on this team is actually going to cover the slot because none of their other cbs are proven to be better than a replacement player. Ryan Clark performed well in Pittsburg, but players generally dont play as well outside of Pittsburgs defense as they did in it. Baccari Rambo was ok last year in 11 games played and 3 starts, but not noteworthy. -Leo
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 20:51:52 +0000
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