Dec. 2, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) scrambles out of the pocket while being pressured by Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (90) and defensive tackle Nick Fairley (98) in the second quarter at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Detroit Lions defensive tackle has made headlines again this offseason. Fortunately it isn’t for legal problems this time around. Instead, it is for what he’s saying.

First he had the audacity (read with sarcasm) to “expect big things“, even going so far as to say the Detroit Lions are going to go to the Super Bowl.

Now he is on record as saying that he and Ndamukong Suh comprise the NFL’s best tandem of defensive tackles. Via DetroitLions.com:

“Of course,” Fairley said. “We’re going to give guys trouble, man. It’s like pick your poison this year with our defensive line. You cannot come in and double-team Ndamukong and you can’t come in and double-team me.

Both statements have been met with some ridicule from outsiders. Professional athletes don’t get where they are without a high level of confidence in their own abilities and high expectations for their own personal performance. The reaction I have received from Lions fans after Fairley expressed high expectations for both himself and the team, and even a Super Bowl, is that he is right to feel that way and to feel otherwise would represent a huge problem.

But what about his claim that he and Suh are the league’s best defensive tackle duo? It isn’t an outrageous claim based on their play a year ago. I took a look at the top ten defensive tackles based on the 2012 DT/NT ratings in the premium stats section of Pro Football Focus and paired each with his best performing teammate at the position. Here are the results in tabular form:

(note: the table is only eight teams long instead of ten because the Lions and Titans each placed two defensive tackles in PFF's top ten)

Geno Atkins has such a crazy good year for the Cincinnati Bengals that if you want to simply add the two ratings together it wouldn't matter who you paired with Atkins - they would be the "best" combination.

But if you maintain that "best pair" means both should contribute (unlike the Bengals' Peko who finished with a negative rating), it doesn't get any than Suh and Fairley.

Photo Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

Today we take a look at how the Detroit Lions defensive tackles performed during the 2012 season with a little help from the fine folks at Pro Football Focus.

The radar chart below shows the Pro Football Focus grades for each Lions defensive tackle and compares them to the best, worst and league average ratings. PFF grades each player on each play to produce a massively useful tool for evaluating the totality of a player’s season compared to others at his position.

2012 Season Review
Take a look at the radar chart above and you might think that the Detroit Lions’ defensive ends didn’t fare too well in 2012. While the performance of Geno Atkins certainly dwarfs the competition, that speaks to the ridiculous season he had rather than point to a flaw with the Lions’ defensive tackles. Atkins’ +80.0 overall grade from Pro Football Focus is head, shoulders, waist and knees above the rest of the field. To put that in perspective, Gerald McCoy‘s season ranked as the second best among all defensive tackles and nose tackles that played at least 25% of his team’s snaps with a +31.2.

That brings us to Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley, both of whom had fine seasons that placed them a top five overall PFF rating league-wide. Suh’s +29.6 pass rush rating was second only to Atkins and while his rating against the runs was a -6.0, the strength of his pass rush landed him among the league’s best overall.

Fairley is a bit of a different case. He combined the fifth best pass rushing rating (+17.3) and the seventh best rating against the run (+9.4). Where Fairley takes a hit is in the penalty category where he received a -9.0, the worst among all 85 tackles that played 25% of his team’s total defensive snaps. I commented several times to various people during the season that I believe Nick Fairley will ultimately be a superior player to Suh. PFF’s 2012 ratings show that distinction could come sooner than later if Fairley can cut down the penalties.

Not to be forgotten, Sammie Hill posted a respectable +5.6 overall rating, good enough for 24th best. Like Suh, he performed much better rushing the quarterback than playing the run but he posted a solidly positive overall rating by consistently posting positive grades throughout the season.

Corey Williams didn’t play enough stats to land in the overall league-wide rankings but he solidly rated as a positive run defender when he was able to play, however a negative penalty rating knocked him down to a 0.0 overall.

Offseason Plan
It is clear that the Lions are set with Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley as their starting defensive tackles. From there, it is all about depth, something they have enjoyed with Sammie Hill and Corey Williams also on the roster. However, both Hill and Williams are set to become unrestricted free agents. Knowing a starting job is not available in Detroit, Hill will likely want to see if he can find one elsewhere. Not has Hill shown an ability to play a bigger role, he is likely in for a bigger payday than the Lions can provide. Still, the Lions should make an attempt to retain him.

Should Hill choose to move on, the Lions should immediately turn their attention to Corey Williams who has already indicated a willingness to stay in Detroit in a decreased role. Attrition totally eating away the team’s defensive tackle depth is not a recipe for success and Williams’ return gives the team three defensive tackles the Lions have a lot of confidence in and allows them to take on a developmental player much like they did with Sammie Hill four years ago. The Lions developed a recipe that has worked with their defensive tackles, so they might as well follow it.

Previously: Wide Receivers, Offensive Tackles, Guards, Center, Tight Ends, Quarterback, Running Backs, Outside Linebackers, Inside Linebacker, Safeties, Cornerbacks, Defensive Ends

*Those that have been around the Detroit Lions blogosphere for a while may recognize the approach presented as similar to Ty Schalter’s ‘Old Mother Hubbard’ series on The Lions in Winter. Don’t worry, he’s cool with what I’m doing here and has assured me that he’ll be back with Old Mother Hubbard later in the offseason.

Dec. 2, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) is pressured by Detroit Lions defensive tackle Nick Fairley (98) in the first quarter at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Fairley took a big step forward in 2012 as it seemed that his effectiveness increased as his playing time increased. He got a chance to move into the starting lineup with Corey Williams battling a knee injury and his season seemed to take off from there.

Fairley and Ndamukong Suh formed the kind of fierce duo the team and fans had in mind when Fairley’s name was announced from the NFL Draft podium in April 2011.

Fairley had his season cut short due to a shoulder injury but his 5.5 sacks was still good enough for third-best on the team. He also tied for the team lead in forced fumbles with two.

His Detroit Lions teammates certainly took notice and voted him the the Chuck Hughes Most Improved Player according to DetroitLions.com.

The award is given annually in memory of former Lions wide receiver Chuck Hughes who remains the only NFL player to ever die on the field. Hughes suffered a heart attack during a Lions game against the Bears on October 24, 1971.