2015-16 NFL Pre-Season Position Rankings: 4-3 Defensive Ends

We are about halfway through the NFL's off-season (YAY!!!!). OTA's have already started. Players are already getting injured. And the 2015-16 NFL season is getting so close, we can hear the footsteps coming up to the door and someone's just about ready to knock. With that said, it's time to look ahead at next season.

Now that NFL rosters are pretty much finalized (besides numerous upcoming cuts of course), it's time to start giving you guys an idea of how your team is shaping up for next season. What better way to do that than to start power ranking the starters at every position on each roster? It only makes sense.

Up next? The defensive ends currently playing in a 4-3 defense.....

Ultimate Football Blog's

2015-16 Pre-Season Position Rankings

4-3 Defensive Ends

KEY NOTE: This is a POWER RANKINGS. That means it's a "what have you done for me lately?" list. This is not an ALL-TIME greatest list. If the NFL commissioner came up to me tomorrow and said:

"Hey, you can have any 4-3 defensive end in the league on your team next season....who do you want?"


It would (most likely) go in this order.......



(PS: PFF grade means "Pro Football Focus Grade". For those of you who don't know, ProFootballFocus.com is an football analytics website that grades players based on a certain criteria and it's a criteria that I've come to love. It's a pretty simple grading formula to figure out as well. The more negative score the player has, the least effective he was on-the-field last season. For example a "-24.8" grade would be absolutely awful, but a "24.8" grade means the player was outstanding. See, I told you it was easy to figure out)

28. Chris Clemons (Jacksonville Jaguars)

Age: 33

Career Sacks: 66

Career Tackles: 262

Career Forced Fumbles: 17

2014-15 PFF Grade: -18.4

27. Brian Robison (Minnesota Vikings)

Age: 32

Career Sacks: 43.5

Career Tackles: 207

Career Forced Fumbles: 9

2014-15 PFF Grade: -12.2

26. Chris Long (St. Louis Rams)

Age: 30

Career Sacks: 51.5

Career Tackles: 227

Career Forced Fumbles: 7

2014-15 PFF Grade: -11.4

25. Adrian Clayborn (Atlanta Falcons)

Age: 26

Career Sacks: 13.0

Career Tackles: 109

Career Forced Fumbles: 5

2014-15 PFF Grade: -0.1

24. George Johnson (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

Age: 27

Career Sacks: 6

Career Tackles: 36

Career Forced Fumbles: 0

2014-15 PFF Grade: 0.1

23. Michael Johnson (Cincinnati Bengals)

Age: 28

Career Sacks: 30.5

Career Tackles: 229

Career Forced Fumbles: 5

2014-15 PFF Grade: -12.6

22. Jason Jones (Detroit Lions)

Age: 28

Career Sacks: 23.5

Career Tackles: 145

Career Forced Fumbles: 9

2014-15 PFF Grade: -8.8

21. Kony Ealy (Carolina Panthers)

Age: 23

Career Sacks: 4

Career Tackles: 12

Career Forced Fumbles: 1

2014-15 PFF Grade: -15.4

20. Jacquies Smith (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

Age: 25

Career Sacks: 6.5

Career Tackles: 17

Career Forced Fumbles: 1

2014-15 PFF Grade: -4.0

19. Mario Edwards Jr. (Oakland Raiders)

Age: 21

Career Sacks: 0

Career Tackles: 0

Career Forced Fumbles: 0

2014-15 PFF Grade: Rookie

18. Vic Beasley (Atlanta Falcons)

Age: 22

Career Sacks: 0

Career Tackles: 0

Career Forced Fumbles: 0

2014-15 PFF Grade: Rookie

17. Damontre Moore (New York Giants)

Age: 22

Career Sacks: 5.5

Career Tackles: 43

Career Forced Fumbles: 2

2014-15 PFF Grade: -2.3

16. Justin Tuck (Oakland Raiders)

Age: 32

Career Sacks: 65.5

Career Tackles: 496

Career Forced Fumbles: 22

2014-15 PFF Grade: 6.5

15. Jeremy Mincey (Dallas Cowboys)

Age: 31

Career Sacks: 26

Career Tackles: 197

Career Forced Fumbles: 7

2014-15 PFF Grade: 14.1

14. Rob Ninkovich (New England Patriots)

Age: 31

Career Sacks: 35.5

Career Tackles: 376

Career Forced Fumbles: 8

2014-15 PFF Grade: 2.0

13. Cliff Avril (Seattle Seahawks)

Age: 29

Career Sacks: 52.5

Career Tackles: 211

Career Forced Fumbles: 22

2014-15 PFF Grade: 10.0

12. Carlos Dunlap (Cincinnati Bengals)

Age: 26

Career Sacks: 35.5

Career Tackles: 211

Career Forced Fumbles: 10

2014-15 PFF Grade: 10.9

11. Olivier Vernon (Miami Dolphins)

Age: 24

Career Sacks: 21.5

Career Tackles: 135

Career Forced Fumbles: 4

2014-15 PFF Grade: 6.5

10. Jared Odrick (Jacksonville Jaguars)

Age: 27

Career Sacks: 16.5

Career Tackles: 129

Career Forced Fumbles: 3

2014-15 PFF Grade: 9.0

9. Everson Griffen (Minnesota Vikings)

Age: 27

Career Sacks: 29.5

Career Tackles: 140

Career Forced Fumbles: 6

2014-15 PFF Grade: 16.8

8. Chandler Jones (New England Patriots)

Age: 25

Career Sacks: 23.5

Career Tackles: 167

Career Forced Fumbles: 6

2014-15 PFF Grade: 12.7

7. Greg Hardy (Dallas Cowboys)

Age: 26

Career Sacks: 34

Career Tackles: 204

Career Forced Fumbles: 7

2014-15 PFF Grade: 1.7

6. Ezekiel Ansah (Detroit Lions)

Age: 25

Career Sacks: 15.5

Career Tackles: 81

Career Forced Fumbles: 5

PFF Grade: 17.2

5. Michael Bennett (Seattle Seahawks)

Age: 29

Career Sacks: 30.5

Career Tackles: 167

Career Forced Fumbles: 6

2014-15 PFF Grade: 34.8

4. Robert Quinn (St. Louis Rams)

Age: 24

Career Sacks: 45

Career Tackles: 155

Career Forced Fumbles: 13

2014-15 PFF Grade: 14.4

3. Jason Pierre-Paul (New York Giants)

Age: 26

Career Sacks: 42

Career Tackles: 286

Career Forced Fumbles: 8

2014-15 PFF Grade: 16.9

2. Cameron Wake (Miami Dolphins)

Age: 33

Career Sacks: 63

Career Tackles: 248

Career Forced Fumbles: 12

2014-15 PFF Grade: 32.2

1. Charles Johnson (Carolina Panthers)

Age: 28

Career Sacks: 62.5

Career Tackles: 267

Career Forced Fumbles: 16

2014-15 PFF Grade: 17.7