I dont agree with that low, but tbh makes sense.
Willfork is the best NT for the run in the league, he always takes two men and allow us to make a lot of different squemes with extra LB (wasting that chance with guys like Guyton, Ninkovich, Cunningham, etc, hope this season is different)
In a league were pass rush is that needed, makes some sense.
It's beyond a joke. I understand your point about the NFL being obsessed with the outside game and pass rushing, but it seriously underrates the impact that VW has on the defense and on games.
Up to 2009 you could have made an argument that Wilfork was a great 3-4 NT but was mainly limited by scheme and was a 2-down player. But in 2009-2010 we saw him showcase his athleticism and versatility by moving outside to 3-4 DE. And in 2011 Wilfork played 86.2% of the defensive snaps at 3-4 NT, 4-3 DT and 3-4 DE. He set career highs for sacks (3.5, previous high 2), interceptions (2, previous career total 0) and passes defended (5, previous high 2). He became a defensive playmaker. And his almost unique (except for Haloti Ngata) combination of size and athleticism allowed BB to re-design the entire defense around him, changing from a 2-gap 3-4 scheme to a hybrid scheme that mixes 2-gap and 1-gap concepts and 3-4 and 4-3 elements. And in addition to all of that he was a defensive captain and clearly established himself in 2011 as the inspirational and motivational leader of the defense.
81? It's not a joke. It's an obscenity.
I'm obviously a homer, but personally I'd rank Wilfork in my top dozen or so defensive players in the NFL along with Ngata and maybe Suh at DT, DEs Jared Allen, Jason Pierre-Paul, Julius Peppers and Mario Williams, OLB DeMarcus Ware, ILB Patrick Willis, S Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu and CB Darrelle Revis. That's obviously a subjective list and there's another half dozen or so guys who could make an argument for inclusion, but I'd conservatively say that VW should be definitely considered a top 20 defensive player, and top 40-50 overall.
Frankly, it's more an indictment of the Pats defense than anything else. If the defense had performed better overall I think Wilfork would have been "ranked" much higher.