Around the NFL

March 26, 2014

Bears add Jared Allen

The Bears have had a top-10 fantasy defense in nine of the past 10 seasons, but there's been reason to doubt they'd make it 10 of 11. They cut loose pass rusher Julius Peppers and return man Devin Hester, and those players have been factors in their fantasy appeal over the past decade, Peppers for his sack and turnover contributions and Hester with his special teams prowess. They also seemed set to lose opportunistic cornerback Charles Tillman.

But maybe reports of their fantasy demise have been exaggerated. Hester's not the returner he used to be anyway, with just 1 TD the last two seasons. Peppers had only 7 sacks last year, his lowest total since 2007. And the team re-signed Tillman, and added Lamarr Houston from Oakland.

Now they've agreed to terms with Jared Allen, who seems to be better than Peppers at this point. Allen has had at least 11 sacks in seven straight seasons, while starting every game since 2007. He's two years younger than Peppers and has been more effective in recent years.

Chicago's fantasy defense has achieved that top-1o status despite struggling in terms of sacks. Only once in the last six years has it ranked higher than 13th. Over that time period, only six teams have had fewer sacks than the Bears. Contrast that with Allen's old team, the Vikings. No team has had more sacks than Minnesota over the last six years.

Maybe Chicago's run as an upper-level fantasy defense is over, but their success has come even while having a lesser pass rush. If Allen still has something left in the tank, Chicago should be improved in that area, and maybe be in the discussion for top-10 fantasy value again.

Team sacks over the last six seasons are presented below. Allen's former and new teams are listed in bold.

TEAM SACKS, 2008-2013
Team	08	09	10	11	12	13	Tot
Minnesota	45	48	31	50	44	41	259
Pittsburgh	51	47	48	35	37	34	252
Miami	40	44	39	41	42	42	248
Philadelphia	48	44	39	50	30	37	248
Dallas	59	42	35	42	34	34	246
St. Louis	30	25	43	39	52	53	242
NY Giants	42	32	46	48	33	34	235
Arizona	31	43	33	42	38	47	234
Green Bay	27	37	47	29	47	44	231
Carolina	37	31	31	31	39	60	229
San Francisco	30	44	36	42	38	38	228
New England	31	31	36	40	37	48	223
Denver	26	39	23	41	52	41	222
NY Jets	41	32	40	35	30	41	219
Tennessee	44	32	40	28	39	36	219
Baltimore	34	32	27	48	37	40	218
Oakland	32	37	47	39	25	38	218
Cincinnati	17	34	27	45	51	43	217
San Diego	28	35	47	32	38	35	215
Seattle	35	28	37	33	36	44	213
Detroit	30	26	44	41	34	33	208
New Orleans	28	35	33	33	30	49	208
Buffalo	24	32	27	29	36	57	205
Houston	25	30	30	44	44	32	205
Washington	24	40	29	41	32	36	202
Chicago	28	35	34	33	41	31	202
Indianapolis	30	34	30	29	32	42	197
Cleveland	17	40	29	32	38	40	196
Atlanta	34	28	31	33	29	32	187
Kansas City	10	22	39	29	27	47	174
Tampa Bay	29	28	26	23	27	35	168
Jacksonville	29	14	26	31	20	31	151

--Andy Richardson

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