Dee Ford

[sherck]

2019 Free Agents / Edge Defenders:

43 combined = 13 sacks / 30 QB Hits, 55 tackles, 28 years old = OLB Dee Ford / KC / 3-4 OLB
41 combined = 14 sacks / 27 QB Hits, 42 tackles, 26 years old = DE Frank Clark / SEA / 4-3 DE
35 combined = 11 sacks / 24 QB Hits, 64 tackles, 27 years old = DE DeMarcus Lawrence / DAL / 4-3 DE
33 combined = 09 sacks / 24 QB Hits, 45 tackles, 26 years old = OLB Za'Darius Smith / BAL / 3-4 OLB
30 combined = 09 sacks / 21 QB Hits, 47 tackles, 26 years old = OLB Jadeveon Clowney / HOU / 3-4 OLB
20 combined = 04 sacks / 16 QB Hits, 52 tackles, 26 years old = OLB Preston Smith / WAS / 3-4 OLB

Those seem to be the cream of the crop when it comes to 4-3 rush DEs or 3-4 rush OLBs.

There are a lot of 3-4 DEs that had good production in 2018 (Trey Flowers/NE, Henry Anderson/NYJ, Brandon Copeland/NYJ, Benson Mayowa/ARI) but while we might be interested in signing those guys as interior defenders, I don't know how well their pass rush matches up when moving inside.

Unless Lawarence hits the market, we could do a lot worse than Dee Ford. He seems to be trending up:

2018 = 55 tackles / 13 sacks / 29 QB Hits / 13 TFL / 7 FF (5th year option)
2017 = On IR after only 6 games (4th year in league)
2016 = 38 tackles / 10 sacks / 17 QB Hits / 12 TFL / 1 FF (3rd year in league)

I like the idea of adding him to Sheard / Turray / Muhammad and then drafting one more kid high into the group (1st or 2nd round) for competition. See what shakes out.

Walk Worthy,

[FatDT]

Trey Flowers is a 4-3 DE. The NE defense is kind of its own thing though so while he seems like a good player I can't hazard a guess as to if he'd do well in the prime pass rusher role here. Chandler Jones was up-and-down on pass rushing in NE, but has been a terror since going to AZ.

I wonder about maybe trying Anthony Barr. He was a high-end edge rush prospect in the draft, picked by the Vikings, but he's been playing 4-3 OLB. No surprise, his pass rush production hasn't been that great. He would not cost much and might have a lot of upside as a 4-3 DE.

Za'Darius Smith is PFF's "most-underrated FA". We signed a PFF "secret superstar" in Samson Satele years ago. So clearly Smith is going to suck and we should not sign him. Yes I know my analysis is fantastic.

David Irving will be cheap and has played well in the Dallas defense. Solid chance he will get busted again for pot and get suspended, so no big investment is likely there.

Ezekiel Ansah is a FA but is 30 and has been hurt a lot.

Brandon Graham is 31 and is good but not great.

So. It doesn't seem like it gets much better than Dee Ford in FA.

[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by FatDT

Trey Flowers is a 4-3 DE. The NE defense is kind of its own thing though so while he seems like a good player I can't hazard a guess as to if he'd do well in the prime pass rusher role here. Chandler Jones was up-and-down on pass rushing in NE, but has been a terror since going to AZ.

I wonder about maybe trying Anthony Barr. He was a high-end edge rush prospect in the draft, picked by the Vikings, but he's been playing 4-3 OLB. No surprise, his pass rush production hasn't been that great. He would not cost much and might have a lot of upside as a 4-3 DE.

Za'Darius Smith is PFF's "most-underrated FA". We signed a PFF "secret superstar" in Samson Satele years ago. So clearly Smith is going to suck and we should not sign him. Yes I know my analysis is fantastic.

David Irving will be cheap and has played well in the Dallas defense. Solid chance he will get busted again for pot and get suspended, so no big investment is likely there.

Ezekiel Ansah is a FA but is 30 and has been hurt a lot.

Brandon Graham is 31 and is good but not great.

So. It doesn't seem like it gets much better than Dee Ford in FA.

Yeah, those PFF ratings I take with a major grain of salt.

Here were their rankings for the linebackers in the 2018 draft. Notice where Leonard is in those rankings.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/new...2018-nfl-draft

[DrSpaceman]

I have not watched a KC game all year except the one against Indy

But he caused problems for this offense all game.

And its a huge area of need.