DE Leonard Little continued his transformation into one of the best pass-rushing defensive ends in the NFL in 2002 as he finished with a career-high 82 tackles (45 solo) in his first year as a starter.

The fifth-year Tennessee product led the Rams in sacks for the second consecutive season with 12.0 (tied for fourth in NFC, tied for seventh in NFL), including his season-high two sacks in the season-finale vs. San Francisco 12/31. In that game against the 49ers, Little set a team-record with three forced fumbles, giving him a franchise-record nine for the season, surpassing David (Deacon) Jones’ six in 1968.

Little surpassed his previous career-high of six tackles three times in 2002 – seven vs. New York Giants 9/15, eight vs. Seattle 10/20, 10 vs. Chicago 11/18. Little, who had at least one sack in 11 games this season, also finished with a team-high 36 QB pressures, team-high 10 tackles for loss, one fumble recovery, and three special teams tackles.

NFC SACK LEADERS

Player, Team -Sacks
Simeon Rice, TB - 15.5
Andre Carter, SF - 12.5
Hugh Douglas, PHI - 12.5
Leonard Little, STL- 12.0
Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, GB -12.0
Julius Peppers, CAR - 12.0

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