Factoid

February 18, 2014

A Richardson who didn't disappoint

Trent and Daryl flopped, but DROY had impressive season

Some discussion on the site last week as to who was more deserving of the Defensive Rookie of the Year. New York Jets lineman Sheldon Richardson won the award, but Buffalo linebacker Kiko Alonso was a very close second.

As we showed in a recent factoid, Alonso's tackle numbers placed him among the elite rookies over the past decade, with Patrick Willis and Luke Kuechly the only more productive players. Richardson, though, also had a very impressive rookie campaign, which places him among the most productive lineman, rookies or otherwise, of the last five years.

The table below shows the best seasons, in terms of tackles, by defensive linemen from 2009 through 2013. A note about No. 1 on the list, New England's Rob Ninkovich. Ninkovich is listed as a lineman and plays there when New England is in its 4-3 formations, but they use a lot of 3-4 sets where he is a linebacker (and records a lot of his tackles). That's also true of Chandler Jones. It complicates the statistics, and is a reminder that tackle numbers in general are not the end-all and be-all. Some players who record more tackles, regardless of position, simply get more opportunities, either because of the way the defense is structured (or because it's a bad defense that has a hard time getting off the field).

The other players with better numbers than Richardson in recent years -- Watt, Rubin, Pierre-Paul -- are among the top linemen in the game.

TOP TACKLE SEASONS BY LINEMEN, 2009-2013
Year	Player, Team	Solo	Assist	Total
2013	Rob Ninkovich, N.E.	42	49	91
2011	Jason Pierre-Paul, NYG	65	21	86
2011	Ahtyba Rubin, Clev.	56	27	83
2010	Ahtyba Rubin, Clev.	57	25	82
2012	J.J. Watt, Hou.	69	12	81
2013	J.J. Watt, Hou.	65	15	80
2013	Chandler Jones, N.E.	40	39	79
2013	Sheldon Richardson, NYJ	42	36	78
2010	Kyle Williams, Buff.	54	23	77
2010	Justin Tuck, NYG	48	28	76
2011	Calais Campbell, Ariz.	53	19	72
2013	Marcell Dareus, Buff.	46	25	71
2010	Justin Smith, S.F.	57	13	70
2013	Lamarr Houston, Oak.	56	13	69
2012	Lamarr Houston, Oak.	49	20	69
2012	Muhammad Wilkerson, NYJ	36	33	69
2010	Glenn Dorsey, K.C.	51	18	69
2013	Kyle Williams, Buff.	42	26	68
2010	Kenyon Coleman, Clev.	50	18	68
2012	Cameron Jordan, N.O.	41	26	67
2013	Damon Harrison, NYJ	36	30	66
2012	Jason Pierre-Paul, NYG	43	23	66
2012	Justin Smith, S.F.	47	19	66
2011	Domata Peko, Cin.	34	32	66
2011	Jared Allen, Minn.	48	18	66
2010	Ndamukong Suh, Det.	49	17	66
2009	Kyle Williams, Buff.	41	25	66
2010	Trent Cole, Phil.	50	15	65
2013	Adrian Clayborn, T.B.	43	21	64
2011	Haloti Ngata, Balt.	36	28	64
2009	Marques Douglas, NYJ	35	29	64
2013	Muhammad Wilkerson, NYJ	43	20	63
2013	Justin Tuck, NYG	41	22	63
2012	Calais Campbell, Ariz.	50	13	63
2010	Haloti Ngata, Balt.	46	17	63
2009	Kelly Gregg, Balt.	46	17	63
2011	Glenn Dorsey, K.C.	31	31	62
2010	Charles Johnson, Car.	51	11	62
2009	Andre Carter, Wash.	48	14	62
2009	Chris Kelsay, Buff.	41	21	62
2009	Robaire Smith, Clev.	43	19	62
2012	Greg Hardy, Car.	41	20	61
2009	Mathias Kiwanuka, NYG	46	15	61
2013	Cedric Thornton, Phil.	48	12	60
2010	Jared Allen, Minn.	45	15	60
2010	Calais Campbell, Ariz.	46	14	60
2010	Robert Mathis, Ind.	44	16	60
2010	Tommy Kelly, Oak.	38	22	60

--Andy Richardson

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