If you ask most nfl gm's there are two main positions of value. The quarterbacks are always number 1 with those that rush the passer a close second. After a bunch of movement this offseason I decided to take a look at the deepest defensive lines in the NFL. Number 1 is none other than my Philadelphia Eagles.
I wanted to put another team number one but with a defensive line rotation that features Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, Vinny Curry, Josh Sweat, Fletcher Cox, Malik Jackson, and Timmy Jernigan its hard to make an argument against this line, especially when it comes to overall depth and not player vs. Player production. The Eagles are no strangers to building deep defensive lines and are constantly rotating ends and tackles to keep pressure on the qb. Last year it was Chris Long, and Michael Bennett, prior to that Vinny Curry and Connor Barwin who were rotational players/starters to be replace those that left. This team loves to go 7-8 deep across the line.
Denver Broncos, they are at this point more a tale of two stars than they are of overall depth like they were at this time last year before Shaq Barrett and Shane Ray left. However behind Von Miller and Bradley Chubb, the Broncos have less heralded guys in Derek Wolfe (2nd rounder), Adam Gotsis (2nd rounder), DeMarcus Walker (2nd rounder), Dremont Jones (3rd rounder), and Zach Kerr (free agent signee), as well as Shelby Harris, Mike Purcell, and Billy Wynn at DT. At OLB behind Miller and Chubb the Broncos currently have draft pick Justin Hollins who will also see time at ILB, Dekoda Watson who resigned after a stint with the 49ers, and Alexander Johnson. I personally think Dremont Jones is going to be a pleasent surprise this year, also Kerr, Harris, and Watson are all very underrated but valuable players for the Broncos.
L.A. Chargers SPOILER ALERT any line that boasts a Bosa brother or has a good chance of being on this list. With Joey anchoring the line at defensive end the Chargers have developed a pretty serious stable of pass rushers. Led by Melvin Ingram as kind of a hybrid 3-4 olb/ nickel DE. Behind these guys the other names aren't flashy but they are solid performers. Isaac Rochell started 3 games at DE and racked up 5 sacks, Darius Philon started 13 and added another 4 sacks, Damion Square started 11 games as the "second" DT in 4-3 alignments, the backup nose tackle in 3-4 alignments and also as a backup end in 3-4. He totalled 3 sacks. Joey Bosa started 6 games and played in 7 logging 5.5 sacks. Brandon Mebane is your typical space eatting NT and produced just 1 sack. But when you consider the Chargers produced 18.5 sacks from their linemen alone that's not bad. Now if they could get a full season out of Joey Bosa on top of quality play from the guys around him. Speaking of those guys around him...welcome to their newly minted first round pick Jerry Tillery the 6'6 295 lb DT should pair well with Mebane and Square at NT, fellow draft pick Cortez Broughton will compete for time behind Tillery, Rochell, Bosa, Philon, and Square. They also tend to use Uchenna Nwosu and Derwin James as steady pass rush threats as they combined for another 7 sacks.
Kansas City aggressively transitioned from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defense under Steve Spagnulo who is known for helping the Giants win a super bowl behind waves of defensive ends. So the Chiefs figured they would give him a stocked cupboard. They jetisoned Justin Houston, and traded Dee Ford. They then traded for Emmanuel Ogbah from the Browns, and Frank Clark from the Seahawks. They also brought in Alex Okafor, and drafted Khalen Saunders to play DT. Former OLB's Breeland Speaks, Tannoh Kpassagnon, and Rob McCray will also likely transition to defensive end making for a very healthy competition. Then there is Chris Jones who had 15.5 sacks last year...as a 3-4 DE...imagine him as a DT in a 4-3 now, with Frank Clark on one side, Saunders next to him at tackle and Speaks, Ogbah, and Okafor all seeing time opposite of Clark. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this is the year the Chiefs are a Super Bowl contender.
49ers have a wealth of highly drafted defensive linemen. Drafting Nick Bosa gave them 5 first round picks in the front seven. Three of which Bosa, Deforest Buckner, and Soloman Thomas were all drafted in the top ten picks. Then they also have Arik Armstead, and Dee Ford. Buckner has developed into a solid performer, and Armstead is looking to continue building momentum toward free agency after a decent 2018 season, but adding Ford and Bosa takes the strong front 3 the 49ers and turns it into a downright dangerous front 7. Adding depth behind these five are Ronald Blair, who is quickly becoming an invaluable rotational end with 10.5 sacks over the first 38 games of his career with just 2 starts, 2017 6th round pick D.J. Jones, 2018 4th round pick recovering from a torn acl Kentavius Street, Julian Taylor who played sparingly last season, Sheldon Day a former 4th round pick of the Jaguars and a guy who has logged 3 sacks the last two years in San Fran, Ryan Delaire a guy trying to make a name for himself with the 49ers after starting his career with the Panthers, and Kapron Lewis-Moore who broke into the NFL in 2014 but has appeared in just 5 games all of them came in 2015. As if that wasn't enough they also added Cedric Thorton to compete at DT, DT Kevin Givens, and last but not least the mammoth 6'8 255 lb Jamel Garcia-Williams a very raw DE/3-4 OLB prospect who will likely be a practice squad hopeful.
The Bills have solid starters followed by more solid depth behind them but none of their defensive ends have proven to be dominant at this stage of their career. Jerry Hughes is the elder statesman here and probably the highest profile pass rusher the team has. He had 7 sacks in 2018, while Trent Murphy and Shaq Lawson split time and both tallied 4 sacks. Behind those three the Bills currently have Mike Love, Eddie Yarborough, Daryl Johnson and Eli Harold. Last season the leading sack artist at defensive tackle was Kyle Williams with 5 but he decided to retire. The team responded by drafting Ed Oliver, to pair with Star Lotulelei. They currently have Kyle Peko, Jordan Phillips, Harrison Phillips, Robert Thomas and L.T. Walton. Update: the Bills have traded Eli Harold to the Eagles.
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