NFC West: Position rankings on defense

Background: GLENDALE, AZ - DECEMBER 12: Budda Baker #3 of the Arizona Cardinals runs off of the field against the New England Patriots at State Farm Stadium on December 12, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona.Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images.

Once again, using Ourlad’s starters on the NFC West depth charts, here is how the defensive players fared last season and how they rank in the division as such.

Note: Some of the players were graded on fewer snaps —- but here is how they graded anyway. At the end, I am going to rate each position group: DI, Edge, LBs and Secondary —- taking into account the talent and not the grades. Please let me know if in each case you concur or disagree. Grades first, eye tests laster.

LDT:

1. Hargrave —- SF —- 80.1
2. Brown —- LAR —- 62.8
3. Reed —- SEA —- 61.9
4. Watkins —- ARI —- 59.0

RDT:

1. Donald —- LAR —- 90.5
2. Lawrence —- ARI —- 64.1
3. Armstead —- SF —- 63.4
4. Mone —- SEA —- 52.7

LDE:

1. Thomas —- ARI —- 69.9
2. Copeland —- LAR —- 67.3
3. Jackson —- SF —- 64.1
4. Jones —- SEA —- 51.8

RDE:

1. Bosa —- SF —- 90.6
2. Taylor —- SEA —- 57.4
3. Sanders —- ARI —- 53.5
4. Young —- LAR —- R

SOLB:

1. Greenlaw —- SF —- 79.6
2. Hoecht —- LAR —- 65.4
3. Collins —- ARI —- 59.8
4. Brooks —- SEA —- 52.8

MLB:

1. Wagner —- SEA —- 90.7
2. Warner —- SF —- 85.7
3. Rozeboom —- LAR —- 77.0
4. Barnes —- ARI —- 46.7

WOLB:

1. Burks —- SF —- 78.9
2. Nwonsu —- SEA —- 72.6
3. White —- ARI —- 67.2
4. Jones —- LAR —- 63.6

LCB:

1. Hamilton —- ARI —- 68.5
2. Lenoir —- SF —- 61.0
3. A. Witherspoon —- LAR —- 45.4
4. D. Witherspoon —- SEA —- R

SS:

1. Baker —- ARI —- 73.7
2. Huganga —- SF —- 72.1
3. Fuller —- LAR —- 60.5
4. Adams —- SEA —- 60.1

FS:

1. Diggs —- SEA —- 71.8
2. Gipson —- SF —- 69.7
3. Thompson —- ARI —- 65.0
4. Yeast —- LAR —- 59.4

RCB:

1. C. Ward —- SF —- 81.0
2. Woolen —- SEA —- 69.
3. Wilson —- ARI —- 55.3
4. Kendrick —- LAR —- 43.7

NCB:

1. Durant —- LAR —- 73.3
2. Oliver —- SF —- 77.9
3. Simmons —- ARI —- 67.9
4. Bryant —- SEA —- 55.8

Point Values:

• 1st Place —- 4 points
• 2nd Place —- 3 points
• 3rd place —- 2 points
• 4th Place —- 1 point

Total team Points:

1. SF —- 38
2. ARI —- 29
3. LAR —- 26
4. SEA —- 25

Eye Tests: (my own rankings)

DI:

1. LAR
2. SF
3. ARI
4. SEA

Edge:

1. SF
2. ARI
3. SEA
4. LAR

LBs:

1. SF
2. SEA
3. ARI
4. LAR

Secondary:

1. SF
2. SEA
3. ARI
4. LAR

Analysis:

Obviously, the 49ers have what most consider to be the most defensive talent in the NFL. What’s encouraging for the Cardinals is that talent-wise on defense overall, they are pretty much on a par with the Seahawks and Rams. Again, so much of the Cardinals talent is young and in the process of being developed. Imagine if the Cardinals coaching is as good as we are hoping.

Special Teams Rankings 2022:

1. ARI —— 90.0 —- 9th in NFL
2. SEA —- 85.4 —- 12th in NFL
3. SF —- 72.4 —- 24th in NFL
4. LAR —- 66.2 —- 28th in NFL

The encouraging thing for the Cardinals is that, not only were they the best STs unit in the NFC West last season, they have been adding STs talent galore during the off-season.

Total Team Points: Offense + Defense + Special Teams

1. SF —- 73
2. SEA —- 56
3. ARI —- 54
4. LAR —- 52

Question for ROTB:

I voted Yes. I have been thinking so for a while.

Let’s get everyone at ROTB on record. How did you vote and why?