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

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 ol' hogmollies......

Ultimate Football Blog's

2015-16 Pre-Season Position Rankings

4-3 Defensive Tackles

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 defensive tackle in the league currently playing in a 4-3 defense 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. Nick Hayden (Dallas Cowboys)

Age: 29

Career Sacks: 2.0

Career Tackles: 135

Career Forced Fumbles: 1

2014-15 PFF Grade: -25.7

27. Domata Peko (Cincinnati Bengals)

Age: 30

Career Sacks: 13.5

Career Tackles: 445

Career Forced Fumbles: 2

2014-15 PFF Grade: -22.7

26. Tony McDaniel (Seattle Seahawks)

Age: 30

Career Sacks: 10.5

Career Tackles: 203

Career Forced Fumbles: 0

2014-15 PFF Grade: -10.8

25. Paul Soliai (Atlanta Falcons)

Age: 31

Career Sacks: 5.5

Career Tackles: 189

Career Forced Fumbles: 2

2014-15 PFF Grade: -2.0

24. Brandon Mebane (Seattle Seahawks)

Age: 30

Career Sacks: 14

Career Tackles: 325

Career Forced Fumbles: 2

2014-15 PFF Grade: -1.4

23. Roy Miller (Jacksonville Jaguars)

Age: 27

Career Sacks: 4

Career Tackles: 194

Career Forced Fumbles: 0

2014-15 PFF Grade: -4.3

22. Justin Ellis (Oakland Raiders)

Age: 24

Career Sacks: 0

Career Tackles: 21

Career Forced Fumbles: 0

2014-15 PFF Grade: -3.5

21. Dominique Easley (New England Patriots)

Age: 23

Career Sacks: 1

Career Tackles: 10

Career Forced Fumbles: 0

2014-15 PFF Grade: -4.6

20. Cullen Jenkins (New York Giants)

Age: 34

Career Sacks: 44.5

Career Tackles: 307

Career Forced Fumbles: 8

2014-15 PFF Grade: 1.0

19. Jonathan Babineaux (Atlanta Falcons)

Age: 33

Career Sacks: 25.5

Career Tackles: 342

Career Forced Fumbles: 9

2014-15 PFF Grade: 2.7

18. Clinton McDonald (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

Age: 28

Career Sacks: 10.5

Career Tackles: 145

Career Forced Fumbles: 0

2014-15 PFF Grade: 1.1

17. Earl Mitchell (Miami Dolphins)

Age: 27

Career Sacks: 5.5

Career Tackles: 167

Career Forced Fumbles: 1

2014-15 PFF Grade: 0.4

16. Sealver Siliga (New England Patriots)

Age: 25

Career Sacks: 5.5

Career Tackles: 56

Career Forced Fumbles: 1

2014-15 PFF Grade: 0.7

15. Linval Joseph (Minnesota Vikings)

Age: 26

Career Sacks: 12

Career Tackles: 223

Career Forced Fumbles: 2

2014-15 PFF Grade: 1.3

14. Dan Williams (Oakland Raiders)

Age: 27

Career Sacks: 2

Career Tackles: 157

Career Forced Fumbles: 0

2014-15 PFF Grade: 14.4

13. Michael Brockers (St. Louis Rams)

Age: 24

Career Sacks: 11.5

Career Tackles: 109

Career Forced Fumbles: 2

2014-15 PFF Grade: 0.4

12. Tyrunn Walker (Detroit Lions)

Age: 25

Career Sacks: 3.5

Career Tackles: 28

Career Forced Fumbles: 1

2014-15 PFF Grade: 8.0

11. Star Lotulelei (Carolina Panthers)

Age: 25

Career Sacks: 5

Career Tackles: 67

Career Forced Fumbles: 0

2014-15 PFF Grade: 8.7

10. Sen'Derrick Marks (Jacksonville Jaguars)

Age: 28

Career Sacks: 15.5

Career Tackles: 177

Career Forced Fumbles: 5

2014-15 PFF Grade: 10.7

9. Tyrone Crawford (Dallas Cowboys)

Age: 25

Career Sacks: 3.0

Career Tackles: 53

Career Forced Fumbles: 1

2014-15 PFF Grade: 19.4

8. Kawann Short (Carolina Panthers)

Age: 26

Career Sacks: 5

Career Tackles: 70

Career Forced Fumbles: 2

2014-15 PFF Grade: 19.8

7. Haloti Ngata (Detroit Lions)

Age: 31

Career Sacks: 25.5

Career Tackles: 445

Career Forced Fumbles: 6

2014-15 PFF Grade: 23.1

6. Geno Atkins (Cincinnati Bengals)

Age: 27

Career Sacks: 32

Career Tackles: 170

Career Forced Fumbles: 7

2014-15 PFF Grade: 11.6

5. Johnathan Hankins (New York Giants)

Age: 23

Career Sacks: 7

Career Tackles: 67

Career Forced Fumbles: 1

2014-15 PFF Grade: 20.2

4. Shariff Floyd (Minnesota Vikings)

Age: 23

Career Sacks: 7

Career Tackles: 61

Career Forced Fumbles: 1

2014-15 PFF Grade: 22.0

3. Gerald McCoy (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

Age: 27

Career Sacks: 27

Career Tackles: 154

Career Forced Fumbles: 4

2014-15 PFF Grade: 29.7

2. Aaron Donald (St. Louis Rams)

Age: 23

Career Sacks: 9

Career Tackles: 47

Career Forced Fumbles: 2

2014-15 PFF Grade: 34.4

1. Ndamukong Suh (Miami Dolphins)

Age: 28

Career Sacks: 36

Career Tackles: 239

Career Forced Fumbles: 2

2014-15 PFF Grade: 31.4