Big, Fast and Costly (SV)

March, 15 2010

Quarterbacks will always rule the roost in the NFL, but the next hottest position this off-season appears to be the fat guys – the defensive tackles.
The mania for the plus-sized run-stuffers technically started last season when the Washington Redskins paid $100 million for every ounce of the 350-pound Albert Haynesworth. That trend has grown in 2010 after witnessing multiple teams either franchise tag or sign big contracts to the big men who eat up space on the interior of the defensive line.

The Green Bay Packers slapped their tackle, Ryan Pickett, with the franchise tag, as did the 49ers with Aubrayo Franklin and New England with Vince Wilfork (though Wilfork eventually signed a five-year, $40 million contract with the Patriots). The divisional scumbags, the Pittsburgh Steelers, signed their aged behemoth Casey Hampton to three more years for around 21 million bucks. Even the Bengals have made re-signing Tank Johnson a top off-season priority.

Part of the reason tackles have become a more valued commodity of late is because of the recent fad teams have adopted, switching to a 3-4 defensive scheme. In a 3-4, the most interior player is known as a nose-tackle, and this man's job is to be as large as possible and force ball carriers to the outside. Sounds simple, but nothing in the NFL is that easy. Even though some of these guys resemble small moons, they are still surprisingly nimble men who, when healthy, become a major setback to the opposition's running game. Nearly every effective 3-4 defense has a formidable nose-tackle as its centerpiece.

The rush to acquire good tackles is also showing up in early draft prognostications. The first two selections of the 2010 draft could very well be defensive tackles, Ndamukong Suh from Nebraska and Gerald McCoy of Oklahoma. Suh, with the build of a Volkswagen, possesses the size and agility to fit into either a 3-4 or 4-3 scheme. McCoy is a little lighter and seems more suited to pair with another defensive tackle in a 4-3 set. Both of these players will be handed impressive contracts and will become the building blocks for the defenses they play for.

It doesn't end with the top two either. Upwards of five defensive tackles could be selected in the first round this year. Heavyweights Dan Williams of Tennessee, Brian Price of UCLA and Jared Odrick of Penn State are also considered valuable prospects and won't likely be around by the third round. There is even a player nicknamed “Mount” because of his sheer enormity. Terrence Cody of Alabama actually lost 20 pounds to weigh in around 350 at the Scouting Combine.

The gobs of money going to the defensive tackles is yet another trend in the trendiest pro sports league on the planet. Because they are in such a high demand now, many will be locked into longer contracts and won't surface on the free market again for quite awhile. What that translates to general managers and owners is this: Step right up and get your fat guy of the future. His big, he's fast and he's costly, but he will stop the run for years to come.