Top 5 2014 NFL Free Agents by Position: Defense

There is an old saying in football that offense wins games, but DEFENSE wins Championships.  This saying has definitely held true the last couple of seasons in the NFL.

Take this past season for example.  This year's super bowl featured the Denver Broncos with the best offense in the NFL versus the Seattle Seahawks with the best defense in the NFL.  We all saw the beat down the Seahawks put on the Broncos and the "Sheriff" Peyton Manning.  It was a complete domination.

As I ranked the top 5 players at each defensive position I looked at many things.  I found recent studies that have been done to find out the peak years of defensive players.  The window of a player's most productive seasons on defense regardless of position come between the ages of 26 to 31.

Would you care to guess the average age of the Seattle Seahawks this past season?  26 years old.  I consider the San Francisco 49ers to be the second best team in the NFL this past season and the average age of their players was also 26.

I am also a believer of SPEED KILLS!  So I also took into strong consideration their 40 times.

Last, but certainly not least I also took the player's previous production into strong consideration.

Defensive Ends

Houston is my #1 rated free agent defensive end.

1. Lamarr Houston, 6-7/270, 27 years old, 4.84 40, 69 tackles, 6 sacks
2. Justin Tuck, 6-5/268, 30 years old, 4.61 40, 63 tackles, 11 sacks
3. Michael Johnson, 6-7/270, 27 years old, 4.75 40, 56 tackles, 3.5 sacks
4. Everson Griffen, 6-3/273, 26 years old, 4.66 40, 27 tackles, 5.5 sacks
5. Jared Allen, 6-6/270, 31 years old, 4.72 40, 52 tackles, 11.5 sacks

Melton is my #1 rated free agent defensive tackle.

Defensive Tackles

1. Henry Melton, 6-3/295, 27 years old, 4.76 40, 5 tackles in only 3 games last season
2. Linval Joseph, 6-4/323, 25 years old, 5.04 40, 59 tackles, 3 sacks, 39 bench reps at combine
3. Corey Peters, 6-3/305, 25 years old, 4.98 40, 46 tackles, 5 sacks
4. Pat Sims, 6-2/310, 28 years old, 5.06 40, 54 tackles, 2 sacks
5. Alex Carrington, 6-5/301, 26 years old, 4.93 40, 10 tackles in only 3 games last season
6. Earl Mitchell, 6-3/300, 26 years old, 4.75 40, 48 tackles, 1.5 sacks

Outside Linebackers

Henderson is my #1 rated free agent outside linebacker. Henderson is facing multiple charges that could effect his future.

1. Erin Henderson, 6-3/244, 27 years old, 4.73 40, 112 tackles, 4 sacks, 2 INTS.
2. James Anderson, 6-2/235, 30 years old, 4.58 40, 102 tackles, 4 sacks
3. Spencer Paysinger, 6-2/236, 25 years old, 4.73 40, 74 tackles, 1 sack
4. Dekoda Watson, 6-2/240, 25 years old, 4.56 40, 42 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 INT
5. Keith Rivers, 6-2/235, 27 years old, 4.54 40, 45 tackles, 1 sack

Inside Linebackers

1. D'Qwell Jackson, 6-0/240, 30 years old, 4.71 40, 141 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 INT
2. Perry Riley, 6-0/238, 25 years old, 4.69 40, 115 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 INT
3. Jon Beason, 6-0/235, 29 years old, 4.72 40, 104 tackles, 1 INT
4. Vincent Rey, 6-2/250, 26 years old, 4.58 40, 57 tackles, 4 sacks, 2 INT
5. Arthur Moats, 6-2/250, 25 years old, 4.66 40, 54 tackles

Cornerbacks

Verner is my #1 rated free agent cornerback.

1. Alterraun Verner, 5-10/187, 25 years old, 4.52 40, 57 tackles, 5 INT, 22 passes defensed
2. Sam Shields, 5-11/184, 26 years old, 4.26 40, 61 tackles, 4 INT, 16 passes defensed
3. Chris Harris, 5-10/199, 24 years old, 4.48 40, 65 tackles, 3 INT, 14 passes defensed
4. Aqib Talib, 6-1/205, 28 years old, 4.44 40, 41 tackles, 4 INT, 14 passes defensed
5. Brent Grimes, 5-10/190, 30 years old, 4.55 40, 60 tackles, 4 INT, 17 passes defensed
6. Corey Graham, 6-0/196, 28 years old, 4.42 40, 74 tackles, 4 INT, 12 passes defensed
7. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, 6-2/193, 27 years old, 4.33 40, 31 tackles, 3 INT, 14 passes defensed

Free Safeties

1. Michael Mitchell, 6-0/210, 26 years old, 4.45 40, 66 tackles, 4 INT, 8 passes defensed
2. Louis Delmas, 5-11/202, 26 years old, 4.5 40, 64 tackles, 3 INT, 8 passes defensed
3. Malcolm Jenkins, 6-0/204, 26 years old, 4.54 40, 68 tackles, 2 INT, 6 passes defensed
4. M. D. Jennings, 6-0/187, 25 years old, 4.48 40, 74 tackles, 1 pass defensed
5. Jairus Byrd, 5-10/203, 27 years old, 4.68, 48 tackles, 4 INT, 6 passes defensed

Strong Safeties

Wright is my #1 rated free agent strong safety.

1. Major Wright, 5-11/204, 25 years old, 4.48 40, 100 tackles, 2 INT, 3 passes defensed
2. T. J. Ward, 5-10/200, 27 years old, 4.59 40, 112 tackles, 2 INT, 5 passes defensed
3. Antoine Bethea, 5-11/206, 29 years old, 4.39 40, 110 tackles, 2 INT, 6 passes defensed
4. Chris Clemons, 6-1/214, 28 years old, 4.33 40, 93 tackles, 1 INT, 8 passes defensed
5. Bernard Pollard, 6-1/225, 29 years old, 4.62, 99 tackles, 3 INT, 10 passes defensed

 

Related article:

• Top 5 2014 NFL Free Agents By Position:  Offense