Under The Radar

4 Defenders You Gotta Know More About

Because of television, football fans around the country only receive four games a week. That is just ten teams the national audience gets to see every week and most of the time those teams include the Cowboys, Patriots, whatever team Brett Favre is on, and a “regional” game that includes a team 300 miles away that nobody in your town really cares about. Because of this, many players, especially defenders, get overlooked because they are not on Sportscenter doing end zone dances every week.

In the past few years it has bothered me that Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield haven’t received more attention for their extraordinary play. Now all eyes are on the undefeated Minnesota Favres and Winfield is under the spotlight. Asomugha is now literally on fire in a Dick’s Sporting Goods’ commercial and people are beginning to learn how to pronounce his name. 

Now that these guys are in the second half of their careers and finally have some notoriety, that got me thinking. Who are the young superstars in the league now that might be overlooked by your average NFL fan? As a DirecTV Sunday Ticket subscriber who watches every game every week, that was an easy answer. Jay Ratliff of the Cowboys, DeMeco Ryans of the Texans, Darrelle Revis of the Jets, and Elvis Dumervil of the Broncos have all been reeking havoc on opposing offenses since they entered the league and have all been overshadowed.

Let’s start by taking a look at Jay Ratliff. Ratliff is the nose tackle in the Cowboys’ 3-4 defensive scheme. In a 3-4 scheme, the nose tackle is supposed to take on double teams throughout the game, occupying the blockers to allow linebackers like Bradie James and Keith Brooking to make plays. If a nose tackle can force two linemen to take him out of the play, he has done his job. Ratliff does much more than occupy blockers. He consistently fights off two blocks to throw down running backs before they can even make it back to the line of scrimmage.

Ratliff at 6’4, 303 pounds, is extremely undersized for this position and uses it to his advantage. Ratliff has become the quickest defensive tackle in the game and is making his home in the offenses’ backfield.  Ratliff, a seventh round draft choice out of Auburn in ’05, became the starting nose tackle for the Cowboys when Jason Ferguson went down to injury in week 1 in 2007. Ratliff made the most of his fourteen starts at nose tackle allowing Dallas to sign him to a five-year extension following the season. In 2008, with his starting position now firmly in his grasp, Ratliff exploded. He dominated on the defensive line and was fourth on the team in tackles and second to only Demarcus Ware in sacks with 7.5. Ratliff’s 7.5 sacks at the nose position helped earned him a starting role for the NFC Pro Bowl Squad. Through five games in 2009, Ratliff has eleven tackles (all solo) and has continued to do big things that don’t always show up on the stat sheet.

Another overshadowed defender is Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis. I compare Revis to former Cardinals and Rams superstar Aeneas Williams. Like Williams, Revis’ receives little attention because no quarterbacks throw at him. Why would they? In not even two and a half seasons, Revis has 41 pass deflections with 9 interceptions including one for a touchdown. The first round draft pick out of Pittsburgh made an immediate impact on the Jets defense - starting all 16 games his rookie season. In just his second season in the league in 2008, Revis again started all 16 games and earned his first Pro Bowl selection, beating out the likes of Champ Bailey for the third cornerback slot on the AFC roster.

In six games in 2009, Revis has an interception to go along with 8 pass deflections and 20 solo tackles. With Revis locking down a receiver every play, he has allowed new coach “blitz happy” Rex Ryan to be extremely aggressive on passing downs. Ryan has been sending seven and eight men all year long on third down knowing the quarterback can’t just toss it up to his number one. With the Jets defense becoming stifling under Ryan, and the future of Mark Sanchez looking bright, look forward to seeing and hearing a lot more of Revis in the years to come.

The player who is having as good of year as anybody is Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil. The undersized, 5’11, 248 pound end from Louisville currently leads the NFL in sacks with 10 after only six games. Dumervil has been clutch all season for the Broncos tallying up three forced fumbles and seven of his ten sacks coming on third down.

Dumervil, who should be a household name after this season, has not just been productive in ’09. The fourth year player had 21 sacks in his first two seasons in the league and five more last season in 15 games.

Dumervil, formerly just a speed rusher, put in a lot of work in the off-season to make him a more complete player, mission accomplished Elvis. In the Broncos previous three games, including big wins against Dallas, New England, and San Diego respectively, Dumervil has been a brute force. Against Dallas, Dumervil recorded his third consecutive multi-sack game by taking down Tony Romo twice in a close 17-10 win. Facing Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, Elvis recovered a huge fumble in the fourth quarter to help send the game into overtime and Sunday night against San Diego he had his fourth multi-sack game of the season and recovered another fumble in another victory. If Dumervil can stay healthy, Strahan might be getting nervous come December and people will be talking about the new Elvis.

The player who may end up having the best career of the four is Texans middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans. Coming out of Alabama in 2006, the Houston Texans took the linebacker in the second round after taking defensive end Mario Williams with the first overall pick. Instantly Ryans was in Williams shadow and had to make a name for himself on the field. Ryans did just that, making his impact immediately felt when he lead the Texans in tackles with a whopping 155 in his first season in the NFL helping him win the Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. Not only did Ryans lead the Texans in total tackles but he lead the entire league in solo tackles as a rookie. In ’07 and ’08, Ryans again lead the Texans in tackles totaling 128 in ’07 and 112 last year. Ryans is already the Texans’ all-time leading tackler in the franchise’s brief history. In 2009, Ryans has continued to be a tackling machine recording 45 already in his first six games. With three young studs on defense in Williams, Ryans and rookie Brian Cushing, and a good young quarterback in Matt Schaub; the Texans look to make many playoff appearances in the near future projecting Ryans into the spotlight he deserves.

These four players have long careers ahead of them and will be causing headaches for offensive coordinators for years to come. So NFL fans, next time you get the chance to watch the Cowboys, Jets, Broncos, or Texans, remember to pay attention to these four guys and I can guarantee you that you won’t forget about them.

-scf