All-NFC South Team of the 2020s: Ex-Saints shine at defensive tackle
All-NFC South Team of the 2020s: Ex-Saints shine at defensive tackle
John Sigler, Saints WireMon, July 27, 2026 at 12:55 PM UTC
0
Two different defensive tackles represent the New Orleans Saints on our All-NFC South Team of the 2020s, but they're both notable for having gone on to join division rivals along the way. It's been a frustrating six years for the middle of the Saints' defensive line, and seeing good players continue their careers elsewhere hasn't made it much easier to stomach. Other teams racking up Pro Bowls in the process makes it downright disappointing. So who made the cut, and how did they stack up?
Methodology
One key stat we're relying on is Approximate Value from Pro Football Reference, which PFR defines as "an attempt to put a single number on the seasonal value of a player at any position from any year." In practice, that means giving higher numbers to player who start more games, play more snaps, and do more to help their team win by racking up yards, scoring touchdowns, creating turnovers and sacking quarterbacks, and so on. We're also assigning point values to being named a first-team All-Pro (ten points), second-team All-Pro (five points), and Pro Bowler (three points). And then we're adding those numbers together. Remember, these are all-decade teams for the NFC South, which didn't exist until 2002, and only contributions on the four teams in the division factor into our formula. So Drew Brees earning a Pro Bowl nod with the San Diego Chargers in 2005 doesn't help him, for example.
First team: Vita Vea -
Team:Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2020 to present)
AV: 48
Awards: Pro Bowler (2)
Score: 54
Vea was productive as a rookie, but he's only gotten better with more experience. He's developed into a real asset on passing downs with 29.5 sacks and 63 quarterback hits since 2020; those are impressive numbers for a big man. He has been the anchor for a series of Buccaneers teams that won the division year in and year out.
First team: David Onyemata -
Team: New Orleans Saints (2020 to 2022) and Atlanta Falcons (2023 to 2025)
AV: 44
Awards: N/A
Score: 44
Onyemata was a Saints draft success story back in 2016, having picked up the game after immigrating from Nigeria to Canada before impressing scouts at his pro day. By the time the 2020s got here, he was their best defensive tackle. He kept his career going after the Falcons offered him a deal he couldn't (responsibly) refuse in free agency, and while his last three years haven't been as successful as the three that came before it, his overall body of work is still respectable.
Advertisement
Second team: Derrick Brown
Team:Carolina Panthers (2020 to present)
AV: 38
Awards: Pro Bowler (1)
Score: 41
Brown has had some of the biggest heights of anyone in the position group, but an unfortunate injury cut his 2024 season off after just one game. That cost him some ground in these rankings. But with 59 quarterback hits, 33 tackles for loss, and 28 pass deflections (plus 13 sacks), he could make the first team on next year's list with another strong season.
Second team: Grady Jarrett -
Team: Atlanta Falcons (2020 to 2024)
AV: 34
Awards: Pro Bowler (1)
Score: 37
Jarrett has the bad luck of arriving a year late for this exercise; if his 7.5-sack Pro Bowl, All-Pro season in 2019 had counted he would have pushed Vea for the top spot. Instead, he's got that 2020 Pro Bowl campaign and a solid 75-game run up to 2024 to hang his hat on. He may not be the same player anymore, but there were times when Jarrett looked like one of the best defensive linemen in the division.
Honorable mention: Shy Tuttle -
Team: New Orleans Saints (2020 to 2022) and Carolina Panthers (2023 and 2024)
AV: 29
Awards: N/A
Score: 29
Tuttle did really well for himself as an undrafted free agent, winning a Saints roster spot and appearing in all 16 games in 2019. Then he established himself as a valuable member of the rotation with 40-plus tackles every year from 2021 to 2024, which included a couple of turncoat seasons in Carolina. The gap between his score and every other defensive tackle in the division outside of this group is wide (next-best is Nathan Shepherd, who trails him by 10 points).
More All-NFC South Team of the 2020s -
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
Offensive line
Edge rushers
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: All-NFC South Team of the 2020s: Ex-Saints shine at defensive tackle
Source: “AOL Sports”
