Who Will Be the NFL's Best Defensive Stars at Each Position in 3-5 Years?

Recently, ESPN gave us fans something to occupy ourselves, a look toward the future of our favorite sports league, the NFL.

It is what they called the Dream Team of Tomorrow, and it is a nice little application that lets us all begin to get our heads back out of this lockout funk we've all been trapped in since that fateful day in March that officially started all this nonsense.

Now, what it did was take a group of young players at each position, some who are already in the NFL and others that are currently highly regarded college players (and all of whom are poised to be leaders at their respective positions for years to come) and let fans pick whom they believed would be the best at each of those positions in the next three to five years.

Once that happened, ESPN took the votes and looked at who earned the most for each position, and the top one or two vote getters at each position (varied depending on position) were put together to form that aforementioned Dream Team.

You can find the end results here.

Of course, there is always going to be debate over anything such as this, and I have my own opinion on how things should have turned out.

Now, I'm going to show you how the team would end up if I could weigh more heavily on the voting myself.

I recently published an article that covered the positions on offense, which you can find here, so now I am doing one for the other side of the ball as well.

As I did with the offense, I'll split it up into each position, starting with the DEs

DEs: Charles Johnson (CAR) and Chris Long (STL)

This was by far the toughest of any position for me to come up with an answer for, much less two. All of these players are either too young—so they haven't show enough yet for me to judge on anything much besides potential—or are slated to be past their prime—so no longer at their most effective levels—once 2014-16 gets here.

I had to make choices, though, and these two seem to me as though they will be the best of the lot. 

Johnson had a great year last season, racking up 11.5 sacks and 62 tackles. He was able to do this despite the fact that Julius Peppers moved on to the Bears last year, which made him the player defenses focused on when they drew up game plans.

Furthermore, he actually gained most of his sacks towards the end of the year (8 after week 10). He also showed his ability on a consistent basis, garnering his sacks in 10 different games.

So, unlike some players who have a couple good games that boost their numbers, he showed an ability to get to the QB consistently throughout the year against any opponent, regardless of the matchup.

He has recently been rewarded for that with an agreement on a reported 6-year, $72 million contract. That will keep him in Carolina throughout the duration of this supposed team, and if this year was any indicator, he will continue to take down QBs on a regular basis.

Long is a player who has gradually gotten better since the Rams drafted him in '08—his sack numbers have gotten better each year.

Plus, with his team also now making progress and getting better as a whole, his production should continue to rise, and he should get more national acclaim. 

Also, he will still be only 30-32 through the time period in question, so he will be on the back end of his prime, and therefore at the optimal time for production in his career. 

Runners-Up

Jason Pierre-Paul (NYG)
Trent Cole (PHI)
Lamarr Houston (OAK) 

DTs: Ndamukong Suh (DET) and B.J. Raji (GB)

This was much more clear cut for me, although I was tempted to choose Haloti Ngata as well. The other two are slightly younger and already producing on a huge level—and stand only to continue getting better—so that produced the slightest of edges in the end.

Suh showed last year that he was not going to be a bust as so many highly touted—and subsequently highly chosen—DTs end up being and stormed out of the gate with a rookie season for the ages.

He had 66 tackles, 10 sacks, an INT, and a forced fumble. He might ALREADY be the best the league has to offer at DT, so while he gains valuable experience, he will just become that much better.

By the time 2014-16 comes, he should be in his prime, and I'm very worried for any team that comes up against him at that time.

Raji is becoming great in his own right, and in his second season he really began to show good signs for the future.

He had a good season, getting 39 tackles and 6.5 sacks, but the postseason is where he really showed us his ability to change games.

Throughout the postseason, he didn't accumulate many stats, but what he did do was drop into coverage against the Bears and catch a pick, then run it back for a TD.

I don't know how many 330+ pound DTs can do something like that, but my guess is not many.

He is only going to be 28-30, so those years are his prime, and he should be better than anyone else—besides Suh—at his position. 

Runners-Up

Haloti Ngata (BAL)
Nick Fairley (DET)
Marcell Dareus (BUF) 

LBs: Patrick Willis (SF), Clay Matthews (GB), and DeMarcus Ware (DAL)

Linebacker was another position at which there were a lot of good choices, but seeing that there were three spots to use made it a bit easier to make the choices.

Willis has already shown that he is the heir to Ray Lewis as best MLB with his play since coming into the league, but I think by the time we reach 2014-16, he will not only hold that title, but be the best LB period.

He has never had under 128 tackles in a season, and he controls his defense in a way that only the best are able to.

The stats don't say it all, but they say he's pretty damn good as it is. I expect that he won't slow down any time soon, and seeing that he will be 31 when 2016 ends, he will keep getting better and make his hold on the top LB spot that much more legitimate.

Matthews has shown a great ability to get after the QB in his two years so far, garnering 23.5 sacks despite being the only viable pass-rushing option the Packers have.

It is because he is so good that Dom Capers can do many of the things he wants to do on defense, as Capers' schemes need at least one great pass rusher to work as effectively as they do.

As time goes by, Matthews should continue producing double-digit sacks every single year—possibly closer to 15 per year if the Packers can give him someone to take the focus away from him every once in awhile.

Ware right now is the best OLB in the league, and also it's best pass rusher.

In six seasons, he has 80 sacks. That's astonishing, to say the least.

Even when his defense had awful years—like this year—he still produced well himself (15.5 sacks in 2010).

Not only does he get sacks, but he causes turnovers as well. He has caused 25 fumbles, and while he only has one INT—which he ran back for a TD—he is rushing the passer so much of the time that he barely ever drops back into coverage.

When the 2014 season comes along, he will be in his 30s, but he has been so good already that I doubt his production will take a significant dip of any sort. 

Runners-Up

LaMarr Woodley (PIT)
Jon Beason (CAR)
Jerod Mayo (NE) 

CBs: Darrelle Revis (NYJ) and Patrick Peterson (ARI)

Revis is already the best corner in the league. He easily shuts down half of the field when he plays, and that obviously is a huge advantage on defense.

The only player who comes close to his ability is Nnamdi Asomugha, and Revis has at this point surpassed him—though it is a lot closer than people believe it to be.

As with Asomugha, you have to look past the stat line to know the true value of Revis. He won't have the stats of other name corners, but that is because he is so good that QBs just decide to not throw his way.

He shows no signs of slowing down at any point, and I could see him playing at this kind of level to an advanced age—think Champ Bailey—without the usual drop-off most players experience.

He will for sure be producing at an amazing level in 2014-16, so unless there is someone unknown just waiting to explode onto the scene, Revis should sit atop the perch of CBs.

If any up-and-coming player is set to turn heads by 2014-16, Peterson certainly has the credentials.

He has been called the next great thing at CB, a future shut-down corner, and was widely acknowledged as the best player of the 2011 draft.

He is expected to be a top CB right away, and from the facts that he is coming into the league so prepared and is as close to complete as a player can be before playing an NFL down, he should be able to reach the heights of being one of the league's best at the position for years to come.

By 2014-16, he will have himself three seasons of experience to help him round out his skills, and there should be nothing to keep him from mounting the top of the CB mountain with Revis. 

Runners-Up

Leon Hall (CIN)
Brandon Flowers (KC)
Vontae Davis (MIA) 

FS: Eric Berry (KC)

Berry was able to have a great rookie year for the Chiefs and was one of the biggest reasons Romeo Crennel was able to turn the Kansas City defense around so dramatically in only one year at its helm.

He showed a knack for great play-making ability—one forced fumble and 4 interceptions (1 touchdown)—while making 77 tackles in the process.

He is already looking to be one of the best safeties the league has to offer and can only get better as he earns experience.

He won't even be in his prime yet once 2014 hits, so just imagine how much he can improve by the time he does hit it in the last years of this Dream Team scenario.

He's going to be causing coordinators to have Polamalu-like nightmares, only without the awesome hair. 

Runners-Up

Nick Collins (GB)
Malcolm Jenkins (NO)
Earl Thomas (SEA) 

SS: LaRon Landry (WAS)

This position truly had nobody I actually can look at and say is going to be great in 3-5 years. I had to choose though, and Landry was as good a choice as anyone at this point. 

He has for his first few seasons been known as a really physical, hard-hitting SS. His coverage skills have so far come along pretty slowly, but there is definite progress, and he should continue to improve upon them as he and his team get better. 

In nine games, he had 85 tackles, eight pass defenses, one sack, one forced fumble, and one interception. In a full season, those would turn really good numbers for a SS (if a bit low in turnovers).

His prime will be encased by the Dream Team years, so he should be able to put himself at the top of the safety pyramid if he continues working on those coverage abilities and stays healthy.

Runners-Up

Kenny Phillips (NYG)
Brandon Meriweather (NE)
Jairus Byrd (BUF)