DEFENSE

	Jason Taylor had 13.5 sacks this season and was named AP's Defensive Player of the Year. Heinz Kluetmeier/SI
	DR. Z'S ALL-PROS OFFENSE QB Peyton Manning Colts RB LaDainian Tomlinson Chargers FB Justin Griffith Falcons WR Marvin Harrison Colts WR Laveranues Coles Jets TE Antonio Gates Chargers T Jammal Brown Saints T Jonathan Ogden Ravens C Tom Nalen Broncos G Logan Mankins Patriots G Mike Goff Chargers DEFENSE DE Jared Allen Chiefs DE Jason Taylor Dolphins DT Trevor Pryce Ravens DT Pat Williams Vikings OLB Lance Briggs Bears MLB Zach Thomas Dolphins OLB Shawne Merriman Chargers CB Champ Bailey Broncos CB Nnamdi Asomugha Raiders SS Sean Jones Browns FS Kerry Rhodes Jets SPECIAL TEAMS K Matt Stover Ravens P Brian Moorman Bills KR Devin Hester Bears ST Quintin Mikell Eagles
	AWARDS MVP Drew Brees Saints ROOKIE OF THE YEAR Vince Young Titans COACH OF THE YEAR Sean Payton Saints

ENDS (Jared Allen, Jason Taylor)
You wind up rooting for people. I was pulling hardest for Aaron Kampman of the Packers and Jared Allen of the Chiefs, two guys with extremely high motors. One made it, one didn't. Leaving Kampman off made me sick, but I'm afraid I didn't see some of his high-sack games. Sacks are only part of it, though. A sack is one play. Fifteen sacks are 15 plays. I'm grading hundreds of them. Could I have cheated and called the Packers and asked for films of his better efforts? Well, then I'd have had to do it for everyone else, and I couldn't have covered all that. I did it for one player, MLB DeMeco Ryans, because I hadn't seen him at all up to that point, but that was it. As I said, I was really upset when my DE grades came in where they came in.

There is one variance. Julius Peppers graded out at 6.6, higher than Allen's 6.4 but what jerked Peppers' average up was a monster outing against one of the league's weaker tackles, Jeremy Trueblood of the Bucs. In fairness, I had to look at overall consistency. On talent alone, he's the best of all of them, but he's also on the field the longest. They give him very little relief. They wear him out. In the last two games in which I saw him, against Philly and the Giants, he was a very tired player.

I didn't grade the Patriots' Richard Seymour. I saw him quit cold in the game they lost to the Jets. OK, he had a bad elbow, but I saw other subpar efforts from him, along with some good ones. I didn't grade the Raiders' sack specialist Derrick Burgess nor the Colts' super sacker Dwight Freeney because I thought the other aspects of their game were not on the same level.

The grades, and these are higher than those of offensive linemen because I add, rather than subtract points with defensive players:

Jason Taylor, Miami, 6.8; Peppers, Carolina 6.6; Allen, KC, 6.4; Ty Warren, New England, 5.6; Charles Grant, New Orleans, 5.3; Kampman, Green Bay, 5.1; Justin Smith, Cincinnati, 4.8; Trent Cole, Philadelphia, 4.4; Aaron Schobel, Buffalo, 4.0. Two guys I was intrigued with were the Jacksonville pair of Paul Spicer and Bobby McCray, both active and effective, but I quit on them after five games when I saw that their grades wouldn't be in the ballpark.

TACKLES AND NOSE TACKLES  (Trevor Pryce, Pat Williams)
Two different positions here, which makes it tougher. I had to look at how many people playing the nose stayed on the field in the nickel, or stayed for part of the time. You can't really pick a guy who comes out on every long yardage down. You have to try to figure who's doing the work of the thankless two-gapper and who's merrily shooting the gap and getting upfield. Therefore the grades swing wildly, according to the various responsibilities.

At least three people whose opinions I respect looked at my list and told me I was really making a mistake with the Vikings' Kevin Williams, that I had him much too low. So I went back and looked at Minnesota tapes I still had. What can I tell you? Granted, a fine player, but I saw what I saw.

Warren Sapp was an interesting case that involved what I call reversion-grading. I didn't really see anything that aroused my interest until the Raiders played Seattle in November. Something seemed to get him going that afternoon because he had a big day. Next time I saw him was against Kansas City on the next to last week of the season. Playing against that highly rated middle three he had a monster game, taking turns ravaging each of them. Oh my God, I gasped, I'd better do a complete work-up, which involved, well, two earlier performances. Let's face it, the Raiders are not a team you're wired to, week after week. San Diego and Cleveland, both early in the season, rounded out my Oakland quartet. He zilched in both of them. Minimal production.

Now I had a problem. What if he came on against the Jets in the finale last week, and his grade average out-scored that of Pat Williams, my No. 2 all-pro interior lineman? I didn't want to pick him. Inconsistency is not a virtue, especially given Sapp's history. Well, against the Jets he fell into an early coverage sack, when Chad Pennington held the ball for an hour and a half, but did virtually nothing for the rest of the day. Would the extra sack-point get him a higher average than Williams had? Yes it did, 4.5 to 4.25. So did I pick him? No I didn't. My game, my rules. Life's tough.

The Titans' Albert Haynesworth posed another problem. I didn't get enough looks at him because of his stomping suspension. What I saw was inconsistent. When he felt like it, he was a monster, such as in short yardage situations in the victory over the Jaguars. At other times you lose track of him. An interesting player.

Here are the grades, and Baltimore's Trevor Pryce was off the chart as you can see. Rex Ryan, who coaches the Ravens' defense, told me he was the best defensive player in football this year. "He can do it all," Ryan said, "except get picked to the Pro Bowl." Naturally, they stiffed him. By the way, a lower grade does not in any way mean I'm downgrading the player. The guys listed are my finalists, the ones I thought were the best.

Pryce, Ravens, 5.9; Haynesworth, Titans (only two looks) 5.7; Sapp, Raiders, 4.5; Tommie Harris, Chicago, 4.3 (injured...did not play in enough games); Pat Williams, Vikings, 4.25; Kevin Williams, Vikings, 3.9; Jason Ferguson, Cowboys, and Jamal Williams, Chargers, 3.8; Mike Patterson, Eagles, and Kelly Gregg, Ravens, 3.6, Vince Wilfork, Patriots, 3.25.