Weren't you the guy who once said its not worth investing up the middle of a defense, but only on the outside?
I got caught up in the hype and have since returned to my roots regarding the DL. Size, power, and talent i.o.w "the Planet Theory" are paramount at at least one DT position.
Ware more than anyone else convinced me. He was statistically dominant and everything you could ask for in a DE, yet Dallas never had a dominant defense during his tenure. Meanwhile monsters like Richard Seymour, Vince Wilfork, and Casey Hampton ensured strong defense in New England and Pittsburgh for years.
I was wrong regarding the DL-- it's inside out, not outside in.
Even a half yard of penetration by a NT, 1-technique, or 5-technique gets multiplied by every surrounding DL and every player behind him all the way back to the secondary, and every half yard pushed backwards has a similar negative effect.
The negative cost of a Nick Hayden to a defense can't be described in stats. You could have Ware and Peppers in their prime on the ends, but if the middle is soft you become average. Like 2008 where we lead the league in sacks but weren't a playoff team.