We’re going to do a ‘best NFL defense’ tournament to determine who are the top NFL defenses (not top defenses/DSTs for FF)...and it’s a way for me to go back through the personnel and coaching, etc., to see who we might be missing, good or bad, hiding in the weeds.
We’ll do a division per day, then the Final Four/Conference finals ending with the Super Bowl/finals. An 11-day series that carries us though the end of the month.
We have 7 categories for a ‘Best of 7’ style process...with a lean towards the importance of the two key positions on a defense: The CB group and the DT group.
The seven categories are...
Cornerbacks: The most critical spot, in our estimations.
Def. Tackle: The 2nd most critical spot.
Def. Coordinator: Management is key here.
Interior LBs: The non-pass rush LBs.
Pass Rush: Judging the pass rush as a whole, the front 7.
Def. Backs: Judging the CBs and SAFs.
Backups/Depth: The overall depth, judging the 2nd and 3rd team defenses for the team.
========================
NFC South
Saints v. Bucs
Cornerbacks: (TB 1-0)...looking at the current Saints starting CB duo...it has to be the worst in all of football (Yiadom and McKinstry).
Def. Tackle: (TB 2-0)...not even close.
Def. Coordinator: (TB 3-0)...new N.O. D-C Brandon Staley is the worst.
Interior LBs: (TB wins 4-0)...a quick sweep, an easy win at LB here.
Pass Rush: (TB 5-0)...close but lean TB.
Def. Backs: (TB 6-0)...not even close, edge to Tampa.
Backups/Depth: (TB 7-0)...TB with a clean sweep. The Saints are bad...
Tampa Bay moves on to the NFC South finals.
Panthers v. Falcons
Cornerbacks: (CAR 1-0)...could go either way but leaned it for CAR because I think Smith-Wade is a breakout player in 2025 at slot CB. Rookie Billy Bowman could flip this to ATL, in reality.
Def. Tackle: (CAR 2-0)...easy win for Carolina with Brown & Brown and Wharton and A. Robinson. Sneaky good and deep.
Def. Coordinator: (CAR 3-0)...I’ll take Ejiro Evero over real D-C Raheem Morris
Interior LBs: (CAR 3-1)...the Panthers just lost Jewell, so now they have one of the worst ILB groups in the NFL. And ATL actually has strength here.
Pass Rush: (CAR 3-2)...it’s actually a lean Falcons...for pass rush...shocking! Pearce and Walker added with Floyd helps.
Def. Backs: (3-3 tie)...Jessie Bates closes the narrow gap CAR had in just the CBs.
Backups/Depth: (ATL wins 4-3)...the first down 3-0 comeback win in any tournament style like this all offseason. ATL has a lot of nice young talent on the 2nd-team especially.
The Falcons are onto the NFC South finals to face Tampa Bay.
Falcons v. Bucs
Cornerbacks: (TB 1-0)...edge to TB with their two big rookies drafted this year. Solid starters with rookies behind them pushing to take their jobs. Falcons aren’t bad here, but TB has the slight edge.
Def. Tackle: (TB 2-0)...easy win here for TB.
Def. Coordinator: (TB 3-0)...I don’t like either of these HCs that are really D-Cs, but I’ll take Bowles over Morris right now.
Interior LBs: (TB 3-1)...slight lean to the Falcons via their depth.
Pass Rush: (TB 3-2)...look at the Falcons with pass rushers!
Def. Backs: (TB wins 4-2)...edge to Tampa. Bates is great but so is Winfield. Depth edge to the Bucs.
Backups/Depth: (TB 5-2)...TB is VERY deep...a lot of young talent littered all over their roster.
The Bucs are going to the NFC Final Four, joining the Vikings, Rams, and Eagles for the NFC Final Four.
