2022 All-underappreciated D-line team: Part 1

Photo via Tyler Wise

This is part one of a four-part series focusing on each individual selection. First up is Falcons DT Grady Jarrett.

The defensive line typically gets more praise than the offensive line, but there are always overlooked players in the trenches that deserve more shine. These selections below are largely based on my personal film study over the last several years with an emphasis on the current 2022 season, although most of them have been worthy of being included on this team for many years.

The criteria is simple: Identifying the defensive linemen that make the largest impact but have the fewest accolades, name recognition and overall hype from the mainstream media. These are guys that consistently pop off the film and need to be studied to be truly appreciated. Most of all if you love line play, they are just plain fun to watch.

After sharing a brief overview of each selection, I recorded 20 cut-ups from each player’s 2022 season and edited in audio to create a ‘film room short.’ This will serve as the meat of the analysis aimed at detailing what makes them special.

Falcons DT Grady Jarrett

Overview

It is true that Jarrett has been named an All-Pro (2nd team in 2019), was selected to the Pro Bowl twice (2019/2020) and almost won the Super Bowl MVP in 2016 for an epic three sack performance against the Patriots, but I would argue that he still does not get the credit he deserves. “Grady” as I affectionately refer to him is a rolling ball of butcher knives on the field with a non-stop motor, cat-like quickness and keen processing skills that lead to truly ‘elite’ play speed (more on this soon). This enables him to make plays in the backfield or at the numbers in pursuit with regularity.

Preview:

The former fifth round pick gets undersold by the mainstream due to his brilliance primarily coming as a run-defender rather than a pass-rusher, making it more of a challenge to fully appreciate without actually studying him play his position. Being able to identify a player’s impact with statistics is the norm, so not having that option leads to most fans outside of Atlanta unaware of what makes Jarrett special. Add in Jarrett playing on a lot of mediocre-to-bad teams over the last five years (Atlanta hasn’t had a winning season since 2017) and it has led to him being an afterthought when listing the top defensive tackles in the NFL.

Below I broke down 20 plays from Jarrett’s 2022 season that illustrate how he wins and what traits make him the ideal candidate to headline this team.