Top 25 NFL free agents for 2018

15. Ezekiel “Ziggy” Ansah, DE, Detroit Lions

After a very down season in 2016 (two sacks) Ansah rebounded with 12 sacks this year. But he battled injuries again, missing two games, and nine of those sacks came in just three games against overmatched left tackles for the New York Giants (Week 2), Cincinnati Bengals (Week 16) and Green Bay Packers (Week 17).

There’s no denying Ansah’s physical tools. After five seasons in the NFL, he has still only played football for eight total seasons in his life after growing up playing soccer in Ghana and initially trying out for the basketball team after arriving on campus at BYU . So an argument can be made he’s still a pretty raw football player, even nearing 29 years old, with upside still left to be tapped into.

In particular, Ansah has not been an especially productive tackler as a 4-3 defensive end, as he has never reached 50 total tackles in a season. That’s almost on the level of Jared Allen at the end of his career, as he sold out to accumulate sacks and decided to mostly avoid responsibilities against the run. It’s not worth questioning Ansah’s all-around effort level in that way, at least without looking at the all-22 tape, but he does appear to have some work to do beyond his pass rushing skills.

But productive pass rushers get nice free agent contracts, and Ansah is in line for lucrative multi-year from a team willing to make a bet on his untapped upside.