The Top Seven Defensive Ends in the NFL Coming into the '10 Season

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Hey guys, this is my Defensive End rankings....as you saw when you clicked the link.

By the way....sorry about that picture....it was already there from the Colts' page!

I was having trouble with the outside linebacker article and didn't feel like figuring out who is an outside/inside linebacker. Thus, the DE Top seven!

My last article—well—it got a LOT of reads compared to my average. 2,620 at the time of this writing. Not to mention the 150+ comments on it. So, since that was so successful, I am trying to do something along those lines.

I will bring in the regular players, and have a small surprise....and it will be the first player on the list!

One Honorable Mention

HI THERE!

It's Aaron Smith, the anchor of the Steelers' run defense. I really only have done this slide for two reasons.

One: as an announcement that the Steelers are officially the largest NFL community. Yeah, they surpassed the Cowboys like a week or so ago.

The other reason: to let people know just how important Aaron Smith is!

He may not get all of the sacks, but he does cause many problems for other teams. He is one of the big reasons the linebackers get so many sacks. He gets a fairly large amount of tackles, and he is a beast in run support.

Since I kind of got that out of the way, let's get the article going!

Brian Orakpo

The rookie who received possibly the least respect from last season.

Yes, I am well aware that Shanahan wants to do a 3-4 system, but I am basing defensive ends from last year...and saying who will be best this year.

Besides, he could be just as awesome at 3-4 linebacker anyway.

SPOILER ALERT: Justin Tuck is not on this list. Some will be pissed (yes, I'm talking about you Jermaine), but I think Orakpo has more fantasy value.

He plays with Haynseworth and will most likely get more than 10 sacks again and again as long as he keeps playing with "Fat Albert."

Now, just looking at his rookie stats, one could be easily persuaded that he is VERY good at what he does. He had the following statistics last season:

50 tackles, 37 solo, and one forced fumble. He had two passes defended, and no interceptions (really, what do you expect from someone who doesn't play at linebacker? Not everyone can snag two interceptions like Julius Peppers!) Lastly, he had 11.5 sacks.

If he were to maintain that for AT LEAST Albert Haynesworth's contract time, then he will end up with a grand total of about 70 sacks. Tell me that isn't a nice total for 7 seasons. We can't even factor in how much he will improve over time so he could get even MORE sacks.

Overall, I see this kid having a nice future.

(these are picking his stats if he does end up at a 3-4 position)
74 tackles, 56 solo
2 forced fumbles
2 interceptions
and finally...12 sacks.

Will Smith

NOT THAT ONE! WHY MUST YOU SHARE YOUR NAME WITH A CELEBRITY!?!

Well, I MEANT to use a picture of the New Orleans Saints defensive end.

Some would say he isn't consistent and stuff, but I just say he gets enough tackles in run support, enough sacks, and is just a great player overall.

His stats last year went as follows:

49 tackles (36 solo), 13 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles. He even had an interception to go along with those.

He had a very nice, well-rounded season, and he HAS a very nice well-rounded game.

He doesn't get a whole lot of sacks, but I can forgive that for his run-support work. I would say he is a lot like Aaron Smith, but with more sacks.

Anyway, I think he is a very good player, and I expect quite a bit out of him considering he is one of the best players on the Super Bowl champs' team.

57 tackles (42 solo), 4 forced fumbles, and 12.5 sacks.

While his stats are not as good as a number of other players, he does many more things to help out the TEAM on the field.

Dwight Freeney

OK....Colts fans. Listen to me, I don't want any trouble! Just leave me and my family alone!

Well, I was expecting Dwight to be worthy of the top three positioning, but, sadly, he is not.

I was expecting that since he has had like 84 sacks in his career, and only had one mediocre season of starting (2006, ironically), that he would be a top three pick.

He only has 242 tackles in his career. Seriously, a guy has gotten almost that in A SEASON. He seems to get like 25 tackles per season. Half of which are sacks.

He is a sack machine and has all the intangibles.

He is big, FAST, and freakishly powerful. He can get through just about any group of people you put on him. He can do everything, except work in run support it would seem.

Maybe the Colts got up too fast and the other team never gets to run (every season? WTF) and that's why he doesn't get the tackles.

Maybe they just magically get to the linebackers every time. But, it seems like the Colts' lineman can't get a lot of tackles together. I just don't understand it.

But, I can not deny he is one of the best players in the league getting sacks. With 13.5 last year, I expect nothing less this year...

23 tackles (16 solo), 4 forced fumbles, and 14 sacks—pretty good for me, but I would still like to see his tackle numbers grow.

Elvis Dumervil

You can't see a thing and really, you would have no idea who is it in this picture, but it's still an epic photo with smoke.

Basically, that means I had no choice whatsoever in the matter. This was going to be Elvis Dumervil's picture.

Now then, I really don't have much to say about this man.

I have not seen all too much tape of him playing, much like my number three player. All I have to base their placement on is the stats.

And—well—if I am going to go off of stats, Dumervil has got plenty of them.

He seems very good to me, but he seemed to cool off a bit after the bye week. He had upwards of 12 sacks in the first six weeks, but only around five after the bye.

He gets tackles and sacks, along with some forced fumbles, but what was up with the year before?

He played in all 16 games and only had 24 tackles, five sacks, and 1 forced fumble.

I would assume that he was simply replaced on the depth chart and was working out of a backup role, but, that seems odd to me considering he had 12.5 sacks and four forced fumbles the year before.

It doesn't look to me like he is the model of consistency.

Not so good for someone who was deemed "The best outside linebacker in the league" by a few other writers, who will remain nameless for their stupidity.

I'll just have to see Dumervil do well next season, and then he can—well—still behind my next placement!

54 tackles (40 solo), three forced fumbles, and 14.5 sacks....because that should happen if he is as good he supposedly is.

Trent Cole

In case you were wondering....I dislike Eli Manning.

Much like Dumervil, I have seen little video of the player in action. All I can really base my opinions on him is with the stats.

He seems to have many awesome things going for him.

You can rely on him to get a lot of tackles, sacks, and some forced fumbles.

That is the definition of a great defensive end.

He has had at least eight sacks every season except for his rookie season, and I expect that to continue next season.

As I said before, he gets plenty of tackles, and forces a few fumbles a year. He is a solid player, and while some may argue he isn't quite this good, I would beg to differ.

Sure, three might be a stretch, but I think he still has years to get even better.

Really....much like Dumervil, I didn't have much extra to say here. But the slides get longer with the top two!

68 tackles (54 solo), three forced fumbles, and one interception, and—most important for his position—13 sacks.

Julius Peppers

For some reason, I think of Will Smith every time I see his face...might just be the ears—I don't know.

Peppers is obviously one of the best defensive ends in the game.

He works hard and has a very good drive to--well--drive the QB into the turf. He is well-known for using his mixture of speed, more speed, and inhuman brutish power to get past lineman and double teams alike.

I would have no problem putting him in the number one spot. He does everything well, and there is proof.

He tackles very well. He had more than a 6:1 solo/assisted ratio last season, so you can guarantee he won't let a man get through him, and he has forced upwards of 30 fumbles in his career—ten in the last two seasons. A very impressive feat in my opinion.

He clearly gets a large amount of sacks. In his career he has a total of 81 and has had multiple seasons getting more than ten.

He gets his giant mitts on the ball fairly often. He defends at least five passes every season. He has had six interceptions. Please note that those are from the DE position. A lot of linebackers don't have six interceptions. Maybe he would be great as a 3-4 LB...

All of those things are nice...but he is nowhere near the model of consistency a team looks for. He can put up a 14.5 sack season (2008) or he can have 2.5 (2007). You really just don't know exactly what you are going to get with him. I am not knocking him, but he needs to have a 10+ sack season this upcoming season with the Bears for me to forgive him. If he does well enough this year, he could really be tied with our Number One defensive end...

53 tackles (43 solo), five forced fumbles, one interception, and a grand total of 15 sacks.

Jared Allen

Some would say that I am picking Allen because he is becoming sort of a celebrity, but I have never really been one of those guys who follows suit with the popularity contest.

All I need to back up my pick is...well...in six seasons, he has had 72 sacks. The last THREE seasons he has had a total of 44 sacks. The years went as follows:

15.5 sacks
14.5 sacks
14.5 sacks

Now, if those are not worthy of being at the helm of the No. 1 spot, then I have no idea what is.

Along with all of the sacks, he has also been one of the best defensive ends for tackling. He has had seasons with 77, 64, and 55 tackles, with a nice solo:assisted ratio as well.

He seems to get a large number of forced fumbles as well with 21 over the past five seasons.

Overall, it's very easy for me to say he's the best in the NFL today.

62 tackles (54 solo), four forced fumbles, one interception, and lastly 15.5 sacks.