19. Geno Atkins, DT, Bengals

The Bengals' Geno Atkins can get to the quarterback with strength and leverage.

Doug Farrar | Jun 22, 2016

19. Geno Atkins, DT, Bengals /

What is it with the NFL and short defensive tackles? No matter how many of them come into the league and thrive, they always seem to be underrated and underdrafted. The 6’ 1", 286-pound Atkins was taken in the fourth round of the 2010 draft because he was moved all over the line at Georgia, and there were concerns about his intensity and consistency. But Atkins tore it up from his first summer with the Bengals and has only gotten better from there. Last year, he showed he had totally recovered from the torn ACL he suffered two seasons before with 11 sacks and a ton of pressures. Atkins can get to the quarterback with strength and leverage, but he has also developed a devastating rip move he uses to get past blockers at the line of scrimmage. When he turns on the speed to the pocket, it’s all over.

Published Jun 22, 2016

DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.