The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 165 Top Five NFL Seasons In 2019 1. TOM BRADY, QB, New England Patriots Placing Brady in the top spot on this list was a foregone conclusion, especially when considering he took home his sixth Super Bowl title in 2018 with a 13-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams. The veteran finished the regular season in the top 10 of two of the game's most important passing categories — his 4,355 yards ranked seventh, while his 29 scoring tosses were 10th — and was named to his 10th consecutive Pro Bowl and 14th overall as a result. Despite only throwing two touchdown passes in the playoffs, Brady still shined as a whole during the Patriots' three postseason victories (against the Chargers, Chiefs and Rams, respectively), completing 68.0 percent of his attempts (the third-best completion percentage of his career in the playoffs) and averaging 317.6 passing yards per game. Winning yet another championship in 2018 helped solidify the notion that the 41-year-old (he will turn 42 Aug. 3) is one of if not the greatest American professional sports athlete of all time, a sentiment that Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe embraced in February. "Tom Brady simply wins," Shaughnessy wrote. "He wins championships 17 years apart. He wins in a sport that is designed to bring winners down. He wins in an era of parity and salary caps. He wins with great weapons, and with undrafted free agents and with anonymous linemen. He is the leader of a team that is now even more popular than the Orr Bruins or the Larry Bird Celtics. "It hurts a little to write those words, but it is true. Patriot Nation is a global superpower. The Patriots are bigger than the Red Sox, Bruins or Celtics ever were. And Brady is the on-field leader. The greatest NFL quarterback of all time. "Boston's greatest athlete of all time." 2. FRANK CLARK, DE, Seattle Seahawks The 2018 campaign was statistically the best of Clark's pro tenure, setting a new career high with 13 sacks (his previous best had been 10 in 2016), which were 2.5 more than anyone else on Seattle's roster. His 41 tackles, meanwhile, were the second most of his career, trailing only the 47 he compiled in 2016. Clark was then surprisingly traded to the Kansas City Chiefs April 23 following his career year. "His numbers and production speak for themselves," ClutchPoints.com's Skyler Carlin wrote June 3. "Clark is undoubtedly one of the best pass rushers in the NFL and the thing is: he is only 25 years old and continuing to get better. "After the Chiefs landed Clark, they immediately signed him to a long-term deal. Clark signed the deal, which was worth $104 million over five years. The contract also includes $62.3 million in guarantees. That type of contract comes with lofty expectations, but Clark is ready to show that he is worth the risk." 3. TAYLOR LEWAN, OT, Tennessee Titans The veteran offensive tackle continued his steady play in 2018, starting 15 of the Titans' 16 regular-season contests (he missed a mid-September win over Houston due to a concussion) and earning his third Pro Bowl invitation in five years as a result. In fact, the 2018 campaign marked the fourth straight year that Lewan started at least 15 outings in a season, with 2014 being the lone exception of his pro tenure (he began only six tilts that year). Pro Football Focus had high praise for the 6-7, 309-pounder once last season wrapped up, awarding him with an overall grade of 76.4, which was the best of any offensive tackle in the AFC South. "There were a couple games where he struggled — particularly the Bills and Ravens games when he was dealing with a foot injury — but outside of that stretch he was easily among the elite tackles in the NFL," Mike Herndon of Music City Miracles explained in January. "His athleticism is extremely unique and makes him an ideal fit for the zone blocking scheme the Titans installed in 2018 (not that he can't also excel in a power/gap scheme, but the zone system really highlights his strengths). "For yet another season, Tennessee had their highest success rate rushing around the left end and it's not a coincidence that that's where Taylor Lewan lives." 4. BRANDON GRAHAM, DE, Philadelphia Eagles Though his statistics didn't match the career year he had in 2017 when he compiled a personal-best 9.5 sacks, Graham still had a very productive 2018 campaign. He started all 16 games for the second time in three years and checked in fourth on Philadelphia's defense with four sacks. As a result of his stellar show- ing, Pro Football Focus tabbed Graham as the 50th-best player in the NFL in 2018, and the second-best athlete on the Eagles' entire team (behind defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, who checked in at No. 5). "Brandon Graham had yet another great year as the Eagles' premier pass rusher," PFF noted in February. "He earned an overall grade of 88.1 last season, tying for ninth out of 113 edge defenders, while his 70 total pressures [56 hur- ries, nine hits and five sacks] were the fourth most for an edge defender in 2018." 5. JABRILL PEPPERS, S, Cleveland Browns He built off a solid debut in 2017 to enjoy an even better sophomore campaign in 2018, checking in fourth on the club in tackles with 79, while also accumulating five passes defended, two fumble recoveries, one sack and an interception. Peppers also served as the team's primary punt and kick returner, averaging 8.8 yards on 25 attempts in the former and 21.5 yards on 19 tries in the latter. Pro Football Focus best exemplified his substantial improvement by including him as one of their 12 "sophomore standouts" from the 2018 season. "Peppers finished his rookie season ranked 80th out of 98 safeties who saw at least 200 defensive snaps, but he bounced back in year two to finish 23rd out of 104 qualified safeties," they revealed in April. "Peppers ranked 23rd among safeties with 20 total stops in 2018 — he managed just eight stops in 2017." In his final season with the Seattle Seahawks, defensive end Frank Clark notched a career-high 13 sacks. PHOTO COURTESY SEATTLE SEAHAWKS