FOF_Stats NAFL All-Decade Team 2004-2013

FOF_Stats NAFL All-Decade Team
2004-2013

Defensive Tackle

Defensive Tackle

Marcus Stroud

Richard Seymour

Teams:
Jacksonville (2004-11)
St Louis (2012)

Teams:
New England (2004-12)

Awards:
All-League 1st team Defensive Tackle 2007, 2008, 2009
All-League 2nd team Defensive Tackle 2004, 2005, 2011
League’s Strongest Man 2009

Awards:
All-League 1st team Defensive End 2006
All-League 1st team Defensive Tackle 2008, 2011, 2012

Stats:
132 GS, 542 Tckl, 66 sack, 159 hurries, 9.8 TkPct

Stats:
125 GS, 480 Tckl, 67.5 sack, 200 hurries, 9.1 TKPct

History:
Stroud has been the epitome of consistency throughout his league career, a fact acknowledged by the 6 all-pro awards he received. While he was as good a run stopper as anyone else in his day (he never had a sub 50 tackle year while at Jacksonville) what distinguished him was his ability to get pressure on the quarterback. He was able to channel his immense strength to get through the offensive line and crush the opposing quarterback. This is shown by the fact that he is 4th in terms of all-time sacks, the highest rated pure defensive tackle (3rd place Seymour played at defensive end for some of his career). Between 2007 and 2009 he registered 31 sacks, 13 blocks and 59 hurries and was truly dominant in his position. Stroud was shipped out to St Louis in 2012 but a serious hamstring injury destroyed his season and he retired the following year.

History:
Richard Seymour is one of just two players in the league to win all-pro recognition in two different positions. He was equally comfortable on the end of the line, where he started his career, or in the middle, where he served from 2008 onwards. Seymour was unlucky to miss out on all-pro recognition in the inaugural year of the league as he noted 11 sacks in just 12 appearances with a pass rush rating of close to 13%. He finally received his first award in 2006 as his pass rushing ability helped the Patriots to their first Superbowl win but his production plummeted the following year, prompting a move inside in 2008. He found a new lease of life following the move and went on to take his second all-pro award in that year as he combined the pass rushing ability he had shown at defensive end with a massive run-stopping ability. The big defensive linesman suffered a potentially career-ending injury at the end of the 2009 season, causing him to miss a large part of 2010 but he came back strongly the following two years as his combination of run-stopping and pass rushing landed him two more all-pro awards. His 67.5 career sacks put him 3rd in the all-time list and, had he not been injured, he would probably have been challenging Ogunleye and Kelley at the top.

Votes:
1) Marcus Stroud 74 of 87 posible (85%)
2) Richard Seymour 51 of 87 posible (59%)
3) Marcus Tubbs 27 of 87 posible (31%)
4) Richie Jeffries 7 of 87 posible (8%)
5) John Henderson 6 of 87 posible (7%)
6) LaRoi Glover 4 of 87 posible (5%)
7) Donald Chelios 2 of 87 posible (2%)
8) Kelly Gregg 1 of 87 posible (1%)
8) Joe Dunn 1 of 87 posible (1%)
8) Bryant Young 1 of 87 posible (1%)