Danno

Both Bama DT's are mostly space eating 2-gappers.

Those typically slide in favor of pass rushers.

I'd love to team either one of them up with Rankins.

Ragland is a tweener. Kinda big for a LB but a bit too small for D-line. He's probably limited to play the Mike in a 3-4.

burningmetal

And I think that's a mistake that teams are making. DT's SHOULD be space eaters. It's lagniappe when any of them can rush the passer.

If you take a look around the league, how many pass rushing DT's are there? Suh barely got into double digits, with 10, in his rookie season and hasn't done it since. He really hasn't done much at all. After him... I can't remember anyone since La'roi Glover and Warren Sapp.

Those kind of players seem to have become almost extinct. Yet teams keep trying to find the Next Glover, Sapp or John Randle, and they get nothing. If you can stop the run and make an offense one dimensional, you've already made the Secondary's job much easier. But also if they are indeed clogging things up like they should, then that allows others to run free and get to the QB. It's basic football, and GM's/coaches would do well to go back to that formula.

Those that are doing it are winning. How about those boring Broncos DT's, last year?

I'm not directing this at you, Danno, because what you say is true. I'm just venting at the ignorance some teams have.

Edit- I forgot about Aaron Donald. He's definitely the premier DT in the league right now. Don't know I'm forgetting any others through the years, but it seems like very few tackles are legitimate pass rushers anymore.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, the NFL would fine and suspend me.