The linchpin of the entire unit is defensive end Cameron Wake. Though he's been overshadowed by players like
Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller and
Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, Wake has been one of the best players in the league for some time.
Over at
Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Wake is the top 4-3 defensive end in the
NFL by a wide margin, even though he's not the league's sack leader. Much of what Wake does—the double-teams he draws, the way offensive coordinators have to account for him, the opponent's inability to run plays completely away from him—shows up on the field far more than on the stat sheet.
Perhaps just as impressively, Wake's hits may not always count on the stat sheet as a sack, but he lays the wood as well as anyone in the NFL. And the physical toll that backs and quarterbacks feel after he's introduced himself a few times on the field have a cumulative effect over the course of games.
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