Ezekiel Ansah, defensive end, Detroit Lions
We’ve seen what elite defensive ends get paid in today’s NFL. The five-year, $85 million deal Olivier Vernon signed last year with the New York Giants was the first escalation. That continued this past March with veteran Calais Campbell inking a four-year, $60 million deal in Jacksonville.
Picked No. 5 overall by Detroit back in 2013, Ansah jumped on to the scene as a third-year player in 2015, racking up 14.5 sacks and ranking among the top players in quarterback pressures. This earned Ansah his first and only Pro Bowl appearance.
Unfortunately for the former BYU standout, he struggled with both injury and production in 2015. He missed three games with an ankle injury early in the season and saw it plague him throughout the entire campaign. It wasn’t until Week 11 that Ansah actually recorded the first of what would be two sacks on the season.
We can easily chalk Ansah’s 2016 struggles up to injuries. Though, if that were to continue this upcoming season, there will be more wide-ranging concerns over his ability to live up to the expectations that a long-term contract will bring. On the other hand, a repeat performance of 2015 would likely enable Ansah to set a new benchmark for defensive ends in free agency. Yeah, we’d say there’s a lot on the line here.