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Leading one of the NFL’s best defenses in sacks last season wasn’t enough to get Arik Armstead a spot on the annual NFL top 100 list voted on by players. Armstead just missed out on debuting in the top 100, and wound up landing at No. 104 overall.
While Armstead didn’t make this list, he still won the offseason. After a breakout fifth season, he inked a five-year, $85 million deal with the team that selected him No. 17 overall in the 2015 NFL draft. The new contract came on the heels of a dominant season in which he racked up a team-best 10 sacks and 62 regular-season pressures according to Pro Football Focus.
Perhaps the reason Armstead missed the list after a stellar 2019 campaign is his lack of productivity his first four years. He’s always been a strong run defender, but his sack numbers didn’t jump until last season. He had just 9.0 sacks in his first four seasons.
Now he’s healthy and in a position to thrive though along a very talented defensive front. After just missing in 2019, it’s a virtual lock that he’ll make the list with an encore campaign that matches his 2019 production in 2020.
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