Finding an all-around defensive end in the draft

In a previous article, I have denoted how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are missing a defensive end that is strong at stopping the run as well as generating sacks:  Defensive Line Needs Help

DE Pass Rush Specialists:  (stats from 2015)

Robert Ayers (9.5 sacks, 3 TFLs)

Jacquies Smith (7 sacks, 2 TFLs)

Howard Jones (5 sacks, 1 TFL)

DT Pass Rush Specialists:

Gerald McCoy (2015: 8.5 sacks, 1 TFL; 2014: 8.5 sacks, 5 TFLs)

Clinton McDonald (2015: 0 sacks, 3 TFLs; 2014: 5 sacks, 5 TFLs)

DE TFLs Producers:

William Gholston (2015: 3 sacks, 6 TFLs; 2014: 2 sacks, 8 TFLs)

DT TFLs Producers:

Gerald McCoy

Clinton McDonald

Tampa Bay ranked tied for 14^th in the league with 38 sacks in 2015.  It increased its production from 2014, but at the expense of pass defense regression. From the chart above, we see the highest defensive line TFL production helped improve the pass defense. With the listing of our defensive line above the chart, we have only one TFL producer at the end with William Gholston. TFL stands for tackle for loss, implying a defensive player has tackled a runner behind the line of scrimmage.

The more the defensive line can stop the run by itself, the more players can remain to protect the pass, which in turns helps to improve pass defense. That evidence is provided in the aforementioned chart.

Wow!  Clemson is boasting two very productive defensive ends at sacking and stopping the run. I used an old Walter Football's DE rankings, the only player differences are at the bottom of the list, but players move up and down the rankings. Here, I ranked them based upon the total sack and TFL productions.

Now, let us add a layer to this with combine numbers to give some depth to the rankings. A month ago, I did an article focused on defensive end pass rushers as well as which players could be possible Force players, players who are athletic before the draft and become under Olympic wunderkinds.

Power Rushers

Bendy Rushers

Top Power and Bendy Rushers, showing Sacks and TFLs

Bosa may be living off of his sophomore year (2014) where he had 13.5 sacks with 21 TFLs, but his athleticism is still there. Ogbah is very athletic, but his numbers are low for such athleticism. Stephen White broke down Ogbah here: Jekyll and Hyde performances of Ogbah. Spence had off-field issues that got him kicked off Ohio State.  Lawson looks the likeliest of choice, except 2015 came out of nowhere and could also be a byproduct of having Dodd playing on the other side of him. And then there is Dodd, who is not in the top athletic rankings for power rushers or bendy rushers from the combine.

Hmmm...  From the biometrics chart, now I see why many pundits have Dodd skyrocketing up the draft chart. There is Ogbah near the top again, based upon weight. Ogbah has the second longest arm reach and is the most athletic amongst all of the DE's listed as a combine top producer with that mass!  Lawson is also in the mix.  Then there is the possibility Bosa may drop.  Can Spence be a three down end?

I would not want to be in the Bucs war room when their pick comes up in the first round.