[sherck]

2019 Free Agents / Edge Defenders:

43 combined = 13 sacks / 30 QB Hits, 55 tackles, 28 years old = OLB Dee Ford / KC / 3-4 OLB
41 combined = 14 sacks / 27 QB Hits, 42 tackles, 26 years old = DE Frank Clark / SEA / 4-3 DE
35 combined = 11 sacks / 24 QB Hits, 64 tackles, 27 years old = DE DeMarcus Lawrence / DAL / 4-3 DE
33 combined = 09 sacks / 24 QB Hits, 45 tackles, 26 years old = OLB Za'Darius Smith / BAL / 3-4 OLB
30 combined = 09 sacks / 21 QB Hits, 47 tackles, 26 years old = OLB Jadeveon Clowney / HOU / 3-4 OLB
20 combined = 04 sacks / 16 QB Hits, 52 tackles, 26 years old = OLB Preston Smith / WAS / 3-4 OLB

Those seem to be the cream of the crop when it comes to 4-3 rush DEs or 3-4 rush OLBs.

There are a lot of 3-4 DEs that had good production in 2018 (Trey Flowers/NE, Henry Anderson/NYJ, Brandon Copeland/NYJ, Benson Mayowa/ARI) but while we might be interested in signing those guys as interior defenders, I don't know how well their pass rush matches up when moving inside.

Unless Lawarence hits the market, we could do a lot worse than Dee Ford. He seems to be trending up:

2018 = 55 tackles / 13 sacks / 29 QB Hits / 13 TFL / 7 FF (5th year option)
2017 = On IR after only 6 games (4th year in league)
2016 = 38 tackles / 10 sacks / 17 QB Hits / 12 TFL / 1 FF (3rd year in league)

I like the idea of adding him to Sheard / Turray / Muhammad and then drafting one more kid high into the group (1st or 2nd round) for competition. See what shakes out.

Walk Worthy,