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USA Today Sports Media Group
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Sport
Jess Root

LOOK: The NFL’s best interior defenders, per Touchdown Wire

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They face Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald twice a season. They have one of the best to ever do it on their roster in J.J. Watt, although he seems to be in the twilight of his career.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWho are the best interior defenders in the NFL entering 2022?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTouchdown Wire\u0026#8217;s Doug Farrar gives us his top 12. Check them out below and \u003ca href\u003d\"https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/lists/nfl-best-defensive-tackles-aaron-donald-jeffery-simmons-cameron-heyward/\"\u003eread his full post\u003c/a\u003e complete analysis as to why.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePrevious shows:\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003caudio controls\u003d\"controls\" data-mce-fragment\u003d\"1\"\u003e\u003csource src\u003d\"https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/50447176/download.mp3\" /\u003e\u003c!-- fallback --\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cobject type\u003d\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" data\u003d\"http://s2.wp.com/wp-content/plugins/audio-player/player.swf?m\u003d1293710960g\" width\u003d\"290\" height\u003d\"24\" id\u003d\"audioplayer1\"\u003e\u003cparam name\u003d\"movie\" value\u003d\"http://s2.wp.com/wp-content/plugins/audio-player/player.swf?m\u003d1293710960g\" /\u003e\u003cparam name\u003d\"FlashVars\" value\u003d\"\u0026amp;bg\u003d0xf8f8f8\u0026amp;leftbg\u003d0xeeeeee\u0026amp;lefticon\u003d0x666666\u0026amp;rightbg\u003d0xcccccc\u0026amp;rightbghover\u003d0x999999\u0026amp;righticon\u003d0x003581\u0026amp;righticonhover\u003d0xffffff\u0026amp;text\u003d0x666666\u0026amp;slider\u003d0x666666\u0026amp;track\u003d0xFFFFFF\u0026amp;border\u003d0x666666\u0026amp;loader\u003d0x003581\u0026amp;soundFile\u003dhttps://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/50447176/download.mp3\" /\u003e\u003cparam name\u003d\"quality\" value\u003d\"high\" /\u003e\u003cparam name\u003d\"menu\" value\u003d\"false\" /\u003e\u003cparam name\u003d\"bgcolor\" value\u003d\"#FFFFFF\" /\u003e\u003cparam name\u003d\"wmode\" value\u003d\"opaque\" /\u003e\u003c/object\u003e\u003c/audio\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eand\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003caudio controls\u003d\"controls\" data-mce-fragment\u003d\"1\"\u003e\u003csource src\u003d\"https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/50447177/download.mp3\" /\u003e\u003c!-- fallback --\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cobject type\u003d\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" data\u003d\"http://s2.wp.com/wp-content/plugins/audio-player/player.swf?m\u003d1293710960g\" width\u003d\"290\" height\u003d\"24\" id\u003d\"audioplayer1\"\u003e\u003cparam name\u003d\"movie\" value\u003d\"http://s2.wp.com/wp-content/plugins/audio-player/player.swf?m\u003d1293710960g\" /\u003e\u003cparam name\u003d\"FlashVars\" value\u003d\"\u0026amp;bg\u003d0xf8f8f8\u0026amp;leftbg\u003d0xeeeeee\u0026amp;lefticon\u003d0x666666\u0026amp;rightbg\u003d0xcccccc\u0026amp;rightbghover\u003d0x999999\u0026amp;righticon\u003d0x003581\u0026amp;righticonhover\u003d0xffffff\u0026amp;text\u003d0x666666\u0026amp;slider\u003d0x666666\u0026amp;track\u003d0xFFFFFF\u0026amp;border\u003d0x666666\u0026amp;loader\u003d0x003581\u0026amp;soundFile\u003dhttps://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/50447177/download.mp3\" /\u003e\u003cparam name\u003d\"quality\" value\u003d\"high\" /\u003e\u003cparam name\u003d\"menu\" value\u003d\"false\" /\u003e\u003cparam name\u003d\"bgcolor\" value\u003d\"#FFFFFF\" /\u003e\u003cparam name\u003d\"wmode\" value\u003d\"opaque\" /\u003e\u003c/object\u003e\u003c/audio\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \n","protected":false,"block_version":0},"excerpt":{"raw":"Aaron Donald is naturally No. 1. Who else makes the list?","rendered":"\u003cp\u003eAaron Donald is naturally No. 1. Who else makes the list? \u003c/p\u003e\n","protected":false},"author":106269283,"featured_media":456697,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_external_permalink":"","usat_canonical_link":"","usat_coauthor":"","_format_video_embed":"","_lawrence_general_short_headline":"","_lawrence_general_bridge_headline":"","_lawrence_hide_on_homepage":"0","capi_sync_syndication_toggle":"0","jetpack_publicize_message":"LOOK: The NFL\u0027s best interior defenders, per Touchdown Wire","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[{"id":1880,"count":258,"description":"","link":"https://cardswire.usatoday.com/category/nfl/","name":"NFL","slug":"nfl","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https://cardswire.usatoday.com/wp-json/wp/v2/categories/1880"}],"collection":[{"href":"https://cardswire.usatoday.com/wp-json/wp/v2/categories"}],"about":[{"href":"https://cardswire.usatoday.com/wp-json/wp/v2/taxonomies/category"}],"wp:post_type":[{"href":"https://cardswire.usatoday.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts?categories\u003d1880"},{"href":"https://cardswire.usatoday.com/wp-json/wp/v2/imported?categories\u003d1880"},{"href":"https://cardswire.usatoday.com/wp-json/wp/v2/fishburn_gallery?categories\u003d1880"},{"href":"https://cardswire.usatoday.com/wp-json/wp/v2/listicle?categories\u003d1880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https://api.w.org/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1503,"count":379,"description":"","link":"https://cardswire.usatoday.com/category/rankings/","name":"Rankings","slug":"rankings","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https://cardswire.usatoday.com/wp-json/wp/v2/categories/1503"}],"collection":[{"href":"https://cardswire.usatoday.com/wp-json/wp/v2/categories"}],"about":[{"href":"https://cardswire.usatoday.com/wp-json/wp/v2/taxonomies/category"}],"wp:post_type":[{"href":"https://cardswire.usatoday.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts?categories\u003d1503"},{"href":"https://cardswire.usatoday.com/wp-json/wp/v2/imported?categories\u003d1503"},{"href":"https://cardswire.usatoday.com/wp-json/wp/v2/fishburn_gallery?categories\u003d1503"},{"href":"https://cardswire.usatoday.com/wp-json/wp/v2/listicle?categories\u003d1503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https://api.w.org/{rel}","templated":true}]}}],"tags":[1602,1364,2830],"permalink_template":"https://cardswire.usatoday.com/gallery/%pagename%/","generated_slug":"look-the-nfls-best-interior-defenders-per-touchdown-wire","jetpack_publicize_connections":[{"service_name":"twitter","display_name":"@senorjessroot","profile_picture":"https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/978081343132246021/7k-M-S3x.jpg","enabled":false,"done":false,"toggleable":false,"id":"16092675"}],"images":[{"src":"https://cardswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/2021/09/USATSI_16836574.jpg?w\u003d1000","caption":"","author":"Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports","date":"","id":456697,"title":"1. 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