Completely overshadowed by the negativity of punishments handed to the New Orleans Saints, Broderick Bunkley was a superb defensive signing to fill a glaring need. With Shaun Rogers and Aubrayo Franklin both free agents, the Saints were in desperate need of a run-stuffing defensive tackle. And fortunately for the Saints, Bunkley was available to fill that void. Bunkley was PFF’s highest graded DT in the league at defending the run (+28.4) as he consistently made his way into opposing backfields in the 2011 season.

In fact, Bunkley was so effective at stopping the run that he had the highest tackle-per-play percentage of any DT. This chart of DT’s ranked top ten in tackles should explain this a bit more clearly:


% of Tackles per Play
Player Tackles Snaps Played %
Ahtyba Rubin 59 945 6.2
Sione Pouha 41 627 6.5
Domata Peko 41 660 6.2
Phil Taylor 41 742 5.5
Jurrell Casey 40 661 6.1
Brandon Mebane 39 752 5.2
Vince Wilfork 38 977 3.9
Brodrick Bunkley 37 485 7.6
Haloti Ngata 35 832 4.2
Marcus Thomas 32 546 5.9

Essentially, Bunkley recorded the 8th most tackles among all DTs, despite participating in just the 45th most snaps. Over a full percentage higher than the closest player, Bunkley is clearly an incredibly efficient run defending defensive tackle.

IDP Fantasy Football - Brodrick Bunkley Signs With Saints | ProFootballFocus.com