Who has the best defensive line in the ACC? This is a question our colleague Andrea Adelson attempted to answer a couple weeks ago and coming up with the following top five:

1. Clemson

2. Florida State

3. NC State

4. Miami

5. Wake Forest

While it’s tough to argue with her logic, given the big stars on Clemson’s line, the big talent on FSU’s and the ample experience of NC State’s terrific unit, let’s just say Miami fans felt a little under-appreciated. A typical response looked like this…

While those tweets may have lacked some nuance, it’s fair to ask if we did, in fact, undervalue just how good Miami’s defensive line is.

Now, we should note, this was about the line only, not the entire front seven. And, of course, last year’s numbers don’t necessarily translate to 2017, as players have moved on from each program. Moreover, this will always be something of a judgement call because it’s nearly impossible to separate the work of the D-line from the rest of the defense. For example, did the unit get a sack because it dominated the opposing line or because the secondary held up in coverage for so long?

Having said all that, let’s dig into the numbers in six specific categories that should put focus on the big boys up front:

Percentage of runs going for a loss or no gain

Rush yards allowed before first contact

Conversions allowed on third/fourth-and-short

QB pressure rate without blitzing

Sacks per pressure

Yards-per-dropback allowed on third-and-long

Obviously, there are other factors we could look at, but this provides a relatively well-rounded view of how the line performs in key areas.

So, how did Miami look using these metrics? Pretty darned good.

If we average out Miami’s rank among Power 5 schools in each of those six categories, it comes out to 18.83, which is ahead of Clemson (19.33), Florida State (20.0) and NC State (23.83).

(Of note, however, Virginia Tech would’ve nudged out Miami for the top spot in that group at 18.67.)

Given that Joe Jackson, Chad Thomas, Kendrick Norton and so many others are all back for 2017, it certainly does make for a compelling case to have the Hurricanes at No. 1.

There are counterarguments, of course. Miami was extremely strong against the run (No. 1 in Power 5 in runs going for loss/no gain and No. 3 in yards before contact), but not so much against the pass (No. 46 in non-blitz QB pressures). Miami's Power 5 ranked averaged out to No. 10 among the three rushing categories, but 27.6 in the three passing categories. Teams like Clemson and Virginia Tech, meanwhile, showed more versatility, despite not rising to quite the statistical highs of Miami in individual areas. The Tigers, for example, ranked in the top half of Power 5 defenses in all six categories — something FSU, Miami and NC State didn’t manage.

And, of course, there’s something to be said for things like strength of schedule, style of defense, NFL talent and more. In other words, the numbers alone don’t end the debate.

But after examining those numbers, it does seem like perhaps Miami’s D-line is a bit better than its first-glance appearance, and it certainly warrants consideration as one of the best units in the ACC and nationally.