U-M's 2020 All-NFL Team: Brady Still No. 1, But Several Youngsters Impress; ONWENU, DPJ, JABRILL etc. JABRILL PEPPERS - He put together by far the best season of his NFL career in 2020, recording 91 tackles, 2.5 sacks, eight tackles for loss, 11 passes defended, one interception he returned six yards, one fumble recovery and a forced fumble.
Peppers' 91 tackles, 2.5 sacks, eight TFLs and 11 passes defended were all career-highs. The New Jersey native's 91 stops finished as the third most on the Giants' defense, despite the fact he missed one game with an ankle sprain.
Peppers was an easy selection for this category, although Jarrod Wilson of the Jaguars at least deserves a shout out as well (69 tackles and an interception in just 12 games). Cornerback — Jourdan Lewis (Dallas Cowboys)
Lewis turned into a bonafide starter for Dallas this year, starting 13 games after only starting 13 throughout his first three years with the club. He also set new career-highs in tackles (59) and tackles for loss (seven).
The Detroit native's 59 tackles finished as the third most on Dallas' defense, while his seven stops behind the line of scrimmage checked in second. Lewis earned the nod for this category in a landslide, with Brandon Watson of the Jacksonville Jaguars and David Long of the Los Angeles Rams being the only other two Michigan cornerbacks who appeared in an NFL game this season. Linebacker — Rashan Gary (Green Bay Packers) The options were very limited at linebacker, especially with Devin Bush of the Steelers tearing his ACL and missing all but five games. Gary nevertheless put together respectable statistics while starting four of the 15 outings he played in, racking up 34 tackles, five sacks, five tackles for loss, one pass defended and one fumble recovery.
His 2020 stats were substantially better than the rookie numbers he posted in 2019, which saw him register two sacks and three tackles for loss. Gary's five sacks finished as the second most on Green Bay's roster this past season. Defensive Tackle — Mo Hurst (Las Vegas Raiders). There weren't many candidates to choose from in this category, with Hurst and the Seattle Seahawks' Bryan Mone being the two primary contenders. We ultimately settled on Hurst after he tallied 27 tackles, half a sack, one pass defended and one tackle for loss for the Raiders.
He only started three of the 11 games he played in in what was a bit of an injury-plagued 2020 campaign. The ailments caused his numbers to take an unsurprising dip from the first two years of his pro tenure, after he accumulated four sacks as a rookie in 2018 and 3.5 in 2019. Defensive end — Brandon Graham (Philadelphia Eagles He had one of the best seasons of his NFL career, registering 46 tackles, eight sacks, 13 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery while starting all 16 games for the Eagles.
Graham's eight sacks finished tied for 21st in the NFL and his 13 tackles for loss were deadlocked for 23rd. His eight quarterback takedowns were also the third most he had ever compiled in a season.
The 32-year old's impressive campaign earned him his first-ever Pro Bowl bid at season's end. Offensive Line — Michael Onwenu (New England Patriots) Michigan has a plethora of linemen in the NFL who had stellar seasons (Mason Cole of the Arizona Cardinals, Graham Glasgow of the Denver Broncos, Cesar Ruiz of the New Orleans Saints, etc.), but a rookie in Mike Onwenu topped them all.
He started all 16 games for the Patriots and played every offensive snap in each of the team's final 14 contests. The versatility Onwenu displayed was also impressive, with the Detroit native starting at three different spots on New England's offensive line — 12 times at right tackle, two times at left guard and twice at right guard.
Onwenu was widely viewed as one of the best rookies in the NFL in 2020. Quarterback — Tom Brady (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) He completed 65.7 percent of his passes and threw for 4,633 yards, 40 touchdowns
