All-NFC South Team of 2010s: Saints rival Gerald McCoy headlines DT's

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All-NFC South Team of 2010s: Saints rival Gerald McCoy headlines DT's

John Sigler, Saints Wire · Saints Wire

Fri, Jul 17, 2026 ·

4 min read

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The New Orleans Saints were shut out of the defensive tackles on our All-NFC South Team of the 2010s, but that might say more about how talented their rivals were than their own shortcomings. The division's trenches were dominated by guys like Gerald McCoy , a six-time Pro Bowler with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , while both the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons had their own standouts. Let's run through the list.

Methodology

One key stat we're relying on is Approximate Value from Pro Football Reference , which PFR defines as "an attempt to put a single number on the seasonal value of a player at any position from any year." In practice, that means giving higher numbers to player who start more games, play more snaps, and do more to help their team win by racking up yards, scoring touchdowns, creating turnovers and sacking quarterbacks, and so on. We're also assigning point values to being named a first-team All-Pro (ten points), second-team All-Pro (five points), and Pro Bowler (three points). And then we're adding those numbers together. Remember, these are all-decade teams for the NFC South, which didn't exist until 2002, and only contributions on the four teams in the division factor into our formula. So Drew Brees earning a Pro Bowl nod with the San Diego Chargers in 2005 doesn't help him, for example.

First team: Gerald McCoy

Dec 11, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy (93) warms up prior to the game against the New Orleans Saints at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

Team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2010 to 2018) and Carolina Panthers (2019)
AV:83
Awards:All-Pro first team (1), All-Pro second team (2), Pro Bowler (6)
Score:121

McCoy set a gold standard for the rest of the division's defensive linemen, racking up 59.5 career snaps with a streak of seasons with five or more every year from 2012 to 2019. He lived up to his billing as the third overall pick in the 2010 draft, finishing his Bucs career with 140 quarterback hits in 123 games before turning in a solid encore with the Panthers in 2019. It's a shame the Saints couldn't recruit him after his time in Tampa Bay ran out (McCoy often trained with Drew Brees in the offseason and signed with Carolina on a one-year, $8 million deal) but he remains one of the NFC South's best defenders of his generation.

First team: Kawann Short

Dec 24, 2016; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers defensive tackle Kawann Short (99) sacks Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) in the second quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Team:Carolina Panthers (2013 to 2019)
AV:44
Awards:All-Pro second team (1), Pro Bowler (2)
Score:55

Injuries brought his career to an end after eight seasons, but Short was one of the NFL's most disruptive interior linemen during his peak from 2015 to 2018. He generated 47 tackles for loss across those four years and was chosen for the 2018 Pro Bowl despite appearing in just 14 games. Short gave the Panthers a foundational building-block for their 2015 Super Bowl run, and while he may not have been a headliner like Luke Kuechly or Thomas Davis , he did a lot to set those linebackers up for impact plays.

Second team: Grady Jarrett

Oct 13, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Atlanta Falcons defensive end Grady Jarrett (97) celebrates making a tackle in the second quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Team:Atlanta Falcons (2015 to 2019)
AV:27
Awards:All-Pro second team (1), Pro Bowler (1)
Score:35

Jarrett suffered a bizarre fall in the 2015 draft but went on to assert himself as one of the Falcons' most important defensive players, ending his 10-year career with the dirty birds with nearly as many quarterback hits (126) as games started (137, appearing in 152 regular season games in total). We'll see him again on the All-2020s Team. But there arguably wasn't a better defensive lineman in the NFC South than Jarrett to close out this decade.

Second team: Jonathan Babineaux

Nov 29, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons defensive end Jonathan Babineaux (95) is shown on the bench in the fourth quarter of their game against the Minnesota Vikings at the Georgia Dome. The Vikings won 20-10. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Team:Atlanta Falcons (2010 to 2016)
AV:34
Awards:N/A
Score:34

Babineaux spent his entire 12-year career in Atlanta, playing a key role on some very frustrating Falcons teams -- including their 2016 squad that seemed destined to win it all. This last spot on the second team came down between Babineaux and Carolina Panthers first-round pick Star Lotulelei (they had the same score), but we gave Babineaux an edge for having more sacks (13.0 against 11.5), tackles for loss (46 to 28), forced fumbles (5 to 2) and interceptions (3 to none). He may have gotten to play in more games (107 to Lotulelei's 76, a difference of 503 defensive snaps) but Babineaux made more impact plays, too.

Honorable mention: Star Lotulelei

ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 28: Matt Ryan #2 of the Atlanta Falcons is tackled by Star Lotulelei #98 of the Carolina Panthers in the second half at the Georgia Dome on December 28, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Team:Carolina Panthers (2013 to 2017)
AV:34
Awards:N/A
Score:34

Lotulelei still deserves mention; he averaged 38.2 defensive snaps per game through five years in Carolina compared to 31.8 snaps per game in Babineaux's seven seasons as a Falcon during this decade. While he didn't sign an extension with the Panthers, it said a lot that Sean McDermott brought him to Buffalo in 2018 after having drafted him as Carolina's defensive coordinator. Lotulelei was more of an every-down defender and proved himself to be a quality pro after eight years in the NFL.