High Risk-High Reward (Defense)

High Risk – High Reward

Patriots- Last year when Tom Brady went down for the year the Patriots were supposed to struggle on offense, little did they know that their struggles would be on the defensive side of the ball. They have one of the best defensive lines in football. It consists of Richard Seymour, Vince Wilfork, and Ty Warren. They also have great line-backers, Adalius Thomas, Jerod Mayo, Teddy Bruschi, and Shawne Crable. Crable isn’t a well known name but he was the Patriots 3^rd round draft choice last year. They are very high on him but he was on Injured Reserve for most of last year and never got a good amount of playing time. But their real struggles came in their secondary. They were regularly beaten and only got 14 interceptions in total. The Patriots signed Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden this year. Neither of them are amazing, but they are both better than Delta O’Neil. The Patriots defense should be better this year. I predict 34 sacks, 24 interceptions, and 4 touchdowns. Don’t be afraid of drafting them.

Vikings- The Vikings probably have the best defensive line in the NFL. Consisting of Kevin Williams, Pat Williams, and Jared Allen. They can get pressure on the quarterback without even blitzing. All three of those guys are very talented, especially at stopping the run and getting sacks. In fact, if you have Clinton Portis on your team and he is playing the Vikings, you might not want to start him because the Vikings are so good at playing the run. But it’s a whole different story when you are talking about pass coverage. They are one of the leagues worst against the pass. They gave up 215.6 passing yards per game. The secondary also only picked off 12 passes. The Vikings are defiantly a defense that you want starting on your team, but just know that there is a risk that they will give up lots of passing yards and touchdowns.

Colts- The Colts defense is very respectable. They were good last year, not great, but good. They are very good against the pass and get lots of pressure on the quarterback with defense ends Dwight Freeny and Robert Mathis. But the Colts are not very good against the run. They don’t have very big line-backers and their defensive tackles aren’t very good. Last year they allowed 122.9 yards per game on the ground. Nobody will question you if you start the Colts, but they will get beaten up by the better running teams.