Now with the Hall of Fame Game behind us, the 2022 NFL season truly feels like it has arrived. It’s that hopeful time in late summer where we start to look around the league and begin to see how all the teams are stacking up.
Having a top defensive line is critical for a successful defense. Being able to stop the run and pressure the quarterback without bringing additional blitzers allows the other positional groups to operate more efficiently. Here’s who I think can be among the top 5 defensive lines.
5. The San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers have plenty of reasons for optimism heading into the 2022 season and their defensive line is among them. Though they lost 3 important players (D.J. Jones, Arden Key, and Kentavius Street), they have solid depth on the edges and one of the best linemen in the game with Nick Bosa.
4. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa made lots of headlines in the offseason, but most of that was not centered on their excellent defensive line. Analysis aside, Vita Vea is simply one of my favorite players to watch. Will Gholston, Rakeem Nuñez-Roches, and Steve McLendon round out a run-stuffing crew who also can get to the quarterback. Last season, Vea and Gholston provided 8.5 sacks collectively from their respective spots on the line.
3. The Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers head into 2022 with plenty of questions about just how good they will be. None of those concerns exist with their solid defensive front. Cameron Heyward is an elite player coming off a 10 sack season and earning his 3rd First-Team AP All-Pro selection. Chris Wormley provided plenty of his own production last year with 71% of the defensive snaps played. His time on the field netted 51 tackles, 6 for a loss and 7 sacks. He’ll look to resume that role in 2022.
2. The Green Bay Packers
As a Packers fan, I do delight in confidently putting them #2 on this defensive line list. Kenny Clark, the star of this line, has quietly become an elite level tackle. Fellow veteran, Dean Lowry, is coming off his best season yet with 42 combined tackles, 5 sacks and 9 QB hits. The new cause for excitement comes from Green Bay’s 1st round pick, Devonte Wyatt, who hails from The Georgia Bulldog’s historic and championship defense.
1. The Los Angeles Rams
This is easily one of the most dominant units in football and the bulk of that credit goes to Aaron Donald. There are endless superlatives to be found about Donald so let’s look at some of his linemates. A’Shawn Robinson and Greg Gaines combined for 61 solo tackles and 6.5 sacks in 2021. Donald’s reliability will continue to provide them with plenty of opportunities in 2022.
Interested in more? I recently joined the Gridiron Heroics podcast for Gridiron Heroics to break down the top five defensive units in the league. We talked about the best Defensive Lines, Linebacker groups, and Defensive backfields in the league. I encourage you to check out the podcast and subscribe to Gridiron Heroics.
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