No mention of Donald, Suh, Brockers, Talib, or Peters but you mentioned the Cardinals? SMH at Bucky Brooks. My guess is that (?) at LB for the Rams.
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http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...defensive-triplets-jameis-winston-on-thin-ice
NFL's top five DEFENSIVE triplets
By Bucky Brooks
I will keep it real: We've reached the point of the offseason where it is hard to come up with new and exciting topics to discuss. I thought looking at
the best defensive trios would address a trend we are seeing from team builders as they attempt to put together a championship-caliber D in today's pass-centric league.
Looking at the top defenses in football, I believe the presence of a dominant playmaker at each level remains a common denominator. This is something former
Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley alluded to on an old MTS Podcast episode. Whaley suggested that championship teams have "six players that we're going to pay": quarterback, offensive tackle and a playmaker on offense; cornerback, pass rusher and a playmaker on defense.
This philosophy was echoed to me in a recent conversation with a veteran personnel man who stressed that championship defenses have at least one difference maker along the front line, in the linebacker corps and in the secondary.
"In a perfect world, you would like to have a dominant pass rusher on the inside or outside," said the AFC personnel director. "You also want a blue-chip player at one of the linebacker spots and somewhere in the secondary. Ideally, I would opt for a shutdown cornerback, but you can't go wrong with a ball-hawking safety in the middle."
All of this reflects my personal experiences in team building. When I was a scout for the
Carolina Panthers, we constructed a rock-solid defense that carried us to
Super Bowl XXXVIII and an appearance in the NFC Championship Game a couple years later. Led by the trio of DE
Julius Peppers, MLB Dan Morgan and S Mike Minter, we pummeled opponents in the NFC with a nasty D that bludgeoned quarterbacks and punished runners and receivers on the perimeter.
We were one of the few teams in league capable of knocking around the QB
and stuffing the run without relying heavily on blitzes. Although the conservative approach wasn't necessarily by design, the overwhelming talent of the group allowed the defensive coordinator to keep it simple on the way to piling up wins.
With all of that in mind, I think this is the perfect time to examine the depth charts and see which teams have the championship components in place on defense. Here are my top five defensive triplets:
1) Jacksonville Jaguars: DE Calais Campbell, LB Telvin Smith and CB Jalen Ramsey (or CB A.J. Bouye). The Jags nearly made the
Super Bowl last season behind a star-studded defense that routinely punished opponents into submission. Campbell sets the tone at the point of attack as a shop-wreckin' pass rusher with a non-stop motor and a power-based game.
The three-time Pro Bowler finished with 14.5 sacks in 2017, helping "Sacksonville" tally
the second-most sacks in the NFL. Smith is a blazing sideline-to-sideline playmaker with great instincts and thump. Ramsey has quickly emerged as the gold standard in cornerback play today.
A world-class athlete with an old-school football mentality, he suffocates WR1s on the perimeter. And the Jags' trio wouldn't miss a beat if Bouye replaced Ramsey. The 26-year-old's a superb tactician with exceptional footwork and recognition skills.
2) Minnesota Vikings: DE Everson Griffen, LB Eric Kendricks and S Harrison Smith (or CB Xavier Rhodes). Mike Zimmer and George Edwards have whipped the
Vikings into shape as title contenders with a straight-forward recipe on defense that's built on speed, grit and hustle. Griffen embodies that philosophy as a disruptive pass rusher with cat-like quickness and a relentless spirit. He can turn speed into power in a heartbeat, yet displays enough finesse to keep offensive tackles on their heels.
With 43.5 sacks over the past four seasons, Griffen's become one of the premier playmakers at the position. Kendricks is a tackling machine in the middle of Minnesota's defense. He gobbles up runners between the tackles like a vacuum cleaner as an instinctive defender with outstanding diagnostic skills.
Smith is a no-nonsense enforcer with a high football IQ and a nasty disposition. He is one of the few safeties capable of roaming the deep middle as a center fielder, while also doing work in the box as a designated run stopper. Rhodes could easily fill the DB slot as an ultra-competitive cover corner with size, length and speed.
3) Arizona Cardinals: DE Chandler Jones, LB Deone Bucannon and CB Patrick Peterson. It will be interesting to see how Steve Wilks unleashes this unit after watching it grow into a disruptive force under the previous coaching staff. Jones is coming off a season where
he led the NFL in sacks, and his game continues to evolve. The seventh-year pro has notched at least 11 sacks in four of his last five seasons, showcasing a flashy game that's built around speed, quickness and burst. Bucannon is a trend-setter: a hybrid safety/linebacker in the box.
As a designated run stopper with blitzing abilities and short-area cover skills, No. 20 controls the game in the tackle-to-tackle box, but also gives the
Cardinals a full-time dime defender to use against "11" personnel (1 RB, 1 TE and 3 WRs).
Peterson is a true shutdown corner capable of erasing WR1s with nose-to-nose press-man technique that eliminates free access on the perimeter. With P2 also capable of traveling (CB can flip sides or move into the slot to cover his assigned receiver), the
Cardinals have assembled an A-level defense in the desert.
4) Baltimore Ravens: DE/OLB Terrell Suggs, LB C.J. Mosley and S Eric Weddle. The
Ravens' spot on this list is a bit of a surprise, based on the ages of their veteran leaders, but Suggs and Weddle play like they have access to the Fountain of Youth. At 35, Suggs remains one of the top pass rushers in the game, combining power with a bag of tricks off the edge. He's amassed 125.5 sacks in 213 games and tallied 10-plus sacks seven times in his 15-year career.
With five double-digit sack seasons since 2010, the former Defensive Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year remains a dominant force. Mosley doesn't grab headlines as a marquee player, but he is one of the current standard bearers at the position. As a sideline-to-sideline playmaker with exceptional speed and range, Mosley shrinks the field for opponents looking to create space for their top players.
In addition, he blots out receivers and tight ends looking for soft spots between the hashes. With Weddle backing him up as a deep-middle player with superb instincts and ball skills, Baltimore's defense is strong down the middle.
5) Atlanta Falcons: DE Vic Beasley, LB Deion Jones and S Keanu Neal. The Dirty Birds have a young-and-hungry unit with swift defenders at every level. Beasley is an explosive sack specialist with an outstanding combination of first-step quickness, snap-count anticipation and finesse moves off the edge.
The fourth-year pro led the NFL in sacks in 2016 (15.5) and flashed disruptive potential overwhelming offensive tackles with his speed and quickness. Although opponents seemingly caught up to his fastball in 2017 (Beasley recorded just five sacks, but he did miss time with a hamstring injury), the 25-year-old remains a threat to take over the game at any point. Jones is a disruptive playmaker with the speed, athleticism and burst to track down runners and receivers between the numbers.
No. 45 is a new-school linebacker capable of impacting the game on blitzes or in coverage -- a critical component for a championship-caliber defense in 2018. Neal is the
Falcons' heavy hitter roaming between the hashes. He punishes receivers venturing over the middle, while also dropping into the box to be a stout run stopper. Neal's aggressive style and menacing ways complete a defense that's ready to emerge as one of the league's top units.
