-2021 NFL Schedule -Strength of Schedule
MOCK DRAFT
Ask the Commish.Com 2021 Draft Kit
Last year in New Orleans, Trey Hendrickson piled up a team-high 13.5 sacks. Given that the Bengals managed just 17 as a team (worst in the NFL), Hendrickson's arrival would appear a godsend. But those 13.5 sacks are also more than twice as many as Hendrickson logged in the three years that preceded 2020, and that sums up the Cincinnati defense, The Bengals long-time anchor on that side of the ball (Geno Atkins) is gone. In his stead there are high-priced players on questionable contracts intermingled with youngsters who haven't proven anything yet. The starting safeties are good and the ends might be, but putting much (any) faith in last year's third-worst fantasy defense doesn't impress as a show of wisdom.
In news that should surprise exactly no one, the Lions are rebuilding--again. There's a new head coach in Dan 'Bite Your Kneecaps Off' Campbell. A new quarterback in Jared Goff, And a first-time defensive coordinator in Aaron Glenn. General manager Brad Holmes (who is also knew, because of course he is) told the team's website he thinks Glenn will make a big difference in the Motor City in 2021. 'The first time we had an opportunity to talk (to Glenn), I was very, very impressed,' Holmes said. "I had just left the Rams when Brandon Staley was there and had the No. 1 defense and he's been under Vic Fangio. So then when me and Aaron Glenn are speaking, a lot of the similar themes started coming out and I said, 'Wait, hold on, this sounds a lot like ... ' and he was a Vic Fangio guy.' A healthy dose of skepticism is advisable after the Lions fielded the league's worst defense a year ago.
After calling last year's Vikings defense, 'the worst one I've ever had,' head coach Mike Zimmer told reporters at OTAs that this year's squad is going to look vastly different. 'Our guys in the front office have done an outstanding job,' Zimmer said. 'It's probably gonna look completely different on the defensive side of the ball than it did last year, with the guys coming back and the additions that we made. So I am excited about that.' The Vikings made a number of personnel additions on defense in free agency and the draft, but the biggest impact may well be the return of a healthy Danielle Hunter to energize a pass rush that tallied only 23 sacks in 2020.
The Raiders have had more than a few issues defensively since Jon Gruden became the new (old) head coach, but he told reporters he's confident the arrival of veteran coordinator can help turn things around. 'I feel pretty good. A lot of our practices were instruction based,' Gruden said. 'We'll see where we are when we lay the leather down in training camp. But Gus Bradley, [defensive backs coach Ron] Milus, [defensive line coach Rod] Marinelli, our coaches have done a great job on defense. I think we're better. I think we have a chance to be much better and a lot deeper. It'll be more competitive.' The Raiders aren't completely without talent on defense, but when 'competitive' is the benchmark the head coach is shooting for, you know there's a lot of ground to be made up.