Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Combined, Broncos safeties Dennis Smith and Steve Atwater totaled more than 2,000 solo tackles in their respective careers.
The Denver Broncos have had many standout defenders in franchise history, but the two best tacklers in the team’s history have been snubbed by Pro Football Hall of Fame voters so far.
Here’s a quick look at the team’s unofficial list of their top-10 leaders in solo tackles, courtesy of Pro Football Reference.
The #Rams’ defense held strong against the #Panthers with seven defenders getting involved in four or more tackles in the game
The Los Angeles Rams defense was extremely stingy against the Carolina Panthers in Week 6, allowing just 10 points and 203 yards in the matchup. Their exceptional team effort was evident on film, and the stat sheet reflected how involved their unit was, with seven players tallying four or more tackles in the game.
Linebackers Ernest Jones, Bobby Wagner, and Leonard Floyd accounted for 18 total tackles as a group, with A’Shawn Robinson, Marquise Copeland, and Aaron Donald pitching in for another 16 from their spots on the defensive line. Safety Taylor Rapp was the final player who marked the milestone, getting involved in several plays with five tackles recorded in the effort.
Los Angeles’ defense was in dire need of a bounce-back game this week, and this group was instrumental in making sure that the team did not fall to two games below .500. Instead, with the win at home against the Panthers, the Rams have now positioned themselves to get back in the race for the lead in the NFC West and should have a good launching point for a playoff run if they can find more success in the coming weeks.
It is worth noting, too, that Bobby Wagner moved to 15th place on the all-time tackles leaderboard, with his seven tackles in this game putting him at 1,429 in his career according to a release distributed by the Rams following their Week 6 win. The impressive pace he is on should put him in a position to advance further up the chart over the next couple of seasons.
With 11 more games to play in 2022, Los Angeles is now primed to make the most of their disappointing 2-3 start, and with their record now at 3-3, they could prove that their early-season struggles were just a bump in the road of an otherwise promising campaign. It will take more herculean efforts from their defenders to ensure that they don’t go on another skid, but with some help from their offense, which also took a step forward this week, they should have the Rams back on track for playoff contention in no time.
Wagner is already a stalwart on the #Rams’ defense, and reached the remarkable 1400-tackle milestone in the team’s win over the #Cardinals
When Bobby Wagner signed with the Los Angeles Rams following his illustrious career with the division rival Seattle Seahawks, fans knew they were in for something special. The 32 year old linebacker has plenty of gas left in the tank, and added a new feather to his cap in Week 3, recording his 1400th tackle in the Rams’ win over the Arizona Cardinals.
The team took to Twitter to congratulate Wagner on the outstanding achievement. In a post made on Tuesday, they recognized the milestone, noting that he is the only player in the NFL with more than 1400 career tackles.
.@bwagz is a MACHINE. 😤
Only active player in the NFL with 1400+ career tackles! 👏 pic.twitter.com/MTWi0oFO26
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) September 27, 2022
As stated at the bottom of the graphic, Wagner is just the 17th player to reach the 1400 tackle benchmark, and there is a good likelihood that he will continue adding to this gargantuan total through the rest of the 2022 season. Given the abnormal rate of injuries Los Angeles has sustained since training camp, the team will rely on Wagner’s steady play on defense, and his contributions will play a key role in their efforts to get back to a second consecutive Super Bowl.
Wagner is an 11-year veteran, and one of the league’s most revered linebackers. With his championship pedigree and wealth of experience contending at the highest level, his ability to serve as a mentor to the Rams’ up-and-coming defenders will prove to be invaluable to the unit’s development this season.
Already a stalwart in the middle of Los Angeles’ defense, Wagner has helped the team bounce back from their Week 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills and regain their first place position in the NFC West. Under his tutelage and with the benefit of his rock-solid play on nearly every down the team plats on his side of the ball, the Rams will continue reaping the benefits of Wagner’s presence on the field.
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The Seattle Seahawks have started a number of rookies this season, which coach Pete Carroll referred to as “learning at the fire line.”
The Seattle Seahawks retooled their roster in a number of ways this season, from promoting veteran backup Geno Smith into the starting quarterback position to throwing a number of rookies directly into the fire on gamedays.
Coach Pete Carroll was asked specifically about the learning curve of the first-year players during his Monday press conference.
“These guys are going to gain the comfort of being in these moments in these games and these settings,” Carroll explained. “And it’s going to help them as they make their decisions and the choices they make under pressure and under the speed of the game and all that. They’re just going to continue to get better.
“As we press them into play, the sooner they will be acclimated.”
A rarity, Seattle started two rookies at both tackle spots this year – Charles Cross on the left side and Abe Lucas on the right. Both have gotten a heavy workload so far.
“We’re all but overdoing it with the tackles,” Carroll said. “They’re out there and living with it. They’re learning at the fire line so it’s going to really help us. But there’s some growing pains in there. I never go that route. I’m not going to spend any time on that. That’s part of the process, but it’s going to be worth it.”
The Seahawks rookie and veterans return to practice on Wednesday to prepare to face the Falcons at home this Sunday.
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Coach Pete Carroll sees the preseason games as “enormous opportunities” for Seattle Seahawks rookie tackles Charles Cross and Abe Lucas.
The Seattle Seahawks selected two tackles in this year’s NFL draft to beef up the offensive line – Charles Cross on the left side and Abe Lucas on the right. Both impressed coach Pete Carroll in the team’s first preseason contest this summer.
“If you guys do go back and look at the film, we ran a lot of stuff at Charles,” Carroll told reporters after Tuesday’s practice. “He did a lot of front-side stuff, and he did really well. He commanded his block on almost every play in the running game. What was really exciting was to see Abe on the backside, Abe had some dominant blocks on the backside. I think he had three takedowns and blasted the linebacker coming up on the second level, which was really nice. It was really good stuff, but it was not different than what we’ve seen.
“That’s the cool thing, those guys practiced and played the same, so they were ready for the moment – they were ready for it and handled it really well.”
Both Charles and Lucas will get two more chances to strut their stuff this summer – the Seahawks’ preseason home game against the Bears Thursday night and the following week against the Cowboys.
“I’m really fired up about this week and next week, these are two enormous opportunities for these guys to just gain confidence, settle in, get with the cadence, and all of the stuff that they have to do,” Carroll said. “They will see different style of players, so they need all of that, but it was a really, really good first impression. I’ll tell you again, it’s not anything different than the impressions they made in practice.
“The work that we have been giving them has worked out quite well.”
The Seahawks and Bears are set to kick off Thursday evening at 5:00 p.m. PT.
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Seattle’s offensive line coach Andy Dickerson is ensuring the Seahawks’ offensive linemen will be earning their starting jobs this year.
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The Seattle Seahawks looked to beef up their offensive line this season, selecting two tackles in the 2022 NFL draft – Charles Cross in the first round and Abe Lucas in the third. So far, Seahawks offensive line coach Andy Dickerson likes what he sees.
“We talked to Charles – very intelligent young man,” Dickerson told the reporters after an OTA this week. “Ability to communicate and just watching him play in the SEC as much as he did and how well he played. Same for Abe, just great career in college, and then just getting the interview process and being able to talk to those guys and really get a feel for how they are and how they understand and process football.
“So really excited about all the picks and all the guys we got.”
And while Cross seems to have the starting job at left tackle locked up, the entire offensive line will need to prove they are deserving of the jobs before securing the starting positions.
“We’re looking for guys who are smart, tough, and reliable, and we have all those guys in the building,” Dickerson said. “It’s just going to be when the competition comes and we get through the training camp and the preseason games, who’s the person, who are those five that we think are going to make the best offensive line.
“Not just the right tackle, but who are those guys who’ve earned those jobs?”
The battle continues when the Seahawks reconvene for training camp later this summer.
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Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron is watching rookie tackles Charles Cross and Abe Lucas to determine if they will start in 2022.
The Seattle Seahawks selected a couple of tackles in the early rounds of the NFL draft this year to bolster the offensive line. Many have questioned whether or not the Seahawks plan to start left tackle Charles Cross and right tackle Abe Lucas when the season opens.
Seattle’s offensive coordinator Shane Waldron addressed the issue during his press conference after Thursday’s OTA.
“I think in my mind, by the time we get to that first game and the best guys are playing, they’ll have earned those positions,” Waldron told reporters. “And if it’s the two rookies, that means that they’ve beat out some guys that are good players in their own right. So, we have a lot of competition at those tackle positions. The draft obviously has taken that competition to a different level, as far as younger guys that are competing against each other.”
Waldron did make it clear that both Cross and Lucas will have to battle it out this summer against the veterans and other contenders to earn the right to start in the season opener.
“So, I think it’s going to be a great thing in the long run,” Waldron said. “And if those guys go out and earn that job, then you feel comfortable because they’ve earned it over other guys that have had a chance to play and play well in the NFL.”
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The Seattle Seahawks picked up two tackles and a running back early in the 2022 NFL draft which makes a clear statement for the offense.
The Seattle Seahawks selected two offensive tackles in this year’s NFL draft – left tackle Charles Cross at No. 9 overall and right tackle Abraham Lucas at No. 72. The Seahawks are clearly setting the tone about the vision for the team going forward.
“I think that three of the four picks really make a statement about the emphasis of what we would like to get done and we are going to sure things up on the edge and with Kenneth (Walker III) coming in,” coach Pete Carroll told reporters Friday night. “Kenneth is an explosive, exciting running back to add to what we have. It rings true, we want to run the football, we want to be good at it, and we want it to complement the football with the way we approach it.”
During an interview with the NFL Network on Saturday, Carroll acknowledged this was a particularly good draft class as far as offensive tackles were concerned, and clearly, the picks lined up for Seattle.
“This was an opportunity to do it and it just felt right, so these guys will come in blazing,” Carroll continued. “And I think that it sets the tone for camp coming up.”
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A look at the Vols’ leading tacklers through Week 9.
Tennessee has a 4-4 record through eight games of the 2021 season.
The Volunteers had an open date last week after dropping a 52-24 Southeastern Conference game at Alabama on Oct. 23.
Tennessee returns to action when it travels to Lexington to face Kentucky Saturday at 7 p.m. EDT.
The Vols have wins over Bowling Green, Tennessee Tech, Missouri and South Carolina this season, and have been defeated by Pittsburgh, Florida, Ole Miss and Alabama.
Vols Wire will look at UT’s statistical leaders this season.
Tennessee’s leaders for tackles are listed below.
While the defense has struggled to start the season, #Chiefs second-round pick Nick Bolton has impressed, leading all rookies in tackles through Week 6 | from @thejohndillon
Selected in the second round by the Kansas City Chiefs in April’s draft, many thought Missouri product Nick Bolton could turn the team’s defensive fortunes around after their Super Bowl loss.
While his addition hasn’t changed much in terms of the unit’s performance, he has individually managed to make an outsized impact for the Chiefs so far this season. Bolton has started in every game for Kansas City so far and he now leads all NFL rookies with 40 combined tackles according to Stat Muse. He has nine more combined tackles than the next closest rookie, Las Vegas Raiders CB Nate Hobbs. His 30 unassisted tackles is 10 more than the next closest rookie, New Orleans Saints CB Paulson Adebo.
Bolton is currently pacing for triple digits in the category in the new 17 game schedule. The small sample size may not be indicative of sustained success this year, especially given the defensive ineptitude unfolding around him every week, but Bolton has a chance to make good on high expectations with continued progress.
He will need to get more acclimated to playing his specific role in coverages and identifying play-action specifically, which are both common coaching points for first-year players. Bolton hasn’t yet recorded his first NFL sack but could become a dominating force if defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo can find success using him as a disguised blitzer.
Opponents seem comfortable directing their offense towards Bolton in recent matchups, similar to the way they’ve picked on Daniel Sorenson in coverage. Both the rookie linebacker and veteran safety sit atop the team leaderboard in tackles, which would indicate that coordinators are picking them out as players with skillsets they can exploit on Sundays.
Kansas City’s primary deficiency last season was their inability to stop the ground game though, and Bolton has certainly become an intimidating presence in the defensive backfield, sitting alone at the top for the Chiefs with five tackles for loss. His nose for the football when attacking downhill is undeniable and should excite fans who have clamored for better defensive output. Bolton isn’t done developing yet, still improving every week in his effort to help steer Kansas City back on track for another championship as a young budding star.
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