2021 NFL Free Agency: Best Available Defensive Linemen
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Free agency officially kicked off with the beginning of the league-year on March 17. Here is a look at the Green Bay Packers' situation on the defensive line and the best available free agents.
The Packers’ Picture
Packers Need (1-10 scale): 8. Green Bay’s defensive line wasn’t good enough last year. The Packers need better play from Kenny Clark but they also need more impact from those around him. Dean Lowry is a dependable, Steady Eddie sort but the impact plays are few and far between. Kingsley Keke, a fifth-round pick in 2019, made some splash plays but disappeared for long stretches. Tyler Lancaster has provided some quality play as an undrafted free agent but he’s a restricted free agent and probably won’t be tendered. Montravius Adams has been a huge disappointment as a third-round pick in 2017 and signed with New England in free agency.
Packers Free Agents: The fastest 300-pounder at the 2017 Scouting Combine, Adams’ four-year totals were 44 tackles, 1.5 sacks and four tackles for losses. His 11.8 snaps per tackle was the best among last year’s defensive linemen, and his three stuffs (a tackle at or behind the line vs. the run) were as many as Clark and Keke and more than Lowry. But he just hasn’t been reliable enough to command another contract. Veterans Billy Winn and Damon Harrison will be free agents, too. Winn’s career has been rocked by one major injury after another. Harrison, once one of the game’s great run defenders, was added late in the season and showed some of his vintage form in the championship game.
Top 20 Unrestricted Free Agents
SIGNED BY MINNESOTA: Dalvin Tomlinson, N.Y. Giants: A second-round pick in 2017, the Packers made a play for Tomlinson at last year’s trade deadline. It’s easy to see why. He’s started all 64 career games and is coming off back-to-back seasons of 3.5 sacks, though his forte is stopping the run. He batted down four passes and added 10 quarterback hits last year, both career highs. Of 86 interior defensive linemen with at least 200 pass rushes, he tied for 29th in Pro Football Focus’ pass-rushing productivity, which measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap. On running plays, he had seven tackles for losses, his average tackle was 1.5 yards downfield and he missed one tackle (2.0 percent), according to Sports Info Solutions. For his career, his average tackle came 1.6 yards downfield and he’s never been over 2.0 yards. He turned 27 in February.
RE-SIGNED: Shelby Harris, Denver: The Milwaukee native was a seventh-round pick by the Raiders in 2014. Of his 33 career starts, 27 came the last two seasons in Denver. He had six sacks and nine passes defensed in 2019, and 2.5 sacks, seven passes defensed and a career-high 11 quarterback hits in 2020. Harris ranked 25th in PFF’s pass-rushing productivity. (For perspective, Keke was 24th overall and No. 1 for Green Bay.) According to Sports Info Solutions, on running plays, he had two tackles for losses, his average tackle was 2.3 yards downfield and he missed four tackles (11.1 percent). He’s the best available player but his age – he’ll turn 30 during training camp – could work against him.
Jurrell Casey, Denver: Casey was Mr. Durable, missing only five games in his first nine seasons. However, he played in only three games in 2020 due to a torn biceps. The injury snapped a seven-year streak of at least five sacks and 10 quarterback hits. In his abbreviated season, he had no sacks, one tackle for loss, two quarterback hits and batted down three passes. If he returns to form, he might be the best two-way defensive tackle in free agency. From 2016 through 2019, he averaged 50.3 pressures, according to PFF. The past two seasons, by contrast, Lowry has a total of 44. From 2017 through 2019, Casey’s average tackle against the run came 1.6, 1.9 and 1.6 yads downfield, according to SIS. He turned 31 in December.
SIGNED BY N.Y. JETS: Sheldon Rankins, New Orleans: A first-round pick in 2016, Rankins has 17.5 career sacks. After starting all 32 games in 2017 and 2018 and piling up 10 sacks and 24 quarterback hits, he had 3.5 sacks and 14 quarterback hits in 22 games (one start) the past two seasons. Of 86 interior defensive linemen with at least 200 pass rushes, he tied for 33rd in PFF’s pass-rushing productivity. On running plays, he had three tackles for losses, his average tackle was 2.5 yards downfield and he missed one tackle (4.8 percent), according to SIS. He’s missed only two tackles in his career. He’ll turn only 27 in April.
RE-SIGNING: Ndamukong Suh, Tampa Bay: The 34-year-old Suh, amazingly, has missed only two games in his 11-year career. A five-time Pro Bowler and a 16-game starter for the ninth consecutive season, he recorded six sacks – his most since 2015 – and 19 quarterback hits. He tied Denver’s Harris for 25th in PFF’s pass-rushing productivity. On running plays, he had five tackles for losses, his average tackle was 1.8 yards downfield and he missed four tackles (8.3 percent), according to SIS. Like him or not, he’s an ageless wonder still more than capable of playing 40-plus snaps per game. If you’re signing a guy for one year only, Suh might be No. 1 on this list.
DaQuan Jones, Tennessee: A fourth-round pick by the Titans in 2014, Jones has started all 16 games in five of the past six seasons. Last year, he had two sacks and set his career high with 49 tackles. He finished 55th in PFF’s pass-rushing metric, a couple spots below Lowry. On running plays, he had four tackles for losses, his average tackle was 1.8 yards downfield and he missed three tackles (5.9 percent), according to SIS. His average tackle has been at 2 yards or better the past four seasons. He’s 29.
SIGNED BY JACKSONVILLE: Roy Robertson-Harris, Chicago: An undrafted free agent in 2017, Robertson-Harris was quite a find by the Bears. All 13 career starts came the past two seasons, including six in eight games last year before going on IR with a shoulder injury. He averaged 10.5 quarterback hits the previous two seasons and was on pace for 10 in 2020. For his career, his average tackle has come 2.4 yards downfield and his missed-tackle rate is 9.8 percent. He’ll turn 28 before camp.
Kawaan Short, Carolina: The 32-year-old made the Pro Bowl in 2015 and 2018. After starting 62 of a possible 64 games from 2015 through 2018, he’s played in only five games the past two seasons. Thus, his last sack was in 2018. He’s had 11 quarterback hits the last three seasons compared to 17 in 2017 alone. In three games last year, he had no tackles for losses and his average tackle was 1.8 yards downfield. He’s 32 and is coming off season-ending surgeries on his left shoulder in 2019 and right shoulder in 2020.
RE-SIGNED: Derek Wolfe, Baltimore: A second-round pick in 2012 by the Broncos, he played in 14 games (eight starts) in 2020, his first and only season with the Ravens. In 2019 with Denver he had seven sacks and 12 quarterback hits. In 2020 with Baltimore, he had one sack and four quarterback hits. But he tied his career high with 51 tackles. On running plays, he had a career-high eight tackles for losses, his average tackle was 1.7 yards downfield and he missed one tackle (1.0 percent), according to SIS. He turned 31 in February.
SIGNED BY LAS VEGAS: Quinton Jefferson, Buffalo: A fifth-round pick by Seattle in 2016, Jefferson signed a two-year, $13.5 million deal with Buffalo last offseason but was recently released. He started four of his 16 games and had three sacks and six quarterback hits; he averaged 12.5 quarterback hits his final two years in Seattle. He finished 37th in PFF’s pass-rushing productivity. On running plays, he had three tackles for losses, his average tackle was 2.1 yards downfield and he missed two tackles (8.3 percent), according to SIS. His career missed-tackle rate is a way-too-high 13.2 percent. He’ll turn 28 this month.
Christian Covington, Cincinnati: A sixth-round pick in 2016, Covington started 14 games last season compared to a total of 15 in his first five seasons. He set a career high with 39 tackles but had zero sacks and just one quarterback hit. He finished eighth from the bottom of PFF’s pass-rushing productivity. On running plays, he had two tackles for losses, his average tackle was 2.9 yards downfield and he missed three tackles (7.5 percent), according to SIS. His average tackle was 1.2 yards in 2018 and 1.9 yards in 2019. He’ll turn 28 in October.
RE-SIGNED: Jonathan Hankins, Las Vegas: A second-round pick in 2013, Hankins has missed just three games the past five seasons and was a 16-game starter for the second consecutive year. He had seven sacks with the Giants in 2014 but just 2.5 sacks in his three years with the Raiders. He finished just 73rd in PFFs pass-rushing productivity. On running plays, he had two tackles for losses, his average tackle was 1.7 yards downfield and he missed six tackles (11.1 percent), according to SIS. He had nine TFLs in 2019. His missed-tackle rate has eclipsed 10 percent three of the past five years. He’ll turn 29 at the end of the month.
SIGNED BY JACKSONVILLE: Malcom Brown, New Orleans: A first-round pick in 2015, he’s played in 89 of a possible 96 games in his career. He started 13 games in 2020 but was released in one of many cost-cutting moves by the Saints. He had a career-low 27 tackles, one sack and two quarterback hits as the Saints generally took him off the field on anything resembling a passing down. He was a force against the run, though. On running plays, he had a career-high five tackles for losses, his average tackle was a career-best 1.0 yards downfield and he missed just one tackle (3.7 percent), according to SIS. In six seasons, he has 11.5 sacks but just three the past three seasons. He turned 27 in February.
RE-SIGNED: D.J. Jones, San Francisco: A sixth-round pick in 2017, Jones has started 25 games the past two seasons. In 14 games in 2020, he set a career high with three sacks. He had 13 pressures, according to PFF, one shy of his total from his first three seasons. Generally, though, Jones is just a run-stopper – and a darned good one. According to SIS, his average tackle came 1.4 yards downfield and he had four tackles for losses on running plays, the best marks of his career. He turned 26 in January, making him one of the rare young players available.
SIGNED BY JACKSONVILLE: Tyson Alualu, Pittsburgh: Alualu has played in 172 of a possible 176 games in his 11-year career. The 10th pick of the 2010 draft, he has just 24.5 sacks for his career and was 57th in PFF’s pass-rushing productivity in 2020. By the official league stats, he has nine quarterback hits the past three seasons combined. Where he’ll make his money again is stopping the run. On running plays, he had five tackles for losses, his average tackle was 1.6 yards downfield and he missed three tackles (7.5 percent), according to SIS. He’ll turn 34 in May.
SIGNED BY NEW ENGLAND: Henry Anderson, N.Y. Jets: Anderson had a career-high 42 tackles in 16 games (eight starts) with the Jets, who released him in a cost-cutting move this month. He had seven sacks in 2018, his first year with the Jets, but just one sack in 2019 and a half-sack in 2020. He finished 59th in PFF’s pass-rushing productivity. On running plays, though, he had six tackles for losses, his average tackle was 2.0 yards downfield and he missed four tackles (8.7 percent) after not missing any in 2019, according to SIS. He’ll turn 30 during training camp.
SIGNED BY CINCINNATI: Larry Ogunjobi, Cleveland: Ogunjobi was a sensation as a third-round rookie in 2017, when he had seven tackles for losses on running plays and his average tackle was 0.6 yards downfield. He hasn’t been nearly that good the last three years. After back-to-back seasons of 5.5 sacks and an average of 14 quarterback hits in 2018 and 2019, he had 2.5 sacks and six quarterback hits in 2020. And that run-stopping dominance? He had four TFLs vs. the run and his average tackle was 2.6 yards downfield. He missed four tackles (7.8 percent). He’ll turn 27 in June.
Lawrence Guy, New England: Patience is a virtue. The Packers picked Guy in the seventh round in 2011 but he failed to make the roster. He got shots in Indianapolis and San Diego before finally finding a home in Baltimore. The past five seasons, he’s played in 78 of a possible 80 games with 70 starts. The past four seasons, he’s had between 57 and 61 tackles. On running plays in 2020, he had two tackles for losses, his average tackle was 2.6 yards downfield and he missed two tackles (3.6 percent), according to SIS. He’ll turn 31 with the start of the league-year.
Damon Harrison, Green Bay: Harrison was one of a few late-season swings of the bat by general manager Brian Gutekunst to bolster the roster for a championship run. After playing in six games for Seattle, he was granted his release and brought his expanding family to Green Bay. He played 12 snaps in Week 17 at Chicago (zero tackles), three snaps in the playoff win vs. Los Angeles (zero tackles) and 15 snaps in the NFC Championship Game (one assisted tackle). Despite what the stats might suggest, Harrison was his usual run-stopping self in that game. His average tackle in limited action in 2020 came 2.7 yards downfield. In a full season with Detroit in 2019, it was 1.8 yards. He turned 32 in November but wants to continue playing.
SIGNED BY DALLAS: Brent Urban, Chicago: A fourth-round pick by Baltimore in 2014, Urban has 27 career starts – led by 16 with the Ravens in 2018 and eight with the Bears in 2020. He is a run-stopper, first and foremost. He has six career sacks, including a career-high 2.5 for Chicago even though he rarely saw the field on anything resembling a passing down. On running plays, he had two tackles for losses, his average tackle was 1.6 yards downfield and he missed two tackles (6.1 percent), according to SIS. He’ll turn 30 in May.
