The Arizona Cardinals have applied the franchise tag to Chandler Jones, an easy decision after his 11 sacks helped pace the NFL's top pass rush last season (he was actually 2nd on the team to Markus Golden, who had 12.5). Arizona's 48 sacks led the league; no way was Jones going to get away after the team used a second-round pick to pry him from New England.
That pass rush helped Arizona finish with the league's 3rd-ranked fantasy defense, in a scoring system giving 1 point for sacks, 2 for turnovers and 6 for touchdowns. It's the fifth year in a row the Cardinals have finished among the top-10 fantasy defenses, something no other team can say.
Jones wasn't a part of those previous four, of course, but he's key to the team returning to those heights in 2017. Whether under the tag or a long-term deal, he'll be back.
Fantasy defense performance rankings from 2012-2016 are shown below, with their average ranking over those five seasons shown in the final column. Only Denver (finishing in the top 12 in all five years) is comparable in terms of consistency.
FANTASY DEFENSE RANKINGS, 2012-2016 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
D/ST | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | Avg |
Arizona | 9 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
Denver | 3 | 12 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
Carolina | 20 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
New England | 2 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 18 | 10 |
Minnesota | 12 | 19 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 11 |
Seattle | 6 | 2 | 18 | 13 | 17 | 11 |
Los Angeles | 10 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 29 | 11 |
Philadelphia | 30 | 15 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 12 |
Kansas City | 32 | 1 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 13 |
Buffalo | 21 | 7 | 3 | 23 | 13 | 13 |
NY Giants | 11 | 18 | 18 | 11 | 10 | 14 |
Green Bay | 14 | 19 | 4 | 17 | 16 | 14 |
Houston | 6 | 32 | 2 | 12 | 21 | 15 |
Cincinnati | 6 | 4 | 26 | 15 | 26 | 15 |
Pittsburgh | 27 | 26 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 16 |
Tampa Bay | 22 | 14 | 23 | 16 | 5 | 16 |
Washington | 12 | 13 | 29 | 8 | 19 | 16 |
Chicago | 1 | 8 | 22 | 30 | 21 | 16 |
Baltimore | 14 | 19 | 17 | 24 | 12 | 17 |
Indianapolis | 24 | 16 | 18 | 10 | 21 | 18 |
Miami | 25 | 24 | 9 | 27 | 9 | 19 |
San Francisco | 18 | 8 | 10 | 32 | 26 | 19 |
San Diego | 4 | 31 | 28 | 29 | 4 | 19 |
Tennessee | 5 | 24 | 27 | 24 | 20 | 20 |
Cleveland | 16 | 16 | 14 | 24 | 31 | 20 |
Dallas | 26 | 10 | 14 | 31 | 24 | 21 |
Detroit | 29 | 19 | 12 | 21 | 24 | 21 |
Atlanta | 22 | 27 | 24 | 28 | 10 | 22 |
Oakland | 30 | 19 | 32 | 19 | 15 | 23 |
Jacksonville | 28 | 28 | 18 | 20 | 30 | 25 |
New Orleans | 17 | 29 | 31 | 22 | 28 | 25 |
NY Jets | 18 | 30 | 30 | 17 | 32 | 25 |
--Andy Richardson