It’s officially: as hinted at over the weekend, former Dolphin and Lions Ndamukong Suh has joined the Los Angeles Rams and will be playing alongside Aaron Donald.  Along with Michael Brockers, who has alternated between nose tackle and defensive end in the Rams 3-4 defense (after playing as a DT in the team’s 4-3 defense), the Rams now have the league’s most terrifying three-person defensive line.

On paper this is a tremendous signing, but there is some question over where Suh will line up and whether playing in a 3-4 defense alongside Donald really maximizes his value.  Which made me wonder: how often has a team had two former (or future) All-Pro defensive tackles? (Note: (the Eagles now have Haloti Ngata and Fletcher Cox, but Cox has “only” been a second-team All-Pro by the AP, although he was a first-team All-Pro in 2017 by the Sporting News and the Pro Football Writers Association).

It turns out, more often than you might think, although often it’s in a reserve role.  In fact, eight teams had three such players!

The 1996 Raiders started Russell Maryland and Chester McGlockton (1995 All-Pro) at defensive tackle, and had a 32-year-old Jerry Ball (1991 AP) and 22-year-old La’Roi Glover (2000 AP) on the bench! The 1992 Seahawks had Cortez Kennedy (1992-1994 AP) and Joe Nash (1984 AP) as starters on the inside, and an end-of-career Keith Millard (1988-1989 AP) on the bench for two games.

The other six: the 1984 49ers (Gary Johnson, Michael Carter, Louie Kelcher), 1981 Bears (Steve McMichael, Alan Page, Dan Hampton), 1974 Chiefs (Curley Culp, Buck Buchanan, Tom Keating), 1968 Chiefs (Buck Buchanan, Ernie Ladd, Curley Culp), and the 1964 and 1965 Bills (Tom Sestak, Jim Dunaway, Tom Keating).

The last time that a team had two former All-Pros on the same roster? Well, it happened twice in 2011 with Albert Haynesworth.  He began the season in New England, where he lined up next to Vince Wilfork. He was cut in mid-season and joins the Bucs, where he lined up next to Gerald McCoy. At that point in time, McCoy was not yet an All-Pro, but he would be two years later.

If we limit this to teams that had two players who had been or would be first-team Associated Press All-Pros at DT who also started at least eight games in that season, then this hasn’t happened in a decade. In 2008, Haloti Ngata and Trevor Pryce were on the Ravens, while Vince Wilfork and Richard Seymour were on the Patriots.

Among the most terrifying combinations in terms of both players actually being productive at the same time? Dan Hampton and Steve McMichael on the 1985-1986 Bears, Jerome Brown and Reggie White on the 1990 and 1991 Eagles, Louie Kelcher and Gary Johnson on the 1980 Chargers.

The table below lists all combinations where two former or future first-team All-Pro DTs according to the Associated Press were teammates and each started at least eight games. This includes a very similar Rams duo 50 years ago: