Welcome back to our Madden 17 Top 10 Sleeper series, and today I’ll be going over the interior pass rushers, which in the NFL are considered 4-3 defensive tackles, 3-4 nose tackles and 3-4 defensive ends.
10. Jihad Ward (Oakland Raiders)
22 Years Old
71 Overall
80 Power Move
79 Block Shed
85 Hit Power
Ward isn’t the most athletic or strongest, but he gives you a solid base to build into a nice interior defender with his 80 power move and 79 block shed.
9. Dominique Easley (Los Angeles Rams)
24 Years Old
75 Overall
82 Strength
80 Power Move
81 Block Shed
He has an above average stamina rating for a defensive tackle, and workable power move and block shed ratings. Being behind Brockers and Donald assures you he won’t cost much.
8. Akeem Spence (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
24 Years Old
74 Overall
91 Strength
84 Acceleration
82 Power Move
Spence is the prototypical defensive tackle. A big guy whose strong and isn’t fast at all. His 91 strength is 2nd on the list, but what makes him unique is you could go either way with his pass rush moves as he’s good at both, but if the offense runs right at him, his block shed rating won’t do you any favors to start.
7. Hassan Ridgeway (Indianapolis Colts)
21 Years Old
69 Overall
87 Strength
84 Acceleration
82 Block Shed
The main highlight for Ridgeway is his age. At 21, he’ll have near maximum development time (I say near because there are a few 20 years old in the game). He has 87 strength, 82 block shed and 81 power move, giving if your patient enough a young cheap potentially good pass rusher a year or 2 younger than most guys.
6. Vernon Butler (Carolina Panthers)
22 Years Old
74 Overall
84 Agility
83 Power Move
84 Hit Power
Butler is slow as dirt, but has great agility and above average acceleration. Man if he had speed in the 70’s. You have to build up his block shed, but his 83 power move allows him to be a decent pass rusher right away.
5. Timmy Jernigan (Baltimore Ravens)
23 Years Old
79 Overall
85 Strength
84 Power Move
83 Block Shed
Jernigan is only 23, and sports 85 strength, with 84 power move and 83 block shed, along with the highest play rec to sniff out screen passes on the list.
4. Javon Hargrave (Pittsburgh Steelers)
23 Years Old
70 Overall
75 Speed
85 Strength
85 Acceleration
Hargrave is one of the most athletic of the big boys on the list, with his 75 speed, 77 agility and 85 acceleration and the funny thing is he’s better at finesse moves, which is rarely the case for anybody over 280 pounds.
3. David Onyemata (New Orleans Saints)
22 Years Old
71 Overall
89 Strength
85 Acceleration
83 Power Move
The 22 year old has a great strength rating of 89, coupled with 85 acceleration, which is good for any pass rusher let alone a defensive tackle. His power move rating is above average and his block shed rating isn’t too far behind. He could come very easily in a trade or actually I would check out the free agency in your league, he’s probably chilling in there.
2. Mario Edwards Jr. (Oakland Raiders)
22 Years Old
78 Overall
88 Strength
84 Power Move
89 Block Shed
Edward’s has above average speed at 78 and strength at 88, to go along with an already starters worthy 89 block shed. So Edwards is well equipped to shut down the run day 1, and along with his 84 power move at 22 years old has the potential to be a dominate run and pass defender for a long time.
1. Sheldon Rankins (New Orleans Saints)
22 Years Old
77 Overall
86 Strength
80 Agility
84 Power Move
Rankins has one of the best agility ratings for an interior rusher, the only thing is he barely cracks the 70 mark in speed, but he does have 83 power move and 84 block shed giving him great starting numbers to build the quick development trait defensive tackle up into a future star, so it makes sense why Rankins sits atop our Top 10 Sleeper interior pass rusher list.
Alright yall, hope you enjoyed the list and if you have somebody you think I missed that’s been balling for you leave a comment down below, never know somebody else could be balling with that same guy