Chris Simms' All-22 Team for NFL Week 7

Chris SimmsOct 26, 2016

Sean Taylor’s eyes darted to an unoccupied space between the hash marks. Then, they fixated back on me.

I knew I had the late, great safety right then and there.

My game "in the zone" didn’t play out like a Disney movie action sequence. But somehow, I picked up on Taylor’s split-second glance from 30 yards away. I recalled from film study that he was stepping up as the "robber" safety to protect the seam, and I immediately knew my best way to counter that (and an oncoming blitz) was to drop a fly route to Edell Shepherd.

That feeling—where defensive backs can’t disguise coverage and throws can’t fall incomplete—is what keeps top quarterbacks in the classroom. Guys such as Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford and Andrew Luck all study like fiends for the smallest detail that could jog that state of hyperawareness back online.

None of those three guys reached the level of my latest all-22 quarterback, though. Or the 21 other guys who hit a do-no-wrong state in Week 7. Scroll through the following roster; you’ll find big names, little-known players and everyone in between.

What do they have in common? They all found "the zone."

QB: Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers

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The first thing that stands out about Philip Rivers is his field generalship. He’s on another level when it comes to directing San Diego’s offense, comprised in part of players who don’t have half his experience.

The next three things? All three arm angles Rivers uses to deliver consistently accurate footballs. Atlanta’s defenders constantly grasped at him, yet the quality of throw off his hand remained sterling.

The last thing? His surgical decision-making. Rivers completed only three throws of 20 or more yards. His mind worked faster than the Falcons defense did, forcing it to turn and give chase in space. That's why the Chargers were able to dig out of a seemingly insurmountable 27-10 deficit on the road.

RB: David Johnson, Arizona Cardinals

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I didn’t feel a sense of slow motion when I reached "the zone." David Johnson must, though.

How else can you explain the way Arizona’s running back is three steps ahead of oncoming tacklers? He’s the best back in football at coming to a complete stop, tossing a defender aside and reaching his top speed again. Seattle defenders had him dead to rights on at least seven of his 33 carries. He’d always wiggle free.

Speaking of the Seahawks, their run defense is special. It takes an equally special and patient back to hit the 100-yard mark against them. Johnson is one.

RB: LeGarrette Blount, New England Patriots

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By its lofty standards, New England’s offense had a down week.

LeGarrette Blount was willing to play the hero, though. He found the end zone twice in a 127-yard day to prop Tom Brady and Co. up when they needed it. He also showed speed and power along the way.

Pittsburgh underestimated him in both categories. Down 14-13 in the third quarter, the Steelers happily let Blount stretch the boundaries of their defense. No. 29 found a crease to turn upfield and made that plan look foolish.

He didn’t stop there. Blount is the best Patriots back at getting to the sideline and then getting extra yards. It’s like Pittsburgh defenders expected a 250-pound guy to step out of bounds instead of ram violently into them.

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RB: Jay Ajayi, Miami Dolphins

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He’s playing some of the most dialed-in football of any running back this season.

Jay Ajayi never misses the hole. That’s the biggest thing that stands out on tape. It could be two feet to the left or right of his original handoff. We saw Sunday the breakout ball-carrier needs one jump cut to find the line’s best opening. His vision is top-notch.

From there, he’s off to the races. Take a look at his 53-yard run; Bills cornerback Ronald Darby had to hit a dead sprint to track down the 229-pounder.

WR: A.J. Green, Cincinnati Bengals

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Top receivers can’t track touchdowns in triple coverage by just being freaks.

That’s where A.J. Green separates himself. The level of concentration he displayed on Cincinnati’s Hail Mary—first to time his jump, then to tip the football to himself and catch it—is unrivaled in the league. People got on me about ranking him ahead of Antonio Brown, but that’s why.

No other receiver instills as much confidence in single coverage, either. Cincinnati gives Green three or four opportunities to win 50-50 balls every time it takes the field. The end result? A 21.1 yards-per-catch average in Week 7.

WR: Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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Plenty of words could be used to describe Mike Evans' play from last year.

"Focused" isn't one of them. Credit the Buccaneers receiver for doubling down on offseason training to cure his case of the dropsies. San Francisco's secondary had no answer for him.

Evans' revamped catching technique has spilled over into every other element of his game. He's explosive again in the routes he runs. His leaping and box-out ability are among the best at his position. And he's developing a second sense in communicating with Jameis Winston.

That last part is the most important one. Vincent Jackson's injury leaves Winston down a trusted target. He's lucky Evans has restored his WR1-level production.

WR: Tyrell Williams, San Diego Chargers

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Even the best tackling angles can't stop Philip Rivers' top receiver.

Tyrell Williams is an escape artist. Several Falcons defenders had him all but wrapped up in Week 7 but came up with nothing but air. It's uncanny.

Williams' signature route? The five-yard shallow cross. He'll run it to get leverage on smaller defensive backs and then use his speed to outrun linebackers and safeties. Just ask the Atlanta secondary how that goes.

It's so deflating when a guy turns a six-yard route into a 20-yard pickup. Williams made an afternoon of it.

TE: Delanie Walker, Tennessee Titans

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Defensive players have to bend the rules in order to deal with Delanie Walker.

Even that didn’t stop the go-to Titans tight end. He re-entered the game in the fourth quarter after an illegal hit from Colts linebacker Josh McNary and promptly caught a seven-yard touchdown pass.

Marcus Mariota knows he shouldn’t look anywhere else. Walker led the team in targets, receptions (seven) and receiving yards (84) against Indianapolis. He is the Titans’ passing game.

OL: Kevin Zeitler, Cincinnati Bengals

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Jeremy Hill tallied 168 running yards on just nine carries.

He did so by finding where big No. 68 was blocking, and running right behind him for giant chunk plays. What a smart guy.

Kevin Zeitler tossed a few Browns aside in Week 7. He no longer looks like the run-game liability that set Cincinnati back for five painstaking weeks. His reemergence means the Bengals can roll out the run game that made them one of the AFC’s top threats last season.

OL: Donald Penn, Oakland Raiders

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Jacksonville threw seven different kinds of pressure at Derek Carr. Carr’s left tackle handled it all.

He handled speed-rushers such as Dante Fowler Jr. and Yannick Ngakoue. He handled big, strong rushers such as Jared Odrick. He even held his own when the Jaguars flexed defensive tackle Tyson Alualu to the left for a go at Carr.

That pass-rushing group is no joke. Donald Penn deserves serious props for never budging.

OL: Matt Paradis, Denver Broncos

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Big runs from C.J. Anderson?

Big runs from Devontae Booker?

That tells me one of two things: Either Houston’s defense is soft, or someone is putting both backs in a position to succeed. I’m going with B.

For my money, Matt Paradis is one of the best centers in football. Sure, he points out the "Mike" linebacker. He also steamrolls him. I couldn’t count how many two- or three-yard runs became first-down carries because Paradis pancaked a Texan.

Denver needs its run game at full force to succeed. Paradis is the man who can make it happen.

DL: Brandon Graham, Philadelphia Eagles

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With the 13th pick in the 2010 NFL draft, the Eagles selected Brandon Graham.

With the 14th pick in the 2010 NFL draft, the Seahawks selected Earl Thomas. And six years later, we’re inching toward a time where Philly would turn down a chance to redraft.

Graham is no all-time safety, but he is one of the most impactful defensive ends playing the game today. No tackle on Minnesota’s roster could get in his path to Sam Bradford. His play directly caused two turnovers: a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry that ended up in Rodney McLeod’s hands.

He ended up with four more pressures and a sack. Respect this guy.

DL: Kerry Hyder, Detroit Lions

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Detroit’s defense has itself a Michael Bennett Lite.

Kerry Hyder is a lot like Seattle’s sack master. He has above-average speed and hands as a 4-3 defensive end. And like Bennett, he really kicks ass when the Lions slide him inside on passing downs as a 3-technique tackle.

Hyder didn’t record a sack, which is fine. The former practice squad star recovered a fumble and was an overall problem for Washington’s offense.

Remember: Not many people knew of Hyder before injuries to Haloti Ngata and Ezekiel Ansah forced him up the depth chart. He’s come pretty damn far.

DL: Cliff Avril, Seattle Seahawks

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Scouts in New England used to use the term "speed to power" for multitalented pass-rushers.

Cliff Avril is that term personified. From the game’s second snap, he earned an advantageous position against Jermaine Gresham (why Gresham was single-blocking Avril, I’ll never know) and then bowled him over.

D.J. Humphries also received a few pass-blocking lessons. Avril hit the Cardinals right tackle with a devastating first step and then converted the edge with an arm-over move that he couldn’t account for.

DL: Jordan Phillips, Miami Dolphins

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You heard it here first: Jordan Phillips is going to be a star.

The 2015 second-round pick out of Oklahoma is finally out of Big 12 flag-football mode. He knows where to place his hands and how to wrap up a tackle. Now, he’s ready to steal some double-teams normally reserved for Ndamukong Suh.

Phillips weighs in at a whopping 335 pounds. He’s also 6'6". Both traits will come in handy when Miami calls on him to clog space, like he did versus Buffalo.

LB: Vic Beasley, Atlanta Falcons

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I’ve been tough on Vic Beasley for the better part of two years, but there’s no denying the pressure he can generate from snap to whistle.

The Clemson product has found success with a move used mostly by running backs. Beasley essentially juked Ty Sambrailo at the line of scrimmage a few weeks back. He pulled that same move on San Diego’s Joe Barksdale last week for a strip-sack.

Guys such as J.J. Watt and Mario Williams took a full year of seasoning to get their technique down. Both ended their sophomore seasons with double-digit sacks. Beasley is in good company.

LB: Denzel Perryman, San Diego Chargers

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The University of Miami’s middle linebacking tradition is alive and well in 2016.

Denzel Perryman is carrying it forward, old-school style. He grabbed a huge interception late in the fourth quarter. And like Jonathan Vilma, Jon Beason or Ray Lewis, Perryman stands a ball-carrier up and promptly sits him down.

That’s what he did at the game’s biggest moment: 4th-and-1 in overtime? Falcons going for it? In swooped Perryman up the gap to stonewall Devonta Freeman.

San Diego went on to win from there. It’ll be doing plenty of that with Perryman in the heart of its defense.

LB: Chandler Jones, Arizona Cardinals

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Want to know the reason Seattle’s offense went 3-of-14 on third down?

You’re looking at him. Chandler Jones, No. 55, has been a force throughout the month of October. The Seahawks got him at the height of his powers.

Jones tallied the Cardinals’ lone sack, but boy was it something special. He set Bradley Sowell up with bull rush after bull rush last Sunday night, hoping the Seahawks left tackle would sit on one. When he did, Jones got in close and bent his entire body around the corner.

Result: Russell Wilson sack-fumble and another punt.

DB: Jalen Ramsey, Jacksonville Jaguars

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Mark my words: Jalen Ramsey is going to be a top-five cornerback within the next calendar year.

He’s too fast to be burned down the field. He’s too big (6'1", 211 lbs) not to stand up to taller receivers. Ramsey is what Richard Sherman would look like on steroids. We should all bow down to the next cornerback king.

Ramsey showed me something early on against the Raiders that I can’t ignore. He tried—and failed—to jam Amari Cooper twice. But unlike Sherman, who struggles against smaller, quicker receivers, the prized draft pick adjusted. He let Cooper come to him and not the other way around.

It worked.

The tape doesn’t lie: Ramsey is physically on another planet than all but a handful of today’s starting cornerbacks.

DB: Daniel Sorensen, Kansas City Chiefs

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Playing the third safety spot in Kansas City’s defense is not a backup role.

Daniel Sorensen plays it brilliantly. He’s given the Chiefs a sound option in some wild sub-package looks following Husain Abdullah's retirement.

It’s Sorensen’s job to play center field between Eric Berry and Ron Parker in Kansas City’s "big dime" sets. That’s how he sideswiped a Drew Brees throw last weekend and took it back for six points.

It’s also his job to play pseudo-middle linebacker. At times, Kansas City will retreat the rest of its defensive backfield on obvious passing downs and leave Sorensen and Derrick Johnson to man the middle. That wrinkle alone should tell you how highly the Chiefs think of him.

DB: Landon Collins, New York Giants

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Cutting the Oreos out of his diet was the best career move Landon Collins could’ve made.

Big Blue’s second-year safety is a mean, lean, ball-hawking machine. He’s one of the most improved players in football on either side and the reason why his Giants left London with a Week 7 win.

I’m not sure they would've without his weaving pick-six. It got New York in the end zone—something its offense couldn’t do for three quarters at Twickenham Stadium.

Collins also flashed amazing tackling ability against the run. He’s a do-it-all safety, and the Giants are lucky he’s on their side.

DB: A.J. Bouye, Houston Texans

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Houston took Kevin Johnson with its first-round pick two drafts ago.

Johnson is on injured reserve at the moment, but Houston is getting first-round-like production from an unlikely source. His name? A.J. Bouye.

Denver came out throwing on the undrafted free agent. He responded with two tipped passes. By the end of the half, Trevor Siemian was looking at Kareem Jackson or Jonathan Joseph for his passing opportunities.

Bouye also led Houston in tackles with 11. It’s going to be tough for Johnson to get his job back.