With the 2012 NFL season
steadfast approaching, it’s time to continue an original Garden State Sports
Guy production: The NFL Top 10 Series. As the Top 10 countdown approaches for
each position, we’ll be looking at honorable mentions for each position as those
steadfastly approach. Today after a prolonged absence thanks to studying, we’re
getting down and dirty once again and going deep into the trenches to the guys
that do the dirty work. The guys off the edge on the defensive line usually get
most of the pub and love from the pundits, but without great interior linemen a
defensive line’s efforts can prove to be futile week in and week out. The Top
10 has already been created, and here are the players who either just missed my
cut, or players who played exceptionally well in 2011 that didn’t do enough to
prop themselves into the Top 10.
Honorable Mentions for the Interior Lineman Position
Brett Keisel: Given the fact that the Pittsburgh Steelers have been one of the most
formidable run defenses in the NFL for the last decade or so, it would be
ludicrous to not have one of their players get mentioned in this post. One of
the better nose tackles of this era Casey Hampton has seen his production
downgraded a bit, and Mizzou alum Ziggy Hood has not done enough for me to be
recognized just yet, but Kiesel in my opinion has. Keisel stepped in the year
2006 as the fulltime defensive end for the Steelers and had an incredible
campaign, amounting 5.5 sacks and 38 tackles along with a fumble recovery. Now
while that does not sound like a lot, for a 3-4 end, it is, and Keisel has kept
up that kind of consistency ever since. He in my opinion is a Top 5 3-4 DE in
this league and is a valuable asset to the Pittsburgh Steelers, no doubt about
it. Due to the fact that we’re combining 3-4 DE’s and 4-3 DT’s however, he gets
shafted just a bit. Make no mistake though; Keisel is an exceptional player and
a terrific run-stuffer and is one of the key reasons that the Steelers defense
remains elite.
Ray McDonald: One of the most underrated players in the NFL checks into this post. The
San Francisco 49er defense took the league by storm last year and you might
have heard the names Justin Smith, Patrick Willis, Aldon Smith, NaVorro Bowman
and Carlos Rogers a lot. But what a lot of people didn’t talk about was the
49ers’ best kept secret: Ray McDonald. McDonald plays on the opposite side of
Justin Smith in their 3-4 defense and had a stellar 2011 season that was worthy
of a mention. He really jumped out at me last year when he was finally taken
off the situational player leash. While on the field for 279 run snaps
according to ProFootballFocus, McDonald wrapped up 24 tackles, five assists,
only missed a miniscule four tackles and stuffed opposing backs 18 times on a
defense that only allowed two rushing touchdowns all season. McDonald also was
cited as PFF’s 45th best player in 2011. He also played an integral role in the
Conference Championship Game where he absolutely pummeled the right side of the
New York Giants’ offensive line. McDonald is a beast and hopefully this season
he is looked at more and is given more notoriety.
Jurrell Casey: The first of several rookies gets mentioned here as we shift our
attention from the west coast to the southeast. Jurrell Casey came out of USC
last season and played tremendously well for a rookie on a Titans line that was
big and ferocious but was still left looking for a pass rusher. Casey couldn’t
provide much on the pass rush end, only amounting 2.5 sacks on the season but
they couldn’t ask for much more from him in the run game where he was a terror.
He piled up 30 stops while on the field for 321 run plays amounting 35 tackles
and just three missed tackles. Casey will need to fill the gap that now Seattle
Seahawk Jason Jones left him this season as we can imagine Casey will play a
much larger role on a Titans defensive line that got much bigger last season.
They’ll need hefty contribution from him given that they play against two of
the best running backs in the league twice during the season in Maurice
Jones-Drew and Arian Foster, and if the trends hold up, the Titans will be
happy to look at #99 on the field for a second straight year.
J.J. Watt: The
Wisconsin product shifted focus from Madison-integrated offensive linemen in
the NFL to Wisconsin defensive linemen last season. Watt helped the Texans
perform one of the best, if not the best switch from defensive schemes in
recent memory. Watt was second best at stopping the run last season as he
registered 27 stops to go along with 34 tackles while on the field for 264
snaps, so just a little over 10% of the time that he was on the field, Watt was
making plays to help the Texans’ run defense. In total he made 40 defensive
stops in 2011 which according to PFF was second-most out of all 3-4 defensive
ends in the entire league. Watt also had a memorable play in the first Houston
Texans playoff game ever as he picked off Andy Dalton to put the dagger in the
Cincinnati Bengals and his continued development may help Watt slot himself
into the Top 10 this time next year.
Marcell Dareus: The third overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft did not perform as well as
the players ahead of him (Newton, Miller) and not as well as some of the
players below him (Green, Jones, Smith) but he still had himself a solid 2011.
While very hit or miss, he proved to be one of the most productive defensive
tackles in terms of rushing the passer. When the Bills lost defensive tackle
Kyle Williams for the season (who we’ll see later on) Dareus stepped in and was
the team leader in sacks (5.5) and had 10 QB hits on an abysmal pass rush for
Buffalo. Being the lone bright spot did do him well though and one can only
imagine how much Dareus is going to flourish with premier edge rusher Mario
Williams, a healthy Kyle Wlliams and Mark Anderson around him. Buffalo has a
lot to look forward to on the defensive side, for once.
Brodrick Bunkley: Bunkley may never make it into the Top 10 for defensive tackles but much
like Harvey Dahl for the offensive tackle position, I feel obligated to
acknowledge Bunkley for the terrific season that he had last season. For
whatever reason Denver decided not to bring him back this year I won’t know
given their defensive line struggles sans Elvis Dumervil. Bunkley proved his
worth with the Broncos and made Eagles fans bewildered due to the mediocrity
they saw with him. Bunkley picked up 35 tackles and assisted on 12 of them as
well and had 31 run stops on the season while on the field for 274 run plays,
the best in the NFL. As stated, Bunkley may never churn out this production
again but his accomplishments in the 2011 season were too difficult to ignore.
Cullen Jenkins: Cullen Jenkins was a player of rare talent in the 2011 season: he made
an impact on two teams. No, he wasn’t traded, but he left the Green Bay Packers
in free agency to go to the Philadelphia Eagles and one team reaped his
rewards, and one drowned in sorrow. Looking at how both teams’ seasons panned
out you’d probably be confused as to whose teams were who in that scenario, but
it was in fact Green Bay that wallowed and felt the loss of Jenkins more than
Ted Thompson could have expected in his rare blunder of not re-signing the 6’2”
305 lbs. mammoth defensive tackle from The Motor City. Jenkins was found the
transtion from being a 3-4 defensive end in 2010 to being a 4-3 defensive
tackle in Philly’s “Wide 9” scheme seamless and registered a solid season.
Jenkins was not only great at stuffing the run (21 tackles, 8 assists and 20
run stops) but also wreaked havoc while rushing the passer. He picked up a
total of 39 pressures on the season, coinciding with eight QB hits and 5.5
sacks. Jenkins in my opinion was one of the closest to the cut and if he keeps
up the productivity with what’s shaping up to be a dangerous defensive line in
Philadelphia he could find himself out of the honorable mentions list and on
the board. I hope that wasn’t too hard to
read, Green Bay fans.
Ndamukong Suh: The curious case of Ndamukong Suh stretches back to his rookie campaign
in 2010. Suh bullrushed , brutalized, and beat down his foes to being named as
the Associated Press’ Defensive Rookie of the Year. After he picked up an
astounding 10 sacks on the year some were heralding him as already becoming the
best 4-3 defensive tackle in football. Hasty as it sounds, some did believe it
and expected a lot of Suh coming into 2011. But the exact opposite happened and
it was a spectacle to watch. Suh completely imploded on himself, having a total
dumpster fire of a season that was hard to watch both on and off the field of
play. Suh’s ferocity and playing style have left a lot to question whether or
not he’ll know what to do to keep himself off the back pages for the wrong
reason. There’s a lot of talent that he possesses that can slot him right back
in my Top 10 next year, but after the disastrous 2011, he finds himself on the
outside looking in.
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