How fast are defensive ends

Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs 28 rushes for a 2-yard touchdown during the regular season game against the Baltimore Ravens at Allegiant Stadium.

Las Vegas Raiders linebacker K. Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Denzel Perryman 52 celebrates after recovering a fumble during the regular season game against the Baltimore Ravens at Allegiant Stadium. Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs 28 rushes for a yard touchdown during the regular season game against the Baltimore Ravens at Allegiant Stadium.

Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs 28 is congratulated by teammates after rushing for a yard touchdown during the regular season game against the Baltimore Ravens at Allegiant Stadium.

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Darren Waller 83 makes a yard touchdown catch during the regular season game against the Baltimore Ravens at Allegiant Stadium. Las Vegas Raiders tight end Darren Waller 83 is congratulated by wide receiver Hunter Renfrow 13 after making a yard touchdown catch during the regular season game against the Baltimore Ravens at Allegiant Stadium.

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Darren Waller 83 celebrates after making a yard touchdown catch during the regular season game against the Baltimore Ravens at Allegiant Stadium. Las Vegas Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson 2 lines up before kicking a yard field goal during the regular season game against the Baltimore Ravens at Allegiant Stadium. Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Zay Jones 7 celebrates with teammates after making a game winning yard touchdown catch during the regular season game against the Baltimore Ravens at Allegiant Stadium.

The Raiders go into the locker room after the first half with a lead over the New York Giants. The Silver and Black won the battle at the line of scrimmage, resulting in a victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Raiders quarterback made very few mistakes in the Raiders' win over the Philadelphia Eagles. The tight end caught his second touchdown of the season, helping the Raiders lead the Eagles, , at the half. The Silver and Black's defense stacked four turnovers and five sacks in their victory over the Broncos. The story of the Raiders offense this season had been its slow starts, but they flipped the script Sunday against the Broncos.

Good footwork and leverage in the run game. Stuns and sheds blockers and will maintain a gap. Can penetrate gaps. Some recognition from national recruiting media. Flashes ability to overpower or out-quick HS offensive linemen.

Flashes quick-twitch get off skills. Controls the line of scrimmage. Can get off blocks. Flashes ability to penetrate gaps. Displays ability to beat HS offensive linemen. Solid get-off. This is why Mathis and Houston, the two top-rated outside linebackers, according to Pro Football Focus subscription required , find themselves on our All-Speed defense.

Unsurprisingly, Mathis and Houston also rank first and second, respectively, among outside linebackers in sacks for the season. Meanwhile, Houston, a third-year player out of Georgia, has produced 11 sacks and 43 tackles in Through 10 games, Lee has seemed to be everywhere on the field defensively for the Cowboys in Not only has he provided a leadership presence for the Dallas defense, but he has used his football intelligence and, yes, his speed to make play after play on a consistent basis.

However, his production to date is more than most linebackers see in an entire season. In 10 games, Lee has amassed 93 tackles, six pass deflections, four interceptions and has scored one defensive touchdown.

If you covet speed in your defensive backfield and we do , look no further than the duo of Rodgers-Cromartie and Peterson. Rodgers-Cromartie, who started out with the Cardinals in , made his first NFL impression with a blazing 4.

Not to be outdone well, maybe slightly , Peterson produced a 4. Had the Cardinals not moved Rodgers-Cromartie to the Philadelphia Eagles in the ill-fated Kevin Kolb trade, we might have gotten an opportunity to watch these two play side by side on Sundays. Forget Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu , they're just too old and slow. Not only are Thomas and McCourty young each is in his fourth season , but they are among the fastest and best safeties in the game.

According to Pro Football Focus subscription required , no safeties rank higher than McCourty first and Thomas second in pass coverage. Return specialists come in all shapes and sizes, but few possess the pure speed of the Browns' Benjamin.

Somehow, Benjamin appears even faster on the football field than he did at the scouting combine where he posted a 4. While Benjamin was lost for the season with a torn ACL against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 8, he has been extremely impressive overall in his young career.

In a season and a half, Benjamin has averaged 37 yards per return on kickoffs and Well, when your coverage unit breaks down, it doesn't hurt to have a punter with enough speed and awareness to chase down the return man. This is exactly what we see McAfee do in the above video, where he finds Denver Broncos return man Trindon Holliday and delivers a punishing hit to force him out of bounds. We don't often see punters make the highlight reel for positive reasons as McAfee did in Week 7, so we're putting him on our list.

If you are hoping that your favorite NFL team can have the league's fastest kicker, you are in luck. Though he is known primarily as a kickoff specialist, Buehler might consider making the transition to linebacker. After three seasons with the Cowboys, Buehler spent time with the New York Giants during the offseason but was released prior to training camp.

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