Ndamukong Suh & Gerald McCoy (1 Viewer)

[Weiner Dog]

From a purely FF standpoint (as opposed to NFL standpoint), where would you rank Suh and McCoy within the DT's drafted in the Top-15 over the past 10 years? Since there are now less of the pure 4-3 DE's (ie. generally the highest-scoring DL's in FF) available b/c of the dominance of the 3-4 D, I like Suh's and McCoy's potential as a bye-week/injury filler on my team's DL. However, when I review the FF relevance of DT's over the past decade, really only Kevin Williams and maybe Albert Haynesworth have been relevant from a scoring perspective.

I'm most excited about McCoy's upside in the Tampa-2. If he lives up to the Sapp/K Williams expectations, we could see a 60-8 guy in a few years. The stars really seem to be aligned for a DT breakout. Even though the college stats say otherwise, most analysts say McCoy is a better pass-rusher than Suh. Many analysts also believe that McCoy has more NFL upside than Suh. Time will obviously tell.

On the other hand, DET's scheme seems to provide less upside to Suh's FF potential, but the guy is a hoss. He's slightly faster than McCoy, is much stronger and had better college production. I guess Suh supposedly has the fastest reaction time ever recorded by an NFL player. I'm not sure if there's anybody on the below-provided list that has Suh's combination of size, speed and college production. Based on talent alone, Suh should be good for 45-5 every year, but are we missing on a potential 70-10 monster?!?!

Where would you rank Suh and McCoy?

I've been in FF for maybe 8 years of so, and I think the draft hype surrounding (maybe) Dewayne Robertson (#4 pick in 2003) has been as equal as Suh and McCoy. Gerard Warren was the #3 pick in 2001, but this was before my FF days. Was the hype with Warren equal to Suh and McCoy? If draft position is of any relevance, Suh is the highest-drafted DT over the past decade. In fact, Big Daddy Wilkenson is the last DT drafted as high (or higher) than Suh with a #1 clocking in 1994. Big Daddy had 5.5 sacks or more in each of his first 6 seasons, but then the wheels fell off. McCoy is tied for second-highest draft spot over the past 10 years with Warren at #3 overall.

Top-15 drafted DT's from 2000-2009

Glenn Dorsey (originally drafted as DT, but since moved to 3-4 DE)

Sedrick Ellis

Amobi Okoye

Adam Carriker

Haloti Ngata

Brodrick Bunkley

Tommie Harris

Dewayne Robertson

Johnathan Sullivan

Kevin Williams

Jimmy Kennedy

Ryan Sims

John Henderson

Wendell Bryant

Albert Haynesworth

Gerard Warren

Damione Lewis

Marcus Stroud

Corey Simon

 

[gandalas]

As far as Fantasy relevant DTs, you cannot forget Shaun Rogers.

In 2008, he was the #8 D-Line scorer in my fantasy league, beating out Kevin Williams by 10 points and Haynesworth by 22 points.

He had 62 Solos, 14 Assists, 5 Sacks, and 4 pass defenses, good for 166 points that year.

 

[Weiner Dog]

As far as Fantasy relevant DTs, you cannot forget Shaun Rogers.In 2008, he was the #8 D-Line scorer in my fantasy league, beating out Kevin Williams by 10 points and Haynesworth by 22 points.He had 62 Solos, 14 Assists, 5 Sacks, and 4 pass defenses, good for 166 points that year.

I didn't forget him. Rogers was never a Top-15 pick. In fact, he wasn't even a 1st-round pick. Plus, Rogers has been playing NT. But I do share your enthusiasm with Rogers...especially with him being moved to the more stat-friendly DE position (as opposed to NT) position in the Browns 3-4.

 

[Jene Bramel]

I remember thinking very highly of Corey Simon. I liked the fantasy potential of Dorsey and Carriker recently, but they were never put in the positions we hoped they be.

I think McCoy and Suh have the potential to put the memory of most of those on your list to rest, and I share your opinion that McCoy (better scheme, would appear to be a better penetrator and most think better pass rush skill) should do better statistically than Suh. Suh's upside could be 45-8, but I think that's really pushing it. The Lions are apparently asking him to bulk up a bit more, which isn't going to help him get in the backfield. I assume it means he's more likely to be drawing double teams as a 1-technique, too.

Today, of those still in the league, I'd make the following my top five in terms of pure statistical upside at any point in their careers. That means I'm projecting a bit with the two rookies and Ellis.

Kevin Williams

Gerald McCoy

John Henderson

Sedrick Ellis

Ndamukong Suh

That leaves out Albert Haynesworth (whose durability, motor and pass rush skill have never impressed me enough to project a 45-8 season), Tommie Harris (who has never been as good as his hype) and Haloti Ngata (who I like better than Haynesworth, but doesn't project to big pass rush numbers in his current usage). It's obviously debatable whether McCoy, Ellis or Suh belong on the list until they've done something in pads, but I think the above is a reasonable expectation.