This is going to take some figuring out. How to best navigate this season and the next few cap years as a result?

Could all teams be scrambling just to retain own players, next year?

How does that impact FA? Dollars available would seem to keep spending down, contracts lower?

Would teams could get creative, punt 2020, and come out better for 2021 and beyond?

Strategy... strategy.... strategy....


Salary cap impact

Reportedly one of the biggest final hurdles for the NFL and NFLPA in talks for a revised CBA, the economics of the 2020 season boil down to this: This year's cap ($198.2M for each team) will remain untouched, but in order to make up for the projected loss of revenue throughout the season, the NFL would spread the financial shortfall over four years beginning in 2021.

As part of the agreement, the 2021 salary cap floor will be set at a minimum of $175 million, up from the initial $165 million, marking a potentially stark drop from the projected 2021 cap of about $210 million. This means that while 2020 rosters figure to remain largely intact, teams could be forced to either cut or renegotiate with veterans carrying high cap numbers beginning in 2021.

One key point for 2020: if games are canceled, players won't get paid for those games, according to reports, but NFL Network's Ian Rapaport reports any unpaid 2020 base salary becomes guaranteed the following year. As long as players are on the roster on Week 1, 2020 will count as an accrued season on their contracts even if games are canceled down the road.

Hey y'all, I am (very uncharacteristically) asking for prayers or whatever positive energy you have to offer.

My wife Niccole has an extremely rare medical condition that is hard to explain, but essentially her body's immune systems response to a fairly common mold found in caves in the Ozarks (maybe everywhere I don't know) is causing some of her lymph nodes to continually calcify, kinda like pearls, and they are pinching off her superior vena cava, the largest vein in the body and the one that drains the blood from the head, neck and arms back into the heart.
This began for us 8 years ago with her head and neck swelling, it took a while to get a diagnosis and when we did.... It wasn't good. She was 30 then.
The biggest problem we ran into was the unwillingness of doctors to take on illnesses they don't specialize in.
There are only 1 or 2 people diagnosed with this condition per year, world wide. Doctors are simply too afraid to get involved with what they don't understand. Renember that tv show "House", where the brilliant but snarky and cynical doctor takes on medical mysteries? That show is about as accurate about doctors as the movie Point Break is about sky diving... but we all already know that.
Eventually we did find a Dr. in the States who had published articles about it medical journals. The only one who has ever published anything about it. Unfortunately for us, he had died a few years earlier. Luckily though his son, Dr. John Doty is a super well regarded cardio vascular surgeon in his own right, and was interested in helping Niccole. (and to carry on his father's work in this rare field I'm guessing) He said if we could come to Salt Lake City, he will check her out. He could see her at 8am on Thurs. This was on Tues at 2pm.
Up to this point, everything we had been told was that there was nothing anyone could do, that it was too risky to put in a stent, and basically, tough shit.
So, having nothing to lose, we hopped in the car and drove straight from Springfield Missouri to Salt Lake City Utah on February 7th, 2012. Went through a blizzard across the length of Wyoming and across the Continental Divide, where the altitude became a whole other element of pressure on my wife. It was fucking intense and it took forever.
White Knuckle Wyoming. (thats a song I should I should write someday....)
We eventually got there a day early and looked for the address of a 2nd cousin I've never met, but my mom had set it up for us to stay there. There wasn't anybody home in the afternoon but there was supposed to be a key by the backdoor. There wasn't a key, but the backdoor wasn't locked. After looking very shady to the neighbors by looking around this house and waiting awkwardly for probably 5-10 min, we let ourselves in. After about 10 more minutes inside, looking at pictures on the refrigerator and names on their mail, we realized we were in the wrong peoples house! We were breaking and entering minus the breaking.
We got out of there without issue and laughed endlessly about it but we were so embarrassed (and a little nervous about returning to the scene of the accidental crime) that we never went back to find the right address.
Sorry for the tangent there.... I am scatter brained.
Anyways, we go in, see Dr. Doty, he says he can help her, he can do a stent. I asked if that was safe because the previous Dr had said it wasn't it was too risky. He assured me they have the best possible people and besides, what do we have to lose. The very next day they went in through her neck, down to the obstruction, and successfully put in a stent. Her vein went from 90% closed to 90% open almost immediately.
When I saw her post op, her face had already drained and she looked like my beautiful young wife again. Her massively swollen head neck and arms were back to almost normal. She was released to go home a couple days later and before long we got back to our normal lives, grateful for our miracle in Mormontown. (The people there were so good to us!)
Now my wife is 38 and she has been adding a few pounds the last couple of years but recently we began noticing the signs that this was creeping its way back. If she lays flat with a couple pillows, her swelling is bad in the morning. Is her head getting better? Are her arms swelling? No, its just natural weight gain many of us get as we approach 40. That's what we were both telling ourselves.
As the pandemic began getting more serious, her swelling became more pronounced and obvious but not so bad enough to go to an e.r. that won't help her anyways, espescially not one thats crawling with Covid-19 right now. That was the thought, until the day before yesterday. That morning Niccole woke up with her head swollen up like a beach ball, her eyes nearly swollen shut, the right side of her neck and her right arm were like balloons. Wrinkle-less smooth and twice the size they should be. She had fallen asleep flat on the bed, on her right side. Since then, her swelling has gone down to a, well still not great level, but it's improved and isn't as severe or threatening a dire situation right this moment. I have a blood pressure sleeve and a pulse ox device and she's been ok there. We are leaving to see Dr Doty back in SLC on Monday. She is scheduled for tests and if they are able to, they will attempt to re-stent her existing stent. That is the best case scenario. Maybe 2 stents will do the job. The surgeons there are the best and she will be in good hands, but still - we could use your prayers and positive energy.

Niccole is my everything. We began dating when I was 15 and she was 14 and it was love at first sight. Soul mates. When she was just 16 we became teenage parents. It wasn't always easy but hung through the tough times, we beat all the odds and statistics and naysayers and we made it work and our daughter Cheyenne, is now a brilliant, beautiful and kind hearted 21 year old.

I apologize for my rambling, tangents and mixed up writing.
I sincerely thank all of you who read through all this, and I thank you in advance for any good mojo you can send our way this week - and going forward too.

reading most online content.It didn't use to be this expansive in being blocked from accessing their stories.
I guess it's fair because I am mooching for free news. Yet, what passes for journalism seems to exclude true reporting and investigation, told in an even handed manner. If I pay for an online newspaper to avoid being electronically examined by information predators (if possible), I'll get news that probably will have been covered by cable news. IE, the News is no longer, new. My other Pet Peeve about journalism is the laziness in using tweets almost exclusively as sources for a story. It's pure laziness.

camp will open on time

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...gd8tMugkWvJSyH7viOQWiEZzD5HbDPQs60bMpXxCU_nlk
NFL, NFLPA agree to revised CBA: Salary cap details, training camp timeline, roster size and more to know

It took time, but the NFL and NFL Players Association have finally hammered out an agreement to return to work during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the NFLPA player representatives approving the deal on Friday afternoon by a 29-3 vote hours after the owners did the same. Just over four months after finalizing a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the two sides have approved revisions to the CBA in order to dictate safety measures, training camp schedules and other issues pertaining to the 2020 season.

"We have worked collaboratively to develop a comprehensive set of protocols designed to minimize risk for fans, players and club and league personnel," commissioner Roger Goodell said in an NFL statement. "These plans have been guided by the medical directors of the NFL and the NFLPA and have been reviewed and endorsed by independent medical and public health experts, including the CDC, and many state and local public health officials. The season will undoubtedly present new and additional challenges, but we are committed to playing a safe and complete 2020 season, culminating with the Super Bowl."

Here's everything important you need to know about the approved changes. We'll be updating this space with more details of the agreement as they emerge.

Training camp timeline

This is the most immediate piece of the agreement, seeing that the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs will officially begin camp on Saturday, with the other 30 NFL teams kicking off summer sessions on Tuesday. Put simply, the agreement clears the way for camp to proceed as planned and on time.

A negotiations holdup this week reportedly saw the NFL threaten to send players home and run a virtual camp or even shut down camps altogether, but both sides have since approved plans for teams to begin meetings and initial COVID-19 testing -- starting July 28, for most teams -- before starting padded practices in mid-August.

As for the actual schedule at camp, players will have an "acclimation period" of 12 days before padded practices, which can begin on Aug. 17. Those 12 days include eight days of strictly strength and conditioning exercises and practice walkthroughs, as well as four days of strictly shells-and-helmets practices.

Preseason schedule

The approved camp schedule includes the elimination of the entire four-week preseason schedule, which had already been impacted by the league's cancellation of the Hall of Fame Game, originally set for Aug. 6. NFL owners had reportedly previously wanted to retain at least one or two games ahead of the regular-season schedule, but the NFLPA long advocated for complete cancellation given the risks of transmitting COVID-19 in the run-up to September's opener.

Roster size

In order to help curb the potential spread of COVID-19 in the lead-up to the season, the two sides have agreed to an Aug. 16 deadline for trimming offseason rosters from 90 to 80 players. (Typically, teams have been permitted to carry 90 players through the preseason and up until the 53-man roster cutdown ahead of Week 1.) Teams will, however, be allowed to retain 90 in the event they hold a split-squad setup during camp; some teams, per ESPN, already have plans to divide rosters and use both stadium and practice facilities for camp.

The agreement has also expanded each team's practice squad for the 2020 regular season to 16 players, four of which can be protected from other teams on a weekly basis. The NFL had already increased the scout team roster from 10 to 12 players as part of the initial new CBA, but adding an additional four per team is expected to give clubs added roster insurance in the event of active-roster members testing positive for COVID-19.

Salary cap impact

Reportedly one of the biggest final hurdles for the NFL and NFLPA in talks for a revised CBA, the economics of the 2020 season boil down to this: This year's cap ($198.2M for each team) will remain untouched, but in order to make up for the projected loss of revenue throughout the season, the NFL would spread the financial shortfall over four years beginning in 2021.

As part of the agreement, the 2021 salary cap floor will be set at a minimum of $175 million, up from the initial $165 million, marking a potentially stark drop from the projected 2021 cap of about $210 million. This means that while 2020 rosters figure to remain largely intact, teams could be forced to either cut or renegotiate with veterans carrying high cap numbers beginning in 2021.

One key point for 2020: if games are canceled, players won't get paid for those games, according to reports, but NFL Network's Ian Rapaport reports any unpaid 2020 base salary becomes guaranteed the following year. As long as players are on the roster on Week 1, 2020 will count as an accrued season on their contracts even if games are canceled down the road.

Opting out for 2020

All players will have the option to sit out the 2020 season because of concerns surrounding the pandemic. Those who are deemed high-risk for the virus will receive a $350,000 stipend for the season, while those who aren't deemed high-risk will receive a $150,000 stipend. (Qualifying as "high-risk" simply means meeting one of the criteria listed by the CDC for "increased risk" of severe COVID-19, including moderate-to-severe asthma, sickle cell disease and more, with the exception of high body mass index.)

While players will only have seven days from the date of the NFL-NFLPA agreement to opt out (and cannot revoke their decision), they will get the chance to opt out later in the season as well under special circumstances:

Opting out would mean a player's contract tolls until 2021. High-risk opt-outs would still be credited with accrued season toward free agency, while voluntary opt-outs would not receive an accrued season credit.

Another ball hawk for the Rams in the 70s, Bill Simpson. 22 INTs in his Rams career.
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NFL Should Hold 2020 Coronavirus Season In Two California Bubbles

The Shield released a preliminary coronavirus testing plan for its 32 training camps, with a monumental testing task for the expected 80-man camp rosters and a still large effort to test 53-man teams in the fall. And that total doesn’t include team and league staff and media.

Meanwhile, as we’ve seen with the NBA and MLS, bubbles work! It took a while for the two leagues playing down at Disney World in Orlando to isolate the teams from the players and staff who tested positive for COVID-19 but it worked. Neither league has had a positive test in over a week. That bodes well for the NHL, which plans on holding two bubbles outside the U.S.

Right now the NFL is looking at MLB to see if a season played outside a bubble can work. But it doesn’t have to be that way, NFL! It’s not too late to formulate a bubble plan and play out a season safely.

The NFL, of course, is not on board with a bubble at all.

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Is this an ideal plan that I’m proposing? Absolutely not. But nothing is ideal as the country passes four million confirmed cases. But having the NFC play its season out in a bubble in the Los Angeles area and having the AFC play its season out in a bubble in the Bay Area eliminates the travel, the flights, the hotels and situations which teams have less control over. Sure, you lose interconference matchups, but you make it much less likely that the virus is contracted if teams are isolated in one geographic area.

In Los Angeles, games will be played at SoFi Stadium— the new home of the Rams and Chargers— (the Rams play all their games at home), the L.A. Coliseum, the Rose Bowl and Dignity Health Sports Park, where the Bolts played since they moved from San Diego. The Super Bowl would be played at SoFi.

In the Bay Area, games will be played at Levi’s Stadium, the Oakland Coliseum (the Raiders ironically get their old home back), Stanford Stadium and California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley. The AFC title game would be played at Levi’s.

Games will be spaced out throughout each game week as to prevent wear and tear on the fields of each venue. In weeks where all 32 teams are playing, there will be a Thursday night doubleheader, one Friday night game, five Saturday games, six Sunday games and a weekly Monday doubleheader. The Friday Night Lights package should bring in big money for the league, offsetting some of teams’ gate receipts for not having games with fans in 2020.

With college football in doubt this year, the NFL can expand its reach and have three Saturday windows, one game at 1 p.m. eastern, two at 4 p.m. eastern, and a doubleheader of games beginning at 7:15 and 10:30 eastern. Same goes for Sunday, just add one game in the 1 p.m. eastern window. Games at venues will be spaced out so there’s at least two days in between matchups so that end zones can be painted and the playing surface can be revitalized as best as possible.

Coronavirus cases still need to go down in the L.A. area for this to truly be a foolproof plan, but with 31 cases per 100,000 residents, per the latest New York Times -1.2%NYT metrics, that’s still lower than Dallas County, about the same as Houston’s Harris County and more than three times lower than Miami Dade County. In the Bay, San Francisco County is at 12 cases per 100,000, Oakland and Berkeley’s Alameda County is at 10 and Santa Clara County is at 10 as well.

If you’re a sports league in 2020, you want to have and maintain as much control and limit the variables and vulnerabilities as much as humanly possible. It’s working with the NBA and MLS. It can work for the NFL, too.

Offense returns most snaps from 2019 in NFC West
Bret Stuter

Love it or hate it, the LA Rams brought the band back together for one more season. Well, on the offensive side of the ball at least. While we have been touting that as a strong advantage for the LA Rams in this zany, crazy, mixed-up, bizarre, and uncanny 2020, we have been one of the few to lobby the point. Are we simply ahead of the curve? Perhaps, as others who are heavily involved in analytics and trending are concluding. That’s what the latest report from Over the Cap reveals, thanks to author Jason Fitzgerald.

After all, it makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it? While other teams are shaking hands and learning the names of teammates, the LA Rams offense is already working the first set of offensive plays from the playbook. Only the Rams running back Cam Akers and perhaps to a lesser extent Van Jefferson factor in to have significant roles in the offense in the first month of the season. Per the OTC article, the Rams return 87.4 percent of the 2019 offensive snaps in 2020 players. That means that the team is about 1.4 players shy of offensive players from a year ago.

NFC West comparison

How do the other NFC West teams compare? Believe it or not, the Arizona Cardinals are second with just 77.5 percent of 2019 offensive snaps returning in 2020 players. That translates into over 2.5 players shy of offensive players from a year ago. Next up is the San Francisco 49ers who are just 74.3 percent of 2019 offensive snaps returning to the team for this season. That places the 49ers into nearly a 3 player deficit from a year ago. But the largest impact, and one almost nobody had dared to mention, is the Seattle Seahawks who return just 65.8 percent of their 2019 offensive snaps. That means they will be shy the equivalent of 3.8 players from last year’s offense. Unfortunately for them, many of their best offensive linemen are gone this year.

Of course, that trend reverses on defense, where the 49ers and Cards return most of their defenders from a year ago. Only the Seahawks return fewer snaps on defense this year than the LA Rams. I’m good with the Cardinals defense coming back. That defense stunk, and they focused mainly on offense this year. While the 49ers defense is good, they are on film now, so offenses will exploit them much like the Chiefs did last season.

While this is just one more bit of evidence that the LA Rams are smoldering for a fast-burning come back in 2020, it adds to the compelling position that the Rams are indeed a team capable of climbing back, rather than a team plunging to the basement of the NFC West as so many have portrayed.

Welp I'm bored and it's too hot to work in the yard so gonna put up some notable plays in the week 12 ass beating we received at the hands of the Ravens. Notable being when a guy doesn't do his job or does his job with smashing success, although in this particular game I can't recall if any plays included the latter lol. Probably not. But anyway let's see if we can find some good among the bad...

Situation is first play from scrimmage, it's gonna be a run


Pre-snap shows a favorable box for a handoff


Zone right at the snap


Now in a straight-up zone read the idea is Blythe should get a stiff-arm into the armpit of 98 to help out Edwards and when he's got his guy move second level. I would guess that Blythe's read here is to take 48 but he's still moving laterally with zero awareness of 48 crashing the LOS. And btw if Edwards was struggling with 98 it would be understandable but he's got 98 locked down.


Blythe realizes it here but it's too late


Nothin kills a run game like penetration


Blythe watchin his dude wrap Gurley

NFL defensive line rankings: All 32 units entering the 2020 NFL season

The PFF unit ranking series moves to the defensive line as we look forward to the 2020 season. It’s important to note that all interior defensive linemen and edge defenders have been grouped together for this exercise, so teams that run a base 3-4 will include their outside linebackers (edge defenders) in this writeup, and they will not be featured with the linebackers. The best defensive lines have both high-end players and depth, and that’s what we leaned on when putting together this ranking. Here are the best defensive lines in the NFL heading into 2020.

1. Pittsburgh Steelers

T.J. Watt took another step forward in 2019, playing at a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year level. Watt ended the season with the highest pass-rushing grade (91.7) of any edge rusher in the league in addition to racking up 81 total pressures. Both figures were new career highs for a player whose progression has been steady and inexorable in the NFL. He also forced eight fumbles and had two interceptions.

The Steelers' defensive front featured career years out of multiple players in 2019. Cameron Heyward was the best interior defender in the league outside of Aaron Donald; Javon Hargrave had a big season after taking over for the injured Stephon Tuitt; and Bud Dupree had career-highs in pressures, overall grade, run-defense grade and pass-rush grade. Hargrave departed in free agency, but the other main figures all return — including Tuitt, who will look to continue his impressive form before injury.

That group will earn the bulk of playing time, with Chris Wormley likely to see the majority of snaps at nose tackle in base defense, but replicating the level of play they all reached last season will be tough to do in 2020. Alex Highsmith was the only significant addition to the defensive front in the draft, and the third-round pick will look to carve out a role for himself as a situational pass-rusher in his first NFL season.

The Steelers have some of the most proven quality in the league up front, but almost all of those players are coming off the best seasons they have produced to date, so there's reason to expect some form of regression heading into 2020.

2. Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles have had one of the strongest defensive lines in football for years — not just blessed with top-end talent, but with incredible depth. That doesn't look likely to change any time soon, and they have added multiple pieces over this past offseason.

Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham remain and are likely still the unit's best two players, though Graham's 2019 PFF grade and pressure total were each the lowest he's had in a season since 2015; he may be starting to show signs of slowing down at 32 years old. Graham still notched an impressive 67 total pressures and graded well against both the run and pass, so he will likely be a strong starter in 2020. Cox continues to be the best power-rusher in the NFL, generating more pressures over the past two seasons than any interior player not named Aaron Donald.

Derek Barnett’s playing time increased last season, even with some time missed due to injuries, but he didn’t take a corresponding step forward as a player. Alongside Cox inside, the team added former Steeler Javon Hargrave, giving them an incredibly powerful interior duo. Hargrave proved last season that he could step into an expanded role when Stephon Tuitt went down, generating career-bests in PFF grade (83.4), pass-rushing grade (76.9) and total pressures (49).

Malik Jackson barely featured last season but will hope to prove he can be a significant addition and a situational pass-rusher, while the door remains open for Josh Sweat to continue to earn himself a larger role, particularly if Barnett isn’t able to make strides in his development. Sweat notched 27 total pressures last season on 274 pass-rush snaps.

3. Washington

Chase Young will be the most intriguing player to watch on Washington’s front line. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft may be the best pass-rusher to come into the NFL in a decade, and we have seen some excellent ones arrive over that time. He was able to statistically separate himself from players like the Bosa brothers and Myles Garrett during their college careers and could be a transcendent player for a defensive front that has had a lot of good players recently but, perhaps, lacked true star power. Young gives the team five former first-round picks along the defensive line, each of whom has shown flashes.

Ryan Kerrigan has been consistently excellent for Washington, but he posted the lowest pressure total (37) and PFF grade (63.1) of his career in 2019, and at 32 years old by the time the season starts, he may have his best days behind him. Montez Sweat will have a chance to take a step forward and potentially supplant Kerrigan, along with Young, if he can improve on his rookie performance.

Inside, the former Alabama pairing of Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen should be a pair to be reckoned with, but they were actually outdone in terms of snaps by Matt Ioannidis, who had the best pass-rushing grade (76.6) of the unit. Ioannidis led the team in total pressures (55) and will look to maintain his role despite being surrounded by first-rounders. Ryan Anderson, another one of the few non-first-rounders on Washington's line, saw more snaps in 2019 than he saw in his previous two seasons combined, but he may be the first to lose playing time with Chase Young's arrival.

4. San Francisco 49ers

Nick Bosa enters Year 2 of his NFL career after setting the rookie record for most total pressures in a season (80). He broke a record that had stood since 2011 — by 16 pressures, no less — and that doesn’t even count the fact that he still had his foot on the gas by the time the Super Bowl rolled around. The 49ers traded away DeForest Buckner, who had been the team’s most consistent interior force over the past few seasons, but they used the pick they acquired on his direct replacement — South Carolina’s Javon Kinlaw.

Kinlaw was the most effective pass-rushing interior lineman in this draft, slotting in as the No. 1 player at his position on PFF’s Big Board because of it. Hitting the ground running as a rookie is tough, but Kinlaw has the talent to immediately contribute inside. Arik Armstead and Dee Ford give the 49ers depth and talent on the edge, and Armstead can kick inside and move around the line. Armstead posted an overall PFF grade just below 90.0 last season after a career year where he racked up 62 total pressures. Meanwhile, injuries limited Ford, but when he was on the field, he backed up his breakout 2018 season.

Buckner's departure potentially opens the opportunity of one last salvage mission for Solomon Thomas, who might finally get some playing time inside, while Ronald Blair III should still earn some rotational snaps after solid showings in past years.

5. Green Bay Packers

Kenny Clark has developed into the modern-day prototype for NFL nose tackles. The days of gargantuan run-stuffers who offered little, if any, impact in the passing game are long gone. Today’s nose tackles need to be able to rush the passer because nickel defense is played 75% of the time and obvious rushing downs are few and far between.

Clark came into the NFL as a fairly one-dimensional player, but he has developed into a true every-down force. In 2019, he had 62 total pressures and an 87.0 PFF pass-rushing grade, ranking first among nose tackles. Clark isn’t alone, though, and the Packers’ 2019 acquisitions of Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith give the team some real depth when it comes to rushing the passer.

Za’Darius led the league last season in total pressures (93), while even a relatively quiet season from Preston saw him pressure the quarterback 55 times. The questions for this group reside in the depth beyond that trio. Dean Lowry is a former fourth-round pick who has dramatically outperformed his draft slot but may never be anything beyond solid. Last season was the worst PFF grade of his career (59.0), despite seeing his highest workload yet (726 snaps including the playoffs). Lowry can still be a solid contributor, particularly against the run, but he has yet to exceed 30 total pressures over a season.

Tyler Lancaster is a run-first presence who has registered just 13 total pressures across two years and 323 pass-rushing snaps. The Packers will also look for a major step forward from Rashan Gary, last year’s first-round pick. The former Michigan star played just 244 snaps as a rookie and made little impact, earning a PFF grade in the 50.0s. His college career suggested he was a reach in the first round, despite his athleticism, so his development is a salient factor for this defensive front.

6. Chicago Bears

Chicago's defensive front is still led by Khalil Mack, but he was something of a one-man band in 2019 — Akiem Hicks was limited to just 191 snaps of action, and nobody else was able to consistently dominate. Mack, for his part, had something of a down year, but that still meant posting an 86.2 overall PFF grade and ranking inside the top 15 of all edge rushers. His 70 total pressures ranked 10th and his PFF pass-rushing grade (81.3) ranked 13th.

At his best, Mack is a game-changing force along the defensive front, but it’s now three seasons since he last posted a pass-rushing grade above 90.0, and 2019 was the lowest overall grade of his career. The Bears need the best version of Mack possible given what they gave up to acquire him, and the key to finding that player might be surrounding him with a better supporting cast.

Hicks' return should help with that. He had the best year of his career in 2018 and was on pace for his second-best season before injury shut him down. A healthy Hicks is a dominant run defender and power pass-rusher who can create space for Mack and pull attention away from him. The other side of the line is more of a question mark. The Bears said goodbye to former first-round pick Leonard Floyd and have effectively replaced him with veteran Robert Quinn.

While Quinn has the talent to more than replace the pressure that Floyd generated (just 39 total pressures last year), he is less versatile in terms of alignment and stance than Floyd is and needs to be deployed with his hand in the dirt to effectively get after the quarterback. Chicago’s defense is capable of accomodating that, but if it doesn’t, Quinn won't be at his best. Eddie Goldman was a solid nose tackle last season, but nothing more. Depth is a real concern for this defensive front, which has few consistent threats and nobody outside of the players already mentioned who posted a pass-rushing grade north of 65.0 in 2019.

7. Denver Broncos

The biggest question mark for Denver heading into the season is whether Von Miller’s down year in 2019 was just a blip in a near-flawless career thus far, or whether it was the start of a decline that, at some point, is inevitable. Miller is now 31 years old and posted career-lows in sack total, overall grade and pass-rushing grade for a full-season of play.

His 79.3 grade marked the first time in his career he has graded below 90.0, and though he still notched 77 total pressures, his number of decisive pass-rush wins steeply declined, while his percentage of unblocked, cleanup and pursuit pressure spiked. Miller has been arguably the best pure edge rusher of his generation, and if he can’t return to that form, it’s a tough thing for Denver to replace.

Bradley Chubb’s second season was derailed by injury, but he would need to significantly build on his rookie season to be able to pick up Miller's slack, as 13 sacks flattered his performance a little. Inside, Shelby Harris and Mike Purcell both graded well last season, and now Jurrell Casey, who has been one of the most consistently disruptive interior players over the past decade, joins them.

Casey isn’t coming off his best year, but he still notched 40-plus pressures for the seventh consecutive season and had a 78.2 run-defense grade. He should be an extremely useful rotation player inside, contributing to an extremely solid starting group for Denver that has the potential to be much better if Chubb takes a step forward in Year 3 and Miller gets back on track after a down season.

The team's defensive line depth is less spectacular, but rookie third-round pick McTelvin Agim has intriguing potential to steal some playing time. His college tape is very inconsistent, but he was dominant during the showcase bowls.

8. Los Angeles Rams

The Rams don’t just have the best defensive lineman in the NFL in Aaron Donald, but they have arguably the best player in the NFL, period. By any measure, Donald is by far the best pass-rusher in football, owning the best pressure rate, pass-rush win rate and PFF grade of any player at any position over more or less any period of time since he entered the league. He had 80 total pressures in 2019 after posting a league-leading 106 in 2018. The team’s problem has been assembling a supporting cast capable of helping Donald maximize his impact.

Last season, Dante Fowler Jr. was at least capable of cleaning up the havoc Donald caused inside, but with Fowler now in Atlanta, somebody else needs to step up. Samson Ebukam has been a solid run defender and an average pass-rusher, and he could be pushed for playing time by Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, who is entering Year 3 after barely playing but flashing rush ability when he has.

Inside, the Rams retained Michael Brockers after it looked like he was headed elsewhere in free agency — but only after they signed A’Shawn Robinson from the Lions, which feels a little redundant. Both players are run-focused nose tackles without the pass-rushing versatility to play alongside each other.

Greg Gaines adds to the run-stuffing expertise along the Rams' line, while Sebastian Joseph-Day saw almost 500 snaps last season and graded solidly across the board. Third-round rookie Terrell Lewis should have a good chance to start on the edge, but his PFF grade never matched the enticing physical tools he flashed in his lone season starting at Alabama.

9. Los Angeles Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers still have one of the NFL's best pass-rushing duos in Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram. They combined for 119 total pressures last season in what was a relatively down year for Ingram. The interior of the Chargers' line has been the issue in recent seasons, and they will be hoping that Linval Joseph helps shore up that group.

Joseph has been one of the best nose tackles in the NFL during his career with the Giants and Vikings but is coming off his lowest PFF grade (69.5) since 2011. Joseph’s impact as a pass-rusher has slipped over the past couple of years, but of more concern is that his run defense — which was virtually peerless at his best — also slipped to merely above-average in 2019.

The Chargers will look for Jerry Tillery to show signs of life and avoid being labeled as a total bust. As a rookie, he earned just a 35.5 overall PFF grade and managed only 10 total pressures from 186 rushes. Tillery was incredibly productive in college and a first-round draft pick, but there have been no signs he can be that player at the next level yet.

Justin Jones and Damon Square both saw significant playing time last season and return to the team, but neither graded better than average. Uchenna Nwosu will be hoping to continue his development and steal playing time on the edge after impressing on limited snaps over his first two seasons in the league. Last year, he notched 21 total pressures and even made a couple of plays in coverage. He could give the Chargers a useful rotation if he improves further in Year 3.

10. Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals’ defensive line remains anchored by the best players it has featured over the past decade — Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap — but the team does have some more interesting pieces in 2020. Atkins had his least effective season in 2019 since tearing his ACL back in 2014 and may be on the downswing in his great career. His 53 total pressures in 2019 were the fewest he has totaled in a season since 2014.

Dunlap quietly put together a career year in 2019, leading the team’s defensive linemen in PFF grade (89.7) and grading well in all facets of play. He had his most defensive stops in a season since 2014 and ended the year on fire with 30 pressures in his final five games. That pairing is joined by free agent acquisition D.J. Reader, who showed in Houston last season he can be more than just a run-stuffing nose tackle.

Reader was asked to play more snaps and rush the passer more than in any previous year of his career (due to injuries), and he responded with a career-best PFF grade and a dozen more total pressures than he had in any previous season. Reader should provide the team with the impact alongside Atkins that Andrew Billings never quite could. On the edge, Carl Lawson’s play regressed last season, and he earned a career-low PFF grade (55.5) while notching just 35 total pressures on 268 pass-rushing snaps.

Sam Hubbard was more effective but had a massive 412 opportunities to rush the passer en route to 49 pressures. The depth on the defensive line has been an issue, and the Bengals would dearly love for one of their young players to take a big step forward and provide a consistent impact alongside the proven commodities they expect to be difference makers in 2020. Lawson and Hubbard have the clearest path to doing that, but players such as Renell Wren or rookie Khalid Kareem could force their way into contributing roles.

11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers defense as a whole is in ascendency, and the same should be true for the defensive line.

Vita Vea took a step forward in his second year, improving his PFF grade while playing significantly more snaps and more than doubling his pressure total from his rookie year. With another step, Vea could become one of the most disruptive interior linemen in the game. He’ll have Ndamukong Suh playing alongside him this year again, and while Suh is coming off his worst PFF grade (69.6) since 2011, he still posted 39 pressures and graded well against the run. Suh’s days as a dominant force may be gone, but he is still a very solid contributor.

Shaquil Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul both return as the team’s primary pass-rushers, with Barrett agreeing to sign his franchise tag recently. Barrett isn’t as good as the 20-sack season would suggest, but he has constantly been very good pass rusher for his entire career and more importantly did post 82 total pressures. JPP — like Suh — may be in decline but will still bring a valuable presence against the run and chip in with pressure. He has topped 40 pressures for six-straight seasons. William Gholston was solid last season but unspectacular, earning grades in the 60s across the board, while the departure of Carl Nassib opens some snaps up to be claimed. Second-year player Anthony Nelson graded extremely well against the run in limited snaps as a rookie and could be in line for an expanded role as the only option to have any significant snaps last season.

12. Cleveland Browns

Before his season was brought to a self-inflicted premature close last season, Myles Garrett was on track to be the most dominant edge rusher in the league. His PFF pass-rush grade through 10 games was 91.6, tied for the best mark in the league and by far the best of his career to date. He had 49 pressures and was on track to set a new career best by at least 11 by the end of the year. If Garrett can hit 2020 with the same form he had in 2019, he will be one of the game’s best defenders and a force to be reckoned with for the Browns.

Olivier Vernon and Sheldon Richardson return as starters. While neither played badly last season, both players are capable of more and the team will be hoping to get some better play out of them in 2020. Larry Ogunjobi likely makes up the other starting member of the defensive line, but he will be pushed for playing time by Andrew Billings on base downs, while rookie Jordan Elliott hopes to earn playing time rushing the passer. Elliott had the highest PFF pass-rushing grade of any interior defender in the SEC last season, ahead of first-round talents such as Javon Kinlaw and Derrick Brown. He was a first-round talent according to PFF’s Big Board and could be an impact player for Cleveland if he can maintain that level of play.

Adrian Clayborn provides a really useful rotational body who has averaged over 50 total pressures for the past three seasons. Clayborn is particularly adept at beating up on sub-standard tackles and can dominate games against the right opponent.

13. New Orleans Saints

Cameron Jordan is the star of this group and one of the most underrated players in the league despite near-universal agreement that he is an excellent lineman.

Jordan posted 83 total pressures last season, the fifth-straight year he has topped 70 and the fourth-straight season his PFF pass-rushing grade has been 80 or higher. Over the last five years, only Khalil Mack and Von Miller have a higher overall PFF grade among edge rushers than Jordan — he is one of the most complete edge defenders in the game.

On the other side of the line, Marcus Davenport continuing his development will be critical to the success of this unit overall. Davenport has seen his pressure total, pressure rate, pass-rushing and overall PFF grade improve from his first to his second season in the league, and while he was good in 2019, he could become great in 2020. If he does, the Saints will have one of the best edge rusher tandems in football.

The return of a fully-healthy Sheldon Rankins would be a huge boost to the Saints. Rankins got back on the field after Week 4 last season but didn’t show his best play until Weeks 13 and 14 before being shut down again. He had just emerged as a really impressive force in 2018 before injuries started to derail his development, but if they can get that player back the team will be in good shape inside.

David Onyemata is the other critical piece of the puzzle, and like Rankins his best season was in 2018. Unlike Rankins, he doesn’t have the excuse of injuries to explain the significant decline last season. Onyemata saw his PFF grade drop more than 25 points and his pass-rushing grade sink from 75.8 to 61.7. The Saints need him to find his best form again or his playing time may be under threat from veteran additions like Malcom Brown or Margus Hunt.

14. Dallas Cowboys

Demarcus Lawrence has been the star on this defensive line since he broke out for the Cowboys, but the unit that takes shape around him has one of the widest range of outcomes of any group in the league.

Gerald McCoy and Dontari Poe both come over from Carolina, but neither player is the force he once was. McCoy was solid in his first season outside of Tampa Bay, but he hasn’t had a PFF pass-rush grade above 70 in two seasons now and his overall mark of 72.0 was the lowest he has posted since 2015. Given what Dallas had inside in 2019, he should still be a significant upgrade, but his days as a dominant player may be over. Poe never had the consistency of McCoy, but he has settled into a solid run defender who brings little as a pass-rush force. His past two seasons combined have generated just 30 total pressures from over 500 rushes.

Rookie Neville Gallimore was the fifth-ranked interior defender on PFF’s Big Board this draft and represented a steal in the third round. He has a real chance to contribute immediately even if he never quite put it all together in college. He improved each season of his career at Oklahoma and will push for snaps. Last year’s second-round pick Trysten Hill was a project at the time and saw just 121 snaps as a rookie, but he could also earn more playing time if he can demonstrate development.

The real X-factor in this group is Aldon Smith, who has been out of the league since 2017. Smith was once one of the best edge rushers in the league and battled Von Miller as the preeminent edge-rushing force of the 2011 draft before personal problems sent his career into a spiral. He is still just 30 years old. If he has gotten his act together, he brings an upside that is rare to find off the street for a minimal cost. Smith held the rookie record for total pressures (64) until this past season when Nick Bosa blew past that mark, and he could transform this defensive front if he can return anything like the talent he showed in the past.

15. Kansas City Chiefs

The newly signed Chris Jones has been arguably the best interior player in the league outside of Aaron Donald over the past couple of seasons, and his 132 total pressures over the past two seasons is third among interior rushers. His pass-rush grade of 91.4 trails only Donald.

Frank Clark also got the big-money deal when the team acquired him from Seattle, but his first season was a letdown, seeing him register just 47 total pressures in the regular season before an uptick in the playoffs. His overall PFF grade for the season was just 63.0, and even those playoff performances were more flash than substance — he had five sacks across three games but did not earn a grade above 70.0 in any of them.

Outside of that duo, the situation is a little less encouraging. The team has a series of useful role players that grade solidly but nobody consistently making a difference and scaring opposing offenses. Outside of Jones, Terrell Suggs was the team’s best-graded pass-rusher up front, and his grade was just 66.9. With his departure, the team needs to find an additional source of pressure from somewhere.

16. Houston Texans

Once again, the weight falls on the shoulders of J.J. Watt for the Houston Texans' defensive front.

Last season, D.J. Reader was an impact player inside, but he has departed for Cincinnati in free agency, leaving a hole that the Texans will likely hope gets filled by second-round rookie Ross Blacklock. Blacklock had a dominant run defense grade last season at TCU, and while his pass rush took a step forward, it was still the weaker area of his game. He has high-end athleticism and physical tools but is low on technique and polish at the position; he may take some time to transition to an effective force at the next level.

Watt getting back to his best play would be a huge boost for this team, and in 2019 he threatened to do exactly that before a pectoral injury sidelined him for half of the regular season. Watt’s PFF grade over the past two seasons is almost back to where it was before injuries first started to derail a Hall of Fame career. He notched 52 total pressures last season in just eight games and was on pace to lead the NFL with his best pass-rushing grade since the 2015 season. If he picks up in 2020 the way he was playing before that pectoral injury, the Texans will have one of the most dominant defensive linemen in the game.

Whitney Mercilus rediscovering his best play would also go a long way to helping this unit. He has earned PFF grades in the 60s over the past two seasons, 20 full grading points lower than his best seasons of 2015-2016. He had 47 total pressures last season, but it took him 591 pass-rushing snaps to get them, and 33 of those pressures were just hurries. Mercilus has top-tier potential, but he hasn’t played to that ability for a while now.

Outside of the players already mentioned, the Texans don’t have much in the way of impact players, with the likes of Charles Omenihu, Brennan Scarlett and Angelo Blackson likely to earn playing time but without much quality play on their resumes. Rookie third-round pick Jonathan Greenard was very productive at Florida last season but struggled against the best competition he faced. He will at least see opportunity to prove he can step up at the next level.

17. Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens continue to make smart personnel decisions that should make a significant impact on their team. They said goodbye to Michael Pearce this offseason but replaced him with Calais Campbell — arguably the best run defender in football — for just a low-round draft pick.

Campbell has had four-straight seasons with a PFF grade above 90.0 and done so at multiple different positions along the defensive line for Arizona and Jacksonville. He will move back inside for the Ravens, where he should prove to be an upgrade over Pearce. Derek Wolfe brings plenty of experience and solid play to the table. He has notched at least 20 total pressures in all but one of his NFL seasons and has had good PFF grades against the run every season since 2013.

Brandon Williams remains and needs to return to his best play after seeing his run defense grade drop 10 grading points in 2019. His defensive stops dropped by a third, and he didn’t make the same impact as in years past. Baltimore’s edge rushers are still a question mark, but this team schemes up pressure better than any in the league, and they're the most blitz-heavy team in football.

Matthew Judon led the team in sacks, total pressures and pass-rush grade but was still just 18th in the league in that last category. Last year’s third-round pick, Jaylon Ferguson, will have a chance to improve on the 30 total pressures he had as a rookie, and first-year player Justin Madubuike will have a chance to add some pressure from an interior alignment. But this is a defensive front that will likely rely on the scheme and blitz to maximize its pressure rate again in 2020.

18. Arizona Cardinals

Chandler Jones is the star player on the Cardinals' defensive front. Jones is always just outside of the very best edge rushers in the league in terms of total pressures or PFF grade, but he has managed to consistently generate more sacks than his pressure total should generate — something that is typically not a skill. Last season, Jones posted a pass-rush grade of 90.0, good enough to rank in the top five among edge rushers, and he pressured the quarterback 75 times.

He is by far the team’s best pass-rusher and should be among the league leaders in pressures again in 2020. The lack of help for Jones could be a significant problem, as nobody currently on the roster had more than 26 total pressures a season ago. Jordan Phillips had 10 sacks and might be confused for a legitimate pass-rush presence, but those sacks represented 10 of the 26 total pressures he managed all season long. The tape shows a series of unimpressive plays on those sacks. Phillips hasn’t topped 30 total pressures in a season and will likely be a run defender only this season.

Corey Peters offers the same type of impact, albeit a more proven version, and fourth-round pick Leki Fotu makes a trio of run-focused interior defenders. Second-year player Zach Allen may be the player most likely to take a step forward and make an impact, but his rookie season lasted an underwhelming four games before injury landed him on injured reserve. Allen needs to show major improvement for the Cardinals to be anything more than reliant on the skills of Jones again in 2020.

19. Indianapolis Colts

The Colts' defensive front will be anchored by their big offseason acquisition, DeForest Buckner, brought over from San Francisco in a trade that cost the team its first-round pick. Buckner signed a big-money extension and will be expected to alter the entire dynamic on the defensive line. Buckner has four-straight solid to good seasons in the NFL and has racked up 208 total pressures across those four years. He is a rare athlete in terms of size (6-foot-7, 300-pounds) and length and is good against both the run and pass. His best season came back in 2017, but he has been a consistently positive force for the 49ers and should be again for the Colts this season.

Veteran edge rusher Justin Houston was quietly back to something like his best last season for the Colts, aided by a reduced role that helped keep him healthy and let him focus on getting after the passer. Houston had a top-10 pass-rushing grade (81.9) and generated 60 total pressures on the year despite playing nearly 150 fewer snaps than the year before and 300 fewer than the season before that. Houston is still likely to be the team’s primary source of edge rush pressure, though Kemoko Turay had absurd numbers in a tiny sample size last season before getting hurt, notching 14 pressures in just 69 pass-rushing snaps and registering a PFF pass-rushing grade of 91.3. Turay might have just caught lightning in a bottle for a few weeks, but he could be a surprise force for the Colts if he can come back the way he left off.

Depth is a concern for this defensive front, as outside of those star players of whom much is expected, there is a lot in the way of journeymen and average starters. Denico Autry, Al-Quadin Muhammad and Grover Stewart all return, but the highest PFF grade amongst the group in 2019 was Autry’s 71.0.

Jabaal Sheard was let go after suffering a steep decline last season, but even that decline leaves 42 pressures walking away. Ben Banogu was the team’s second-round pick a season ago, but his rookie year was ugly, resulting in a grade of just 49.0 and seeing him register only 17 total pressures on 181 pass rushes. The team needs him to take a major step forward in 2020 if this unit is to be better than average.

20. Buffalo Bills

For the seventh-straight year since joining the team in 2013, Jerry Hughes led the Bills in pressures, finishing with 54. He produced a 73.7 pass-rush grade that ranked 28th in the league, and he’ll be counted on to lead the pass rush once again in 2020.

However, the Bills have added plenty of pieces around Hughes, including veteran Mario Addison and second-rounder A.J. Epenesa. Addison has had at least 45 pressures in each of the last five seasons, while Epenesa is a powerful hands-winner who ranked in the top 32 on the PFF draft board. Trent Murphy also returns after his 74.9 grade against the run led all front-7 players for Buffalo last season.

On the interior, the Bills are hoping for a Year 2 breakout from 2019 first-rounder Ed Oliver, who graded at 65.1 overall as a rookie — tied for 72nd at the position. He has the quickness and college production to make a bigger impact, but development is still needed. Harrison Phillips’ strong run defense is back in the equation after being limited to just 77 snaps last season, and Vernon Butler has been added to the mix after the former Panthers first-rounder peaked with a 68.7 overall grade in 2017.

Another former Panther, Star Lotulelei, also returns, but he’s graded above 60.0 just one time since 2014. The one name who could surprise is Vincent Taylor, who has performed well when given an opportunity but has only seen the field for 437 snaps in his three-year career. The Bills are throwing many options at the wall along the defensive front, but this unit’s success will be determined by Hughes staying on top of his game and Oliver raising his to the next level.

21. Tennessee Titans

Tennessee is another team set to field a defensive line that relies on the development of its young players.

Jeffery Simmons had a debut to remember after recovering from an ACL injury that many thought would sideline him for the entire season. Simmons notched a sack, two hurries and three defensive stops in a performance that earned a PFF grade of 90.6 and set pulses racing, but he never quite hit those heights again over the remainder of the season. Simmons is hugely talented, and the team was confident enough in his ability to trade away stalwart defensive lineman Jurrell Casey for a throwaway late-round draft pick, but now is the time Simmons needs to prove them right.

Harold Landry is the other young player who needs to take a step forward. His sack total more than doubled in his second season, and his total pressures leaped from 34 to 66, but his pass-rushing grade actually got worse (57.8 from 59.4 as a rookie) because his pass-rushing snaps also almost doubled. Landry has flashed the potential to be a high-end rusher but now needs to show more than potential and the ability to pick off low-hanging fruit.

After Cameron Wake, DaQuan Jones was the team’s best-graded lineman last year, and he was the best-graded among players with serious playing time (Wake saw just 195 total snaps). Jones was a plus run defender and a solid pass-rusher, and he simply needs to have that kind of performance again in 2020.

Depth is a concern along this defensive line, with little in the way of proven quality or even players who have shown well across limited snaps. Rookie Larrell Murchison was a fifth-round pick who has solid but not spectacular grades over the past two seasons at NC State. And while he was more of a run defender than a pass-rushing force, he will hope to earn some playing time as a rotational body early on.

22. Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons have one of the best defensive linemen in the game in the shape of Grady Jarrett, but the issue is that they don't have much around him.

Jarrett earned an overall PFF grade above 90.0 last season, and he racked up 40 defensive stops as well as 46 total pressures, but the next closest PFF grade among Falcons linemen who played more than 100 snaps was 71.7, and the player who earned that grade, Adrian Clayborn, is no longer on the roster.

Former first-round picks Vic Beasley Jr. and Takkarist McKinley have been disappointments, with Beasley now departed and McKinley likely on his last chance. However, the Falcons have added multiple former first-round picks to see if they can do any better.

Charles Harris comes over after three underwhelming seasons in Miami, while Dante Fowler Jr. was able to parlay a career year with the Rams into a chance in Atlanta. Fowler recorded 67 total pressures and 15 sacks playing alongside Aaron Donald, but his PFF pass-rushing grade was just 73.3 thanks largely to how much of a factor Donald was in those pressures: 33 of Fowler’s pressures (49.3%) were either unblocked, clean-up or pursuit plays and not true “wins.” And while Jarrett is an elite player in his own right, he is not Aaron Donald and likely won’t give the same boost to Fowler’s numbers.

The Falcons also drafted Auburn’s Marlon Davidson in the second round of the draft, a player who ranked 44th on PFF’s Big Board. Davidson could provide a second pass-rushing threat inside, but he will be transitioning to that role and may take some time to develop.

Preseason Hall of Famer Steven Means may only have half the preseason games (at most) this year to state his case for regular-season snaps, but he has an absurd 41 total pressures over his last three preseasons. With the competition for playing time fairly open, maybe he could finally earn some playing time in 2020.

23. Jacksonville Jaguars

A couple of years ago, the Jacksonville defensive line — a united that adopted the nickname “Sacksonville” — was among the very best in the game. That unit has since been chipped away at, though, and the departure of Calais Campbell this offseason sees the best player from the group leave town.

There is still the chance that this front could be very good, but it relies on improvement from the players drafted to ensure a smooth succession plan. The team spent back-to-back first-round picks on Josh Allen and Taven Bryan, but both have yet to become impact players.

A disruptive player in college, Bryan has been a better run defender than he has been a pass-rusher and has just 37 total pressures across two seasons and 380 rushes. Allen notched 49 pressures as a rookie — though he had 388 rushes to get there — and his overall grade was more good than great.

The Jaguars also add first-rounder K’Lavon Chaisson, who has the highlight reel of a first-rounder with incredible burst and flashes of power, though it’s a concern that he graded at just 72.7 last year at LSU. Yannick Ngakoue is also in the midst of a contract standoff with the team, and while he is still only 25 years old, he hasn’t been a genuinely elite edge-rusher since his 2017 season.

This team is unusually well-stocked with run-defending nose tackles, with Abry Jones, Al Woods and rookie Davon Hamilton all on the roster. The talent is there for this defensive front to still be a plus unit, but it is far more of a question mark than it has been in the past couple of seasons. It now relies on the development of the talent the team has earmarked over the past couple of drafts.

24. Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings' defensive line has undergone significant changes this offseason, with the departure of arguably their best two players from the unit over the past few seasons in the shape of Linval Joseph and Everson Griffen. Joseph is now with the Chargers, while there remains the possibility that Griffen could return as long as he is on the open market still unsigned.

While Danielle Hunter had a career year last season, the team brought in Michael Pierce from Baltimore to serve as the Joseph replacement. Pierce isn’t coming off his best season, but prior to that was a dominant run defender who had a grade in that area of 92.0 in 2018. Pierce is a huge load in the middle (340-plus pounds at just 6-feet in height) and should give the Vikings a run-stuffing presence who is also able to push the pocket against the pass.

Hunter and Pierce are the two proven commodities on the line, but the other two starting spots and the depth are a major concern.

Shamar Stephen played 580 snaps in the regular season last year and had just six total pressures. Ifeadi Odenigbo flashed potential on the edge, with 25 total pressures and at least three high-end games, but he now needs to take a step forward as an every-down starter. Anthony Zettel was added to the roster, but he has shown little in his NFL career outside of the surprise 2017 season and had just seven total pressures last season.

The Vikings have taken several late-round shots on the defensive line over the past few seasons, but none have yet emerged to be positive role-players beyond Odenigbo. They will be hoping that changes this offseason or this line could be in for a significant regression.

25. New England Patriots

The New England defensive front has undergone some significant turnover this offseason. Kyle Van Noy was the best-graded member of the group a season ago but will now be plying his trade in Miami in 2020, while Danny Shelton has moved on to the Detroit Lions.

That frees up plenty of opportunities for players to earn time, particularly to replace Van Noy. Second-year edge rusher Chase Winovich was impressive as a rookie but played fewer than 300 snaps in his first year. He did notch 23 total pressures across 232 pass-rushing snaps, however, and could be a candidate to step into a larger role.

Deatrich Wise Jr. was the most efficient pass-rusher of the group a season ago, and over his time in the NFL has one of the best pass-rush win rates of any defensive lineman. Still, at times he was a liability in the run game and has seen his playing time decrease in each season in the league. John Simon was solid in 2019, grading at 73.3 overall on just under 500 snaps, but it's unlikely that he has the upside to replace Van Noy’s production.

The most intriguing additions to the team and the competition for playing time came in the draft, where the Patriots added Michigan’s Josh Uche and Alabama’s Anfernee Jennings in back-to-back rounds. In particular, Uche was one of the most efficient pass-rushers in college football, but he is undersized and has never been deployed as a full-time edge rusher. He perfectly fits the mold of a defense that is excellent at putting players in a position to succeed rather than fail, and he could hit the ground running in terms of pass-rush production. Anfernee Jennings, on the other hand, is a classic power edge from Alabama who can contribute on early downs in the classic New England-hybrid role.

The Patriots also brought in Beau Allen to replace Shelton. Allen has been a rotational body for the majority of his career, but he will compete for snaps opened up by Shelton’s departure.

The interior options, such as Allen and Lawrence Guy, are solid yet unspectacular, but last year’s fifth-round pick Byron Cowart could be a dark horse candidate to earn some more playing time. He barely featured for the team in the regular season but impressed in the preseason.

26. New York Giants

The policy in New York under general manager Dave Gettleman has been getting bigger, tougher and meaner against the run on the defensive line.

Dexter Lawrence was their first-round pick a year ago, and Leonard Williams was acquired to add serious weight inside. Add Dalvin Tomlinson and B.J. Hill to the mix, and this team is awash with powerful run-stoppers. All four players earned a PFF run-defense grade above 70.0 last season, but none was a difference-maker as a pass-rusher.

Lawrence — all 342 pounds of him — had the best pass-rush grade of the four, but it was just 64.5. The former first-rounder had only 30 total pressures from 412 rushes, which falls into the category of “good for a nose tackle” but some way short of dominant overall.

Williams’ pass-rushing grade improved after he was traded to the Giants (69.1 against 61.4), but he has never quite been the force people expected him to be when he was drafted.

The Giants are short on interior players who can truly pressure the passer and instead will rely on just squeezing the pocket. And that strategy that could work if they had plus play on the edge — the problem is that they don’t have that proven commodity yet.

Lorenzo Carter has flashed that ability, while 2019 third-round pick Oshane Ximines has yet to show he can translate his college production to the NFL. Kyler Fackrell was also added to the mix, but again, his production has come in spikes and flashes at the NFL level, and he never managed to be a consistent threat during his time in Green Bay.

The Giants have a group of solid options but don’t have much in the way of proven players who can get after the quarterback in a league that has never been more pass-happy.

27. Detroit Lions

The Detroit defensive line is still trying to find its identity and consistency under Matt Patricia.

Last season, defensive end Trey Flowers was the only consistently impressive member, earning an overall PFF grade of 83.0 and notching 63 total pressures. That wasn’t the best season Flowers has ever had, but it’s probably a fair return in his first year as their big-money free-agent acquisition.

The issue is that Flowers had very little help. Veterans Mike Daniels and Damon Harrison broke down with injuries and just weren’t the same players they had been in the past. Combined, they were on the field for fewer than 750 snaps, and neither player graded particularly well, especially given their past performances.

There also wasn't much in terms of pressure coming from anybody other than Flowers. Devon Kennard had the next highest pressure total, at 43. He is now in Arizona, leaving Romeo Okwara and his brother Julian to be the most likely candidates to bring some heat on the quarterback. Romeo had 34 total pressures on 377 pass rushes last season, and his PFF pass-rushing grade was actually below average (58.2). Meanwhile, Julian was the No. 4 edge rusher on PFF’s Big Board and certainly has the talent to provide pressure, even if he might need a situational role early.

Injuries robbed Da’Shawn Hand of most of his second season after such a strong showing as a rookie, but he is a player who could still feature heavily. In addition, Danny Shelton was brought in from the Patriots to anchor the middle of the line. Shelton is primarily a run-stuffing force, and for added insurance in that area, the team also drafted Utah’s John Penisini in the sixth round.

This defensive front likely relies on finding somebody beyond Trey Flowers to be a consistent force, particularly when it comes to generating pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Most of the personnel on the roster are more run-focussed, which likely leaves the Okwara duo to take advantage of their pass-rushing snaps and prove they can hurry the quarterback.

28. Las Vegas Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders begin life in a new city still trying to replace what they had in Khalil Mack. And while Maxx Crosby looked impressive as a rookie, a significant portion of his hype stems from the fact that he outperformed fourth overall pick Clelin Ferrell.

Crosby notched 45 total pressures as a rookie, but he rushed the passer 481 times and needs to build on that encouraging rookie year to match the hype in Year 2. Ferrell was a solid run defender but offered almost nothing as a pass-rusher, which is obviously an unacceptable return for the fourth overall pick in the draft.

Maurice Hurst was the team’s best pass-rusher in 2019, and the former Michigan star may be about to enter a breakout year. Hurst is an undersized interior rusher, but his development has been impressive over two NFL seasons. Another step forward in his third year would see him emerge as one of the better interior pass-rushers in the league. Hurst earned a pass-rushing grade of 77.8 last season and racked up 38 total pressures in the process.

Maliek Collins comes on board from Dallas after four underwhelming seasons, though, to his credit, he has improved in every year of his career. Collins earned a good pass-rushing grade in 2019, notching 48 total pressures, and he could provide a formidable interior duo with Hurst if the pair continue to improve their game.

Edge rusher is the key to this team’s performance, as one of their young players needs to become a force offensive lines fear. Arden Key was the other young option on the edge last season, but he logged just 179 snaps of playing time and has just 43 total pressures in two years.

29. Carolina Panthers

Few franchises have undergone more change this offseason than the Carolina Panthers, and that extends to their defensive line. Every pick the team made in the 2019 draft was spent on defense — three of those picks were spent on defensive linemen, including first-round pick Derrick Brown.

Few players were as divisive as Brown in the pre-draft process. Nobody doubted his dominance and ability, but there were questions as to whether he could be an effective enough pass-rusher at the next level to justify a high first-round pick. The Panthers evidently believed he can be, and whether they were right will go a long way to determining how good this group can become. Brown had back-to-back seasons in college with a PFF grade above 90.0, and he has the kind of power and strength that few other players have.

The Panthers doubled down on the defensive line in the second round, adding Yetur Gross-Matos to play outside of Brown. Gross-Matos is a classic example of a player whose traits have thus far been more impressive than his production or tape, but the Panthers will be hoping they can harness the things you can’t teach and develop the things you can.

Bravvion Roy was a late-round addition as a rotational nose tackle who has freakish movement skills for such a fire hydrant of a body and could stick around given his ties to new head coach Matt Rhule. Stephen Weatherly was also added in free agency, and he has been remarkably consistent in his inability to pressure the passer at a high level. Weatherly has three seasons of more than a couple of snaps, and all three saw him post a pass-rushing grade in the 50s.

The new additions will be joining stalwart Kawann Short and last season’s first-round pick Brian Burns. Short missed almost all of last season but was playing the best football of his career before that point, while Burns flashed pass-rush skills as a rookie.

There are a lot of unknowns when it comes to this group, but there is a very believable scenario where the talent comes together quickly and makes them a very formidable unit to contend with.

30. Miami Dolphins

Last season, the Dolphins' defensive line earned the lowest pass-rush grade in the NFL, at just 57.6.

The team has added Kyle Van Noy to the mix, a player who rejuvenated his career as a classic Patriots hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker. Van Noy set career highs in pass rushes (464), pressures (60) and pass-rush grade (72.1) last season, while also dwarfing his career best with an 83.7 grade against the run, fourth-best among edge defenders. The Dolphins will insert him into a similar role, and they need him to duplicate those results.

Miami also added Shaq Lawson, who also set a career high with a 68.7 pass-rush grade to go with 40 pressures last season. Lawson is more of a base defensive end who has done his best work in the run game throughout his career. Emmanuel Ogbah adds depth on the edge after he posted the best grade of his career, a 70.1 overall mark last season with the Chiefs. Other hybrid linebackers include Vince Biegel, who led the team with 34 pressures a year ago, and Curtis Weaver, a fifth-round pick with first-round tape.

Inside, former first-rounder Christian Wilkins ranked seventh among rookie interior defensive linemen with a 64.4 overall grade last season. He carried over his college profile of being better against the run than the pass, and he must improve his 58.6 pass-rush grade to justify his price tag.

Davon Godchaux is also slated to start inside after three up-and-down seasons, while second-round pick Raekwon Davis should add yet another strong run defender into the mix.

The Dolphins have plenty of question marks hovering over the pass rush, though they’ve accumulated a strong group of run-stoppers up front.

31. New York Jets

So much of what the Jets expect from their defensive front relies on the development of Quinnen Williams, who was the Jets’ top pick of the 2019 NFL Draft.

Williams was one of the best interior prospects we have ever seen and earned the highest pass-rush grade we have ever given to an interior pass-rusher, but his rookie season was a letdown, particularly in the one area he was supposed to excel — generating pressure. The Alabama product notched just 19 total pressures across 349 pass-rushing snaps a season ago, making him one of the least efficient pass-rushers in the league. And while his run defense was solid, that’s not why you draft a player with the third overall pick.

If Williams can show why he was such a coveted prospect and become a force as a pass-rusher in Year 2, he has the potential to transform this unit single-handedly.

Outside of Williams, the defensive line is populated by solid players who largely defend the run better than they rush the passer. Steve McLendon played the second-most snaps of the group last year after Williams, and his PFF run-defense grade was 81.4, second only to Folorunso Fatukasi on the team.

Henry Anderson had a down year in 2019 but has shown the ability to be solid across the board, and he will likely have to fend off competition from Nathan Shepherd and rookie Jabari Zuniga for playing time.

Meanwhile, the edge remains a problem for the Jets — as it has for a number of years. Tarell Basham, Jordan Jenkins and Kyle Phillips all topped 500 snaps in 2019, but none of them were able to generate more than 40 total pressures or earn a pass-rushing grade north of 70.0.

Once more, it’s difficult to see who the obvious source of edge rush pressure for this team will be, and that has been the Jets’ Achilles’ heel for the better part of a decade. Overall, the Jets defensive line is not swimming in high-end talent, but the one player who was supposed to possess that in abundance could break out and change the entire dynamic of the group. The development of Quinnen Williams likely determines how good this group can be in 2020.

32. Seattle Seahawks

With Jadeveon Clowney still unsigned at the time of writing, Seattle’s best defensive lineman from 2019 isn’t on the roster anymore, and the gap between him and the next best player is not a small one.

Poona Ford has impressed in the NFL so far, but more as a run defender than as any kind of pass-rush force, and he has just 19 total pressures over two years. Jarran Reed looked like he might develop into an all-around force before legal issues sideswiped his career and he didn’t look the same player. In 2018, he recorded 55 total pressures and earned solid grades across the board, but he was markedly worse in 2019.

Much will also be expected of L.J. Collier, the team’s 2019 first-round pick. That draft selection was something of a surprise to most, and his 48.6 PFF grade on just 152 snaps won’t have helped that impression. Collier had just one hurry from 86 pass-rushing snaps in an impressive lack of production. If he can’t make a sizeable leap forward in 2020, it’s difficult to see where the pressure will come from.

Tennessee's Darrell Taylor, the team's second-round pick this year, was a similarly underwhelming prospect but represents a significant investment they will likely expect to contribute. Bruce Irvin returns for a second stint with the team that drafted him in the first round back in 2012, but Irvin hasn’t earned a pass-rush grade north of 70.0 since his second season in Seattle.

Rasheem Green saw north of 500 snaps a season ago but had below-average grades in all facets of play and just 30 total pressures from 376 rushes. Last season the team experimented with deploying Shaquem Griffin on the edge as a situational pass-rusher despite his weight (likely in the 215-220-pound range), in an attempt to generate some pressure. He flashed occasionally but ended up with just 10 pressures on 94 rushes.

The Seahawks' defensive line was hugely dependent on Jadeveon Clowney in 2019. If they don’t have him for 2020, they need to find a new source of pass rush.

Already at the halfway point.

I honestly feel bad for anyone who was a fan of the Rams in 60s and 70s. That team had so much fucking talent just to get beat by the Cowboys or Vikings every year. That must have been so frustrating.

Anyway, Rod Perry is today’s number.
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Fun story;

Tyreek Hill raced 46-year-old Terrell Owens in a 40-yard dash and it was surprisingly close

Terrell Owens has been saying for years that he could still play in the NFL, and as it turns out, he might be right. Although T.O. hasn't played in an NFL game in nearly a decade, he apparently still has NFL speed and he showed that off this week during a 40-yard race against Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill that ended up being surprisingly close.

In most cases, when you have one of the fastest players in the NFL racing against a 46-year-old, it's not going to be close and the 46-year-old will likely have a heart attack, but this isn't most cases.

Hill and Owens were working out together recently when they decided to hold two races. The first race covered 100 yards and it seemed to serve as a test race so that Hill could gauge just how fast Owens is. In the 100-yard race, Hill gave Owens a 10-yard head start, which proved to be too much, because T.O. ended up hanging on for the win (You can watch that race by clicking here).

In the second race, the two speedsters changed the distance to 40 yards and that's when things got interesting.

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Um what. Owens winning would have been the shocker of the century, but the fact that he kept it that close was also pretty surprising.

In the video, you can hear Hill's trainer say that Tyreek ran a 4.37 while T.O ran a 4.40 to 4.42. Owens didn't win the race, but running that kind of time at age 46 is absolutely bonkers. Most 46 year olds would probably tear both their hamstrings trying to race Hill, but not only did Owens pull it off, he kept it close (By the way, the race was hand-timed, so it's completely possible that final times weren't completely accurate. However, even if you had one-tenth of a second to Owens' time, 4.5 to 4.52 is still insanely impressive).

Owens was so fast that Hill actually complimented the Hall of Famer on Twitter.

Owens last played in an NFL regular season game back in 2010 when he was with the Bengals, and ever since that last game, he's been insisting that he could still play. As recently as 2017, Owens said it was a joke that no one was willing to sign him.

"Me not being on the field right now is a joke, and I don't care what people say," Owens said at the time.

As it turns out, he might have had a point.

The former 49ers, Cowboys, Eagles, Bengals and Bills receiver was named a first-team All-Pro a total of five times during his Hall of Fame career, which spanned from 1996 to 2010.

We used expected rushing yards -- the offseason's new advanced metric -- to take a deep dive into running back play on Tuesday. Now, let's look at how it will soon help shape opinions of a position group whose performance has long been difficult to quantify: the offensive line.
Film study can tell us a lot about an offensive line, but that requires devoting countless hours to watching every play (and not just once, but three to four times at a minimum). Pro Football Focus' player grades are a handy resource, but they provide just one frame of reference for evaluating O-line performance. Enter Next Gen Stats' expected rushing yards per carry (xYPC).
Offensive line play is just one factor that determines xYPC, but ranking the top 10 offensive lines from 2019 based on xYPC, as we've done below, gives us an idea of how effective these units were at creating opportunities for running backs on a per-play basis. What will be interesting is the juxtaposition of rushing yards over expectation (RYOE) alongside xYPC, which can tell us a lot about whose rushing struggles were more the fault of the offensive line and whose were more the fault of the team's running backs.
For example, no one in the NFL had a steeper climb in front of him than Le'Veon Bell in 2019. The Jets as a team posted the lowest xYPC in the entire NFL at 3.81, and of the seven worst teams in xYPC in 2019, only one -- Houston -- made the playoffs. And that mark of 3.81 was for all ball-carriers in New York; the xYPC when Bell was given the ball was even lower (3.7). As we know, if you can't run the ball effectively, chances are, you won't win many games. Not that Bell entirely escapes blame -- using xYPC to read between the lines (pun intended), we see that Bell produced an underwhelming RYOE per attempt of -0.41, meaning he was rushing below the expectation set by the team's per-play performance. No one was crowning Bell last season.
Over in Philadelphia, meanwhile, Miles Sanders delighted Eagles fans with his 818 rushing yards on 179 carries (4.6 YPC). Those numbers obviously look better than Bell's (789 rushing yards on 245 carries, with 3.2 yards per carry), but we can also see that Sanders was working with a personal xYPC that was a full yard higher (4.7) than Bell's with the Jets -- and, in fact, Sanders finished with a YPC that was actually below expectation (-0.16 RYOE per attempt).
Other factors, including offensive scheme and situation, can impact xYPC, as mentioned above. Defenders likely keyed on Bell while knowing they wouldn't have to worry too much about someone else beating them. Sanders, as a rookie, was focused on much less (at least early) and ran behind a significantly better offensive line. Even so, we can use xYPC to illuminate how a bad line can make a good running back look horrible, while a good line will help a rookie get out to a fast start.

Before we get started, here again is a glossary of these new acronyms:

• YPC: Yards per carry
• xYPC: Expected yards per carry (the baseline metric for blocking effectiveness)
• ERY: Expected rushing yards (total for the season)
• RYOE: Rushing yards over expectation
• RYOE per attempt: Rushing yards over expectation per attempt

OK, now it's time to highlight the best-performing offensive lines according to xYPC. Be prepared for a few surprises and a few knocks on your favorite running back who might deserve more of the blame for ground struggles than his less-heralded teammates in front of him.

Rank
1

Baltimore Ravens

2019 stats: 4.69 xYPC, 1,815 ERY, 125 RYOE, 0.32 RYOE per attempt

This ranking should be expected, seeing as the Ravens led the entire league in rushing in 2019, but their sheer dominance on the ground extends beyond simply leading the league in xYPC (an achievement in its own right). The Ravens ran the ball 387 times, tied with the Cowboys for seventh-most in the NFL, yet they led the NFL in yards per carry as the only team to break 5.0 in the category. Their RYOE per attempt of 0.32 landed them at ninth in that category, suggesting that while their running backs -- by the way, these numbers don't include the efforts of Lamar Jackson, because of position limits -- were incredibly effective on the ground, their offensive line was even better. It was so good and set the bar so high, the ball-carriers didn't manage to lead the league in RYOE because, well, they were expected to do well thanks in part to the superb play of the guys up front. Greg Roman's offense was spectacular in 2019 because of the ground attack and the special play of Jackson, but that offensive line also deserves as much credit. We'll see how it does without retired guard Marshal Yanda in 2020.

Rank
2

Philadelphia Eagles

2019 stats: 4.62 xYPC, 1,782 ERY, -98 RYOE, -0.25 RYOE per attempt

OK, listen -- I know the Eagles were incredibly banged up last season, and they weren't exactly trotting out three versions of in-his-prime Terrell Owens in their receiving corps, so their running backs were at a bit of a disadvantage. But let's take a moment to heap praise on the Eagles' line, the lone group that remained somewhat intact throughout the season while everyone else took turns in the trainer's room. Philadelphia performed better in xYPC than its NFC East rival Dallas -- logging 4.62 xYPC versus the Cowboys' 4.16 -- it just lacked star ball-carriers to take full advantage (we talked about Sanders above already). The Eagles weren't the only team with a negative RYOE to land in the top 10 in xYPC, either, with half of the group ending up in the red. But they were the only one of those teams with an offensive line (plus two solid tight ends) good enough to help clear space for what should've been over 4.6 yards per carry on average. The loss of guard Brandon Brooks this offseason could be devastating for 2020. Hearing the news of his Achilles injury pained me very much, but the return of Jason Peters in an unfamiliar guard role means the team might be able to weather that storm. Meanwhile, it's time for Andre Dillard to own the left tackle job he was drafted to take. If the Eagles can stay healthy and find a way to replicate what they did up front in 2019, they should win more than the nine games they took home last season.

Casserly: Andre Dillard must improve strength to replace Jason Peters in 2020
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Rank
3

Arizona Cardinals

2019 stats: 4.5 xYPC, 1,246 ERY, 32 RYOE, +0.12 RYOE per attempt

Kliff Kingsbury's first season brought new energy to a Cardinals franchise that seemed to lose some vigor following the (brief) retirement of Bruce Arians in 2017 and one-year tenure of Steve Wilks. Thanks in large part to Kyler Murray, the acquisition of Kenyan Drake and some big changes in personnel up front, the Cardinals managed to find success on the ground a year after struggling mightily. The true praise should be showered on Kingsbury's scheme, though. The numbers back it up: Arizona's offense sent out four-plus wide receivers on 33 percent of snaps in 2019 -- the Cardinals were the only team to do so more than 10 percent of the time -- which led to lighter defensive boxes (less than seven defenders). In fact, more than half (56.7 percent) of Arizona's rushes were into light boxes. It's simply a numbers game at that point; less defenders to block means a higher chance of success for the offensive line. Then Arizona's ball-carriers were able to do the rest of the work, largely reaching and often clearing xYPC. Arizona's change in scheme contributed to the league's highest year-to-year jump in xYPC, from 3.78 in 2018 to 4.5 in 2019 (+0.72). It only translated to two more wins, but it's a great foundation to build upon in the desert.

Rank
4

Atlanta Falcons
2020
2019 stats: 4.44 xYPC, 1,394 ERY, -235 RYOE, -0.75 RYOE per attempt

This is our most glaring case of ball-carriers failing to hold up their end of the bargain while working with what appeared to be an effective offensive line. We highlighted this in the intro of the top-10 running backs piece, but now it's really time to explain how badly Devonta Freeman hurt Atlanta's offense in 2019. Freeman was the worst in the entire league (among those with a minimum of 100 rushes) in RYOE per attempt, logging more than a full yard below expectation per carry (-1.18). His RYOE total for 2019 was -218, also worst in the NFL. While Atlanta indirectly acknowledged Freeman's ineffectiveness by cutting him with plenty of time left in his hefty contract, we now have statistical proof to support the case that it wasn't the offensive line's fault, as many fans love to initially blame. The line did well -- in fact, Atlanta was elite when it came to xYPC -- and that was without a key addition, 2019 first-round guard Chris Lindstrom, who only appeared in five games.

There is bad news, though. Freeman's replacement for 2020, Todd Gurley, was also near the bottom of the league in the same categories. His -0.67 RYOE per rush and -150 RYOE on 223 carries helps explain the Rams' struggles last season. We'll see if he can turn it around in Atlanta.


Rank
5

San Francisco 49ers

2019 stats: 4.42 xYPC, 1,878 ERY, 167 RYOE, +0.39 RYOE per attempt

I was a bit surprised to see the 49ers weren't rated higher, considering their effectiveness on the ground. Kyle Shanahan's scheme, his use of fullback Kyle Juszczyk and the blocking effectiveness of guys like tight end George Kittle, tackle Joe Staley (enjoy retirement!) and the rest of the bunch created a monster on the ground in 2019. No team rushed for more yards strictly with running backs (2,045) than the 49ers. The 4.42 xYPC puts the Niners in the top five of the league, which is very surprising, considering defenses loaded the box against them (eight-plus defenders) at the highest rate in the NFL (34.4 percent). Their positive RYOE per attempt hammers home what we already knew: The 49ers ran to the Super Bowl with both an effective offensive line and a stable of running backs with excellent vision and burst. That combination was deadly against everyone but the team displaying the Lombardi Trophy in Kansas City.

Rank
6

New Orleans Saints

2019 stats: 4.42 xYPC, 1,462 ERY, 41 RYOE, +0.12 RYOE per attempt

We have our first tie in xYPC, and we've turned to supplemental information to help break it. San Francisco topped New Orleans in yards gained before close (yards gained before a defender closed within 1 yard of the ball-carrier), which illustrates how well linemen are preventing defensive penetration, and in 10-plus-yard run percentage (13.2 percent versus the Saints' 10.9 percent). The first number could've been partially attributed to the difference in total carries, which was nearly 100, but the second clinches the tiebreak, with San Francisco boasting a higher percentage despite having more chances to fail. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's talk about the Saints' offensive line, which shouldn't miss a beat in 2020. New Orleans struck gold with center Erik McCoy, who was a stud as a rookie, and rode the rest of its experienced and stellar offensive line to a top-five mark in xYPC. The positive RYOE total tells us what we already knew about a backfield that included Alvin Kamara -- even after the loss of Mark Ingram. And after cutting Larry Warford and replacing him with the best interior offensive lineman in the draft in Cesar Ruiz, the Saints should keep on winning up front.

Baldinger shows how Colts OL will open throwing lanes for Rivers
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Rank
7

Indianapolis Colts
2020
2019 stats: 4.37 xYPC, 1,743 ERY, 89 RYOE, +0.22 RYOE per attempt

We can confirm that the Colts' offensive line is also very good. These numbers should jump in 2020, as long as Philip Rivers can play like he has when blessed with adequate offensive line play after working behind a sieve in Los Angeles last season. The fact that Anthony Castonzo bypassed retirement to return helps a ton and keeps the starting five intact for another go-around. The presence of rookie Jonathan Taylor in a backfield that sorely missed Marlon Mack in two key weeks last season should also make this offense a more well-rounded group. As for 2019, the explanation is fairly simple: The Colts, as they have for a couple of years now, are very good up front -- they posted the best mark in rush yardage before close of this group at 0.8 -- and when the rest of the offensive pieces are available and playing up to expectation, they're a good football team. We should expect to see them in this group again next season.

Rank
8

Detroit Lions

2019 stats: 4.33 xYPC, 1,526 ERY, -146 RYOE, -0.41 RYOE per attempt

I know -- what a stunner! Lions fans will be the first to tell you that if they just had Matthew Stafford healthy for all of 2019, things would've been different, and statistically, that seems to be kind of true. Detroit's O-line helped the team make a major jump in xYPC in 2019, leaping from 3.84 in 2018 to 4.33 -- yet the Lions were one of the league's worst squads after Stafford's season ended in November. With guys like David Blough and Jeff Driskel lining up under center, defenses had little incentive to do anything but prioritize stopping the run. It should come as no surprise, then, that Kerryon Johnson posted a RYOE per attempt of -0.48 and a RYOE total of -54. His teammates clearly didn't fare much better, overshadowing what was an encouraging year-to-year improvement up front. Get Stafford back, and things could change tremendously (ah, now I'm doing it too).

Rank
9

Los Angeles Rams

2019 stats: 4.31 xYPC, 1,438 ERY, -170 RYOE, -0.51 RYOE per attempt

The Rams should really be commended for landing on this list, especially after losing Joe Noteboom early in the season and needing a replacement so badly, they swung a deal (which could end up being a steal) with the Browns for Austin Corbett in the middle of the season. This might also be the most damning piece of evidence related to Todd Gurley's future, as we covered above with Atlanta. The league average in xYPC was 4.18 last season, so the Rams' mark of 4.31 is nothing to scoff at. Yet, the Rams weren't able to break 4 yards per carry with Gurley (and friends) in the backfield. Notably, the Rams landed in the top five for outside-run percentage at over 64 percent of all running plays in 2019. Perhaps having more trust in the interior linemen -- which, again, a lack thereof after losing Noteboom is understandable -- will produce better results for Malcolm Brown, Darrell Henderson and rookie Cam Akers in 2020. What's that old saying? Run north and south, not east and west? Yeah, that might help things in Inglewood.


Baldy breaks down how Rams offense can get back on track in 2020
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Rank
10

Los Angeles Chargers

2019 stats: 4.3 xYPC, 1,452 ERY, -66 RYOE, -0.19 RYOE per attempt

To round out the top 10, we welcome the Rams' SoFi Stadium roommates. The Chargers were worse up front in 2019, and no one will contest that. In fact, here are some numbers to back that up as we work toward peace on the matter. The Chargers went from a 12-win team with a 4.86 xYPC mark in 2018 to a five-win team with a 4.3 xYPC mark and a much-maligned pass-blocking unit. Everything got worse in the Chargers' final campaign in Carson, but it still wasn't enough to unseat them from the top 10 on the ground. Why didn't they win more games, then? Well, they were really close to winning a lot of them, but couldn't finish the job. Often times, a crushing turnover sealed their fate. Other times, they just weren't as effective as they should have been, and that includes Chargers fan heartthrob Austin Ekeler. He's the lead guy in Chargerland now, but he could be better. His RYOE per attempt was among the five worst in the NFL (among those with a minimum of 100 rushes) last season at -0.56, meaning that while the Chargers had some struggles up front, Ekeler also didn't reach the standard of expectation set by their successes. He's a versatile dynamo, of course, but he could be better carrying the football. While we wring our hands over troublesome Gurley stats, we shouldn't overlook Ekeler. If he can improve that, though, and the Chargers shore things up on the line -- which shouldn't be that hard to do, considering how they landed in the top 10 in xYPC in a down year -- we might be able to wash all of this away come fall.

Rams 53-man roster projection ahead of 2020 training camp

Cameron DaSilva

The Los Angeles Rams are less than a week away from players reporting to training camp, which is a major step toward the return of football. Camp will be modified in order to adhere to coronavirus protocols, including roster sizes that are expected to be limited to 80 players instead of 90.

The Rams have competitions to sort out at numerous positions, which will have a big impact on who they keep into the regular season. As of now, rosters will still consist of 53 players with two additional practice squad players eligible to be promoted for game days, but that could change – like anything else in this current climate.

Full Article-
[theramswire.usatoday.com]

One if not favorite Ram of all time Steven "Action, the real Beast Mode" Jackson

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Rocking that SJ39 jersey after a win in AZ



Please tell me one of you are in this picture!

As per request from @Memento today we look at LB Pisa Tinoisamoa. And honestly, he probably has the best name in Rams history. He had a very good start to his career until the injuries started piling up.
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Sean McVay says Rams will adopt 49ers' running back strategy in 2020: Here's what that means

The Los Angeles Rams are entering a new era in several different ways this season. They have a new stadium, new uniforms and a bit of a new offense. Former No. 10 overall pick Todd Gurley has found a new NFL home, and he leaves a pretty big hole at running back. Sean McVay recently told Dan Hellie on the Helliepod that he's adopting Kyle Shanahan's strategy in how he plans to approach the running back position -- which is a smart idea considering the San Francisco 49ers made it all the way to the Super Bowl last season. Not to mention, the whole run Gurley into the ground strategy didn't exactly work out well long term for the Rams.

"I think it'll just naturally work itself out. I think if you look at that success San Fran had last year with that running back-by-committee approach," McVay said, via NFL.com. "What I thought Kyle and their players did a great job of is, 'Hey, we're going to have an open-mind approach, we're going to be committed to trying to have some balance and then we'll go with the hot hand or whoever really expresses himself as deserving of the carries."

Matt Breida, Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman all played important roles in San Francisco's offense last season, as the 49ers averaged 144.1 rushing yards per game -- which was No. 2 in the league behind the Baltimore Ravens. McVay believes that his running back room has enough talent to replicate what Shanahan did last season.

The Rams definitely have some talent at the running back position with veteran Malcolm Brown and youth with Darrell Henderson and John Kelly. The Rams also used a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft on former Florida State running back Cam Akers -- who is viewed as a potential "workhorse." The second team All-ACC player out of Jackson, Mississippi rushed for a career-high 1,144 yards and 14 touchdowns during his junior season in Tallahassee and broke Dalvin Cook's freshman record for rushing yards in his first year at Florida State (1,025). He's a compact, aggressive prospect who could be a three-down back at the next level. While Akers does have star potential, it's clear that McVay is going to give everyone a fair shot to prove their worth in the backfield.

"We feel good. We've got three guys really on our roster that have played football when you look at Darrell Henderson, John Kelly is another guy, Malcolm Brown has consistently produced in that No. 2 role behind Todd," McVay said. "And then Cam Akers is a guy that we're excited about. So we've got four backs that we feel like are all NFL-legitimate starting-caliber backs and not feeling like you've got to force carries or touches to any of them. Just open mind and see how these guys do."

Rams 2019 offensive line ahead of other teams this season

When is a bad offensive line not a bad offensive line? When you remove the casts, ACE bandages, and crutches. At least, that is what the LA Rams are counting on this year. The LA Rams owned the 31st-ranked offensive line in 2019. That fact alone triggered many to call on the team to sign free agent offensive linemen, draft multiple offensive linemen, and rework the entire unit. Of course, the recent history of the Rams proved that the team had been doing exactly that.

Since 2018, the Rams had steadily been adding offensive linemen. In that 2018 season, the Rams added Brian Allen, Joseph Noteboom, and Jamil Demby. In 2019, the Rams added Bobby Evans, David Edwards, and Chandler Brewer. Then, mid-season in 2019, the team picked up Coleman Shelton and Austin Corbett. If you do the math, the team loaded up on eight new offensive in the past two seasons. That’s quite the overhaul, to be honest.

Room for two more?

Conversely, the Rams not only did not add multiple offensive linemen in either the free agency or draft but instead re-signed all of last year’s offensive linemen to 2020 contracts. That’s not just veteran left tackle Andrew Whitworth, but also Austin Blythe and Coleman Shelton as well. Even in this offseason, the Rams added rookies Tremayne Anchrum and Cohl Cabral. 10 new additions to the roster since the 2018 NFL Draft.

That has been received with disappointment by some, but after thinking about it, many are reconsidering. After all, this is an offseason like no other, and that comes after a season unlike any other. The Rams offensive line in 2019 was crippled by multiple injuries throughout the entire season. But that means that the Rams have multiple players competing at virtually all positions with multiple-game starting experience. How can that be anything less than a huge positive, particularly in a year with zero preseason games?

Rams roster recovers

That brutally battered offensive line is healthy now. Healthy and a bit miffed. After all, practically everyone projects the Rams to finish in the NFC West basement. How easy is it to overlook the fact that Rams head coach Sean McVay has never led the Rams to a losing season? Easy enough it seems, as so many seem to have presumed that the Rams 2019 injuries will reoccur in 2020. But the very reason for the Rams’ struggles in 2019 is the very reason that the offense snaps back to true form in 2020. Injured players have healed.

The Rams have everyone back. Everyone. Not one player is absent yet from the 2019 squad. The team got the band back together. So in terms of pure continuity, the LA Rams are first on the list. First. No other NFL team has as much continuity in their offensive lines this season. Remember, this was the same offensive line, errors, and gaffs, that began the 2019 season 3-0 before injuries began to take a harsh toll.

Continuity, confidence, conquest

The LA Rams have everyone back from a season ago at a time that coaches have only had virtual contact with players. We covered the silver lining aspect of the Rams situation, and that is now catching the attention of others. In bringing back all five starters from 2019, plus players who started after injuries, the Rams offensive line has more depth than many NFL teams.

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That advantage of one of the most familiar offensive lines will be a huge advantage for the team in the first 6-8 games of the season. While other teams are working out their bugs, the Rams enter 2020 having worked out their bugs a season ago. The Rams not only have a more capable offensive line for 2020 but also contingency plans that proved successful last season when the Rams offensive line struggled.

Rams offensive line can be markedly better

While the Rams have restocked the offensive line with last year’s players, there are many reasons to expect far better play this season. To begin with, familiarity and continuity is a huge plus. Reassembling a healthy roster will be a huge advantage over a season ago as well. And of course, the fact that so many players have actual NFL game experience gives the offensive line enough flexibility to boast an experienced backup at virtually all positions. That’s all just on the player side, though.

The coaching staff also had an entire off-season to mull over what went wrong in terms of blocking. To that, the coaches also had opportunities to study game film and determine what went right for the team. That will mean a great deal for the team, as the lack of preseason games and OTAs will make it more difficult for the Rams, and every team, to succeed early in the season. While many teams will be working hard to get into a rhythm, the Rams will be there from the first snap. Fret if you must. I am growing more and more optimistic over the Rams chances this year.

Oh well, maybe that’ll help us have a season.

Just received this info from the Rams....... We are choosing to opt In.












Stay on for the 2020 Season
If fans are allowed in SoFi Stadium this season, opting-in via this form will maintain your priority access to purchase individual game tickets that may become available.
Please note however that due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, gamedays at SoFi Stadium will look different this season and the potential impact on stadium capacity will likely affect ticketing policies.
The following protocols will likely be in effect at SoFi Stadium:

• If fans are allowed at Rams home games, capacity would likely be limited to approximately 15,000 guests based on current CDC guidlines. This is subject to change based on state, local and federal guidelines.
• Fans must wear a mask on the face at all times unless actively eating or drinking. This includes inside clubs and suites.
• Social distancing will be enforced at all times. Congregating in concourses will be actively discouraged by stadium staff.
• Seating blocks will be set up to promote social distancing, with separation of 6 feet between blocks. Seating block sizes will vary and able to accommodate between 1 and 10 guests.
• The first seven rows of the stadium will be eliminated and covered with tarps to protect players and coaches.
• All purchase stations will be strictly cashless. If you need to convert cash to gift cards, “reverse ATMs” will be available on each concourse.
• Hand sanitizing stations will be located throughout the stadium.
• Tailgate parking may be available but in a limited capacity. Social distancing will be enforced and congregations outside of those attending the game with you will be discouraged.
• Health screening measures will be implemented and are likely to include a signed waiver prior to entering SoFi Stadium as well as staff temperature checks.

Please note the additional potential impacts on ticketing policy for Season Ticket Members:

• Due to the uncertainty around fans being allowed at games and capacity limitations, we cannot guarantee a specific number of games that Season Ticket Members will be able to purchase.
• Any funds paid toward 2020 season tickets will remain on your account to be used toward the purchase of individual game tickets for a limited number of games, if fans are allowed in stadium. Any money remaining after the purchase of 2020 individual game tickets will be rolled over to your 2021 season tickets.
• It is highly unlikely that you will be able to purchase your exact seats for games during the 2020 season due to the altered stadium manifest to allow for social distancing.
• While you will be able to transfer and resell tickets, you must do so while protecting ticket blocks. You cannot resell a portion of your tickets for a game to avoid having groups sitting directly next to each other who do not know one another. For example, if you purchase four seats for a game, you cannot sell only two of the tickets, as you must attend with family members or trusted acquaintances to limit viral spread. Also, you cannot split the four seats into two pairs and sell each of those pairs. This is to ensure that each block contains only family members or trusted acquaintances. If you choose to sell or transfer part of a ticket block, you may lose the right to purchase future tickets and have your SSL terminated.
• If tickets are sold for any games, first priority for tickets will go to Season Ticket Members who opted to stay in for the 2020 season. Season Ticket Members who opted out of the 2020 season would have the next presale opportunity to purchase tickets before any remaining tickets are made available to the general public.

For additional information and FAQs please visit our website.
Please elect either this option or the option to opt-out of the 2020 season (available in your email) by July 31.

Ummm...maybe a different choice of words?

I love onion rings if done right. For real ones, they must be cooked all the way through. If I bite into an onion ring and I pull out a slimy onion like a snake, I'll hurl. That's why I love Burger King onion rings because there is no danger of that, since they are faux rings! I love ordering "I'll take a double whopper with cheese, no onions and no tomatoes. And onion rings instead of french fries...
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As I'm stuck in my nephew's home in Tucson because of delays in purchasing my own home I'm looking at Game Pass as a way to watch Ram games even if it means having to wait until the game is over. But I have questions that aren't being answered on the game pass website.

1. Are all out of market team games available each week? That is to say, will I be able to watch the Rams games even if they are shown delayed?
2. How long are the games available for viewing? Or is there a DVR like function to save the game?
3. Is it worth the money?

Once I get my own home I will be able to get a VPN with an LA server solving that "out of market" problem. I'd appreciate any information that anyone can provide.

Thanks

Not a ton of options but a good MLB for us in the mid 2000s. Will Witherspoon. Btw, i need to make a compilation of Ram defenders injuring Cardinals QB. It’s going to be a long one
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Rams WR Robert Woods has been a big-play machine from the slot

Slot receivers typically run shorter routes in the middle portion of the field, using their agility and speed to get open quickly for their quarterbacks. There are a handful of big-time playmakers who line up most often in the slot, but typically, the best wideouts in the league play outside.

Robert Woods provides the Rams with versatility at the wide receiver position, showing he can play both in the slot and outside the numbers. When playing inside, he’s been a big-play machine for Los Angeles and Jared Goff, creating the third-most plays of at least 15 yards from the slot since 2018.

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Woods doesn’t get much recognition as one of the best receivers in the league, but his back-to-back 1,100-plus yard seasons suggest he should be in that discussion. He’s dropped just six passes in the last two years and gained 996 yards after the catch, proving to be a highly reliable receiver for Goff.

The Rams will need him to keep making big plays in the passing game this season with Brandin Cooks gone, and there’s no reason to believe he won’t be up to the task. Woods has been that good since Los Angeles signed him as a free agent in 2017.

NFL.com predicts Rams TE Tyler Higbee will earn first Pro Bowl in 2020

Looking ahead to the 2020 season, Around the NFL writer Marc Sessler surveyed each team's roster to predict one future first-time Pro Bowl player. His prime candidate from the Rams: tight end Tyler Higbee.

For Sessler, the selection of Higbee tied into the Rams' increased use of their tight ends as the season progressed and that trend continuing in 2020, as well as Higbee's statistical accomplishments.

"Flinging three quiet campaigns into the rearview mirror, Higbee latched onto 69 grabs for 734 yards and three scores," Sessler wrote as part of his explanation. "He finished second among tight ends in yards per route run (3.53) and explosive plays of 15+ yards (13) when facing zone coverages, according to PFF. Evidence suggests Mr. McVay harbors even larger plans for his tight ends inside a transitioning attack."

Higbee will look to build on a 2019 season that ended with franchise records for receptions and receiving yards by a tight end, as well as a career-high in receiving touchdowns. A large chunk of that production came across Weeks 13-16, when he became just the fourth tight end in league history to record four straight 100-yard receiving games.

Speaking to reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis earlier this year, McVay didn't go so far as making the same prediction as Sessler, but did express confidence that Higbee could carry over his strong finish from 2019 into 2020.

"I thought that was something that was great for him to be able to maximize those opportunities and we think he's got a very bright future," McVay said in late February.

For the rest of Sessler's picks, click here.

Since the actual 49ers of the gold rush era were nothing but a bunch of Native murderers what should their name be changed too ????
What they did was real and far worse than calling yourself Redskins, which many Indians are proud of I think its only fitting that the 49ers be canceled and forced to pick a new name.