Not a huge fan of PFF as they cherry pick stats a lot of times but.....
Ranking all 32 team's front seven units headed into the 2017 season
Discussion fodder
I generally can agree with the top 10. The Texans front 7 just looks unfair, and then the Seahawks have been a mainstay forever. And I'll agree with the Eagles at 3 (shocker I know). Honestly though, on paper everyone after the Texans can be shuffled around and still work.
To defend the Eagles, on paper I do think they have one of the top front 7s in the league. Last year Cox and Graham had one side of the line and dominated for a while. But the problem was the other side of the line was Logan and a mixture of Barwin and Curry. Logan couldn't push the pocket, and Barwin and Curry were useless, so teams realized they could just shift plays away from the side Cox and Graham were on and neutralize the rush. Add in the shit corners and the inconsistent pass rushing makes sense. This year, Jernigan replaces Logan and can actually collapse the pocket, and hopes are high for Derek Barnett. I'm not going to say those two are going to dominate, but if they can occasionally win 1 on 1s (unlike the people from last year), it'll open up Cox and Graham. Behind them, Hicks is quietly becoming one of the top ILBs in the league, he's incredible in coverage and just needs to get better against the run. Bradham, when he isn't punching cabana boys, was really effective and I think led the team in tackles. Kendricks is bad but we play a lot of nickel anyway.
However, PFF also provides the reason for why this front 7 could be the league's best, but the defense as a whole may struggle to crack the top 10. They're currently the worst ranked secondary, and while I disagree, I don't think they're too far off from the bottom. Jenkins and McLeod are an excellent tandem, but the corners may be even worse than last year considering we're starting a rookie and one of the worst corners in 2016. The future of the secondary looks bright, but 2017 may be pretty bad. So teams that can utilize screens and quick passes should be able to handle this defense. But regardless I'm excited to see this front 7.