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© Monica's Dad
Continuing our look at the NFL's worst positional units, we come to the defensive line. It is no coincidence that in the last two drafts, all but one of these teams has drafted a defensive lineman in the first round.
Atlanta Falcons: Despite the presence of John Abraham and his 10 sacks, ATL was third from the bottom in the NFL with just 25 sacks, and the rest of the lineman had only 8 sacks between them. Included in that is the Falcons 2007 first round pick, Jamaal Anderson, whose number of sacks was equal to Blutarski's grade-point average in "Animal House": Zero point zero.
Cincinnati Bengals: Atlanta was bad at getting to the QB. Cincinnati was worse. The Bengals ranked dead last in football with just 22 sacks. Nobody on the roster had more than 3.5 sacks a year ago, and that lack of pressure helped allow opposing QB's to complete 65.4% of their passes against them, third worst in the NFL.
Denver Broncos: The Broncos struggled in various areas on defense last season, but the blame usually got directed at the defensive line. The team was middle of the pack in sacks, but third to last against the run, allowing almost 143 yards per game. They were second to last in yards per carry allowed, at 4.6, and the sheer volume of D-Lineman on the roster tells you that the team is looking for more. They do have some good young defensive ends, so hope exists in Denver.
San Francisco 49ers: Now that Bryant Young is gone from the roster, the Niners have a void to fill. The team has a very good young linebacking corp, but the defensive lineman are a whose who of nobodies. Which is one explanation for signing Justin Smith away from Cincinnati with an absurd contract. First-round pick Kentwan Balmer is being counted on to help the team get to the QB a little more often than the 31 times they accomplished it in 2007.
St. Louis Rams: Of all the Rams defensive lineman, only La'Roi Glover had more than 2 sacks last season. The performance of the line was weak in many aspects, but there is promise there. Leonard Little is a Pro Bowler who was injured most of last year, and the Rams will have their last two first-round picks playing next to each other this season in Adam Carriker and Chris Long. Add in the surprisingly good play of another rookie, Clifton Ryan, and this unit could be good. Still, the youngsters have yet to prove they can do it, and until they do, there's a lot of work to be done.
