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

3-4 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 3-4 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)

18. Sylvester Williams (Denver Broncos)

Age: 26

Career Sacks: 2

Career Tackles: 40

Career Forced Fumbles: 0

2014-15 PFF Grade: -9.9

17. Brodrick Bunkley (New Orleans Saints)

Age: 31

Career Sacks: 8.5

Career Tackles: 240

Career Forced Fumbles: 0

2014-15 PFF Grade: -2.2

16. Stefan Charles (Buffalo Bills)

Age: 26

Career Sacks: 4

Career Tackles: 35

Career Forced Fumbles: 1

2014-15 PFF Grade: -6.4

15. Josh Chapman (Indianapolis Colts)

Age: 25

Career Sacks: 0

Career Tackles: 36

Career Forced Fumbles: 1

2014-15 PFF Grade: -6.4

14. Sammie Hill (Tennessee Titans)

Age: 28

Career Sacks: 7

Career Tackles: 153

Career Forced Fumbles: 1

2014-15 PFF Grade: -4.4

13. Sean Lissemore (San Diego Chargers)

Age: 27

Career Sacks: 6.5

Career Tackles: 119

Career Forced Fumbles: 0

2014-15 PFF Grade: -3.5

12. Bennie Logan (Philadelphia Eagles)

Age: 25

Career Sacks: 2

Career Tackles: 84

Career Forced Fumbles: 1

2014-15 PFF Grade: -0.5

11. Danny Shelton (Cleveland Browns)

Age: 21

Career Sacks: 0

Career Tackles: 0

Career Forced Fumbles: 0

2014-15 PFF Grade: Rookie

10. B.J. Raji (Green Bay Packers)

Age: 28

Career Sacks: 10.5

Career Tackles: 129

Career Forced Fumbles: 0

2014-15 PFF Grade: Injured last year

9. Steve McLendon (Pittsburgh Steelers)

Age: 29

Career Sacks: 4

Career Tackles: 76

Career Forced Fumbles: 3

2014-15 PFF Grade: 6.0

8. Ian Williams (San Francisco 49ers)

Age: 25

Career Sacks: 1

Career Tackles: 26

Career Forced Fumbles: 0

2014-15 PFF Grade: 12.9

7. Corey Peters (Arizona Cardinals)

Age: 26

Career Sacks: 11

Career Tackles: 146

Career Forced Fumbles: 1

2014-15 PFF Grade: 0.9

6. Vince Wilfork (Houston Texans)

Age: 33

Career Sacks: 16

Career Tackles: 516

Career Forced Fumbles: 4

2014-15 PFF Grade: 2.9

5. Damon Harrison (New York Jets)

Age: 26

Career Sacks: 1

Career Tackles: 121

Career Forced Fumbles: 0

2014-15 PFF Grade: 11.5

4. Jeremiah Ratliff (Chicago Bears)

Age: 33

Career Sacks: 35

Career Tackles: 274

Career Forced Fumbles: 4

2014-15 PFF Grade: 20.5

3. Brandon Williams (Baltimore Ravens)

Age: 26

Career Sacks: 1.5

Career Tackles: 53

Career Forced Fumbles: 2

2014-15 PFF Grade: 17.7

2. Terrance Knighton (Washington Redskins)

Age: 28

Career Sacks: 12.5

Career Tackles: 201

Career Forced Fumbles: 3

2014-15 PFF Grade: 15.3

1. Dontari Poe (Kansas City Chiefs)

Age: 24

Career Sacks: 10.5

Career Tackles: 135

Career Forced Fumbles: 0

2014-15 PFF Grade: 0.2