Imagine that the most important part of your job were so difficult to accomplish that your boss would be happy if you succeeded once every 40 tries. What if you got a major bonus if you could do it twice that often? That’s life for an NFL pass rusher. The scarcity of sacks is what makes rushing the passer such a sought-after skill—one that’s probably second only to a quarterback’s ability to throw—and why the best players at the position are earning the same money as the league’s top wide receivers.
While most defensive jobs are centered on preventing offenses from creating explosive plays, edge rushers (and some defensive tackles) are on the field to create their own big plays. Of course, productive pass rushing doesn’t always result in a sack—and sack totals can be volatile from one season to the next. Still, in properly evaluating the league’s best rushers, it’s important to draw the line between the good and the great, because not every $20 million rusher is created equally.
Before we rank my favorite/the best units across the league, let’s put some high-profile pass rushers in their proper tiers. I’ve done this by tallying their pass-rush production over the past three seasons. To try to control for the influence of scheme, we’re evaluating only the snaps where their defense has a four-man pass rush.
The Dominators
This quartet comprises the best edge rushers in the NFL—and they are arguably the four most valuable defenders regardless of position. Each of them has the gravity of an NBA superstar; an offense can’t afford to assign just one player to try to block them, and the extra attention they demand creates opportunities for their teammates. None of them has turned 30 years old yet, meaning that for at least a couple more seasons, each of them looks like a smart bet to win Defensive Player of the Year.
Both Nick Bosa (2022 season) and Myles Garrett (2023) have won that award, and Micah Parsons has finished in the top three in voting each of the past three seasons. I see Maxx Crosby on the same level, but because his Raiders teams have not won a lot or played in as many big-time games, he might be the most underappreciated defensive player in the league.
The Winners
In this context, “winners” are the players who prove the defensive adage that disruption is production. Sack production for this type of rusher may fluctuate from season to season, but you can expect them to be near the top of the league in total pressures—which increases their chances of catching fire and racking up big sack numbers in short stretches. Khalil Mack was a great example of that in 2023, as he put up his first double-digit sack season since 2018 despite ranking top 20 in pressures in four of the past five years.
The Finishers
Finishers are what we can consider pass-rushing specialists—the guys who don’t always have to be the most impactful against the run (though some are) because of the value they provide for the pass defense. While I don’t wholly subscribe to the idea that converting pressures into sacks and quarterback knockdowns is a trait you can scout for, it’s hard to ignore that these guys have a knack for getting home—especially on third down.
The Anchors
Anchors have some similar qualities and production to the players in the winners and finishers tiers—but these players may be better slotted as a no. 2 rusher and at their best when paired with another elite rusher. Using Bradley Chubb as an example, he’s an excellent speed rusher when he’s healthy and available, but I don’t think we’ve seen enough out of him when he’s not playing alongside another premier rusher like Christian Wilkins.
Now that we’ve established some of the key individuals across the league, it’s time to line up the top 10 pass-rush units for 2024:
1. Cleveland Browns
Lead rusher: Myles Garrett
Supporting cast: Za’Darius Smith, Shelby Harris
Pass-rush style: Bigger, faster, stronger
Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is living in a pass-rush fever dream, lining up a pair of 6-foot-4, 270-plus-pound rushers in Garrett and Smith on the edges. Garrett is an anomaly of human engineering; he’s able to bend and change directions in a way that belies his size. When Garrett is using his size to tear around the edge, Smith uses his power rushes to crush the pocket and find cleanup sacks.
While I’m not considering blitzing as a factor in tiering individual pass rushers, it matters for units, and I’d be remiss not to acknowledge the role it played in the Browns’ dominance throughout last season. Getting linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah involved gave this defense more speed off the edge and allowed Smith and Garrett to work one-on-one—sometimes against woefully overmatched interior linemen. When the Browns blitzed in 2023, they ranked first in success rate, second in pressure rate, and third in sack rate.
2. Dallas Cowboys
Lead rusher: Micah Parsons
Supporting cast: DeMarcus Lawrence, Osa Odighizuwa
Pass-rush style: The 2012 Miami Heatles on a fast break
There is plenty of data to support the Cowboys’ ranking as one of the top pass-rush units, but all you need to do is turn on the film and experience how dangerous their speed can be. Parsons has made an All-Pro team and finished no worse than third in Defensive Player of the Year voting in each of his first three seasons in the NFL. He doesn’t have the signature spin move in his tool belt, but there’s an indomitable nature to his speed rushes that reminds me of Dwight Freeney—a Hall of Famer who, like Parsons, put up 40 sacks in his first three seasons.
Lawrence hasn’t been quite as impactful against the pass since breaking his foot in 2021, but at 31 years old last season, he still wound it up enough to finish top 50 in total pressures. He and Odighizuwa, a 26-year-old defensive tackle, have been effective disruptors on stunts and twists, combining for 21 quarterback hits and seven sacks last year, which would be akin to a high-level secondary rusher in the aggregate.
3. Las Vegas Raiders
Lead rusher: Maxx Crosby
Supporting cast: Christian Wilkins, Malcolm Koonce
Pass-rush style: The most annoyingly optimistic tryhard
If your favorite team has Las Vegas on its schedule, be prepared for its meticulously crafted dropback passing game to be folded like an origami crane … and suplexed for a drive-ending sack. Crosby’s game and career arc remind me of Vikings great Jared Allen. Crosby’s explosiveness is disruptive on its own, but it’s his undying motor that has helped him rack up so many pressures in the past few seasons. He was a one-man game-wrecking force, and adding elite defensive tackle Wilkins as a high-motor pocket crusher sets the floor for this pass-rushing unit ridiculously high.
In 2023, Wilkins led the league in quarterback hits and tied for second in total pressures among all players who lined up at defensive tackle, and Crosby was top 10 in the same statistic for edge rushers. All the extra attention that pair draws gives way for secondary rusher Koonce, who had eight sacks in 2023, to have another productive year with cleanup and second-effort pressures.
4. San Francisco 49ers
Lead rusher: Nick Bosa
Supporting cast: Javon Hargrave, Leonard Floyd
Pass-rush style: Pure craftsmanship, playing isolation basketball on turf
Kyle Shanahan’s two greatest returns on investment have been drafting Brock Purdy with the final pick in 2022 and hiring Kris Kocurek as his defensive line coach. Kocurek helped develop Bosa and maximized a rotating cast of secondary rushers, such as Clelin Ferrell, who had the most quarterback hits of his career in 2023; Samson Ebukam, who put up then-career highs in sacks and quarterback hits in 2022; and Arden Key, who set a career high in sacks in 2021. While this defensive line won’t have the same bullying quality without tackle Arik Armstead, who was cut in March and now plays for Jacksonville, a lineup of Bosa, Hargrave, and Floyd may give the 49ers the most complete combination of pass-rushing skill sets leaguewide.
Bosa has a rare combination of speed and technical mastery with his hands. Nobody else wins on the edge the way he does; he’s finished top five in total pressures and quarterback hits since 2021. Floyd’s comfort playing in zone coverage and setting edges in the run game has led him to wear many hats in the NFL, but he’s at his best as a speed rusher who can bend around the edge. That pair flanks Hargrave, who’s been excellent at pushing the pocket and winning with explosiveness and working angles throughout his career. Without Armstead to take on double-teams, this defense may struggle to stop the run—but I still expect it to be a terror on passing downs.
5. Houston Texans
Lead rusher: Will Anderson Jr.
Supporting cast: Danielle Hunter
Pass-rush style: Edge-rush physicists
I am so excited to see the combination of Hunter and Anderson in action. As a pair of sub-260-pound edge rushers with 4.6-second 40-yard dash times, Anderson and Hunter should be able to take their explosiveness and use it to be power rushers, creating muddy pockets for opposing quarterbacks and daring those passers to bail out and try to win a race to the line of scrimmage.
Houston’s head coach, DeMeco Ryans, loves to play zone coverage, and the way his pass rush is built makes me think he wants his unit to keep quarterbacks from extending plays longer than his back seven can hold up. I think Ryans was OK with essentially replacing Jonathan Greenard, who had 12.5 sacks for Houston last season, with a slightly older player in Hunter because the former Vikings star has been better at finishing his pressures with sacks—with 33 sacks and 54 hits since 2021 compared to Greenard’s 22 and 41, respectively. Since Anderson is entering only his second season, projecting the Texans to be an elite pass-rush unit is a bit of a gamble, but I’ve seen enough in Hunter’s career and believe in Anderson’s skill set enough to think they could rank among the top three in total pressures by the end of the season.
6. Pittsburgh Steelers
Lead rusher: T.J. Watt
Supporting cast: Alex Highsmith
Pass-rush style: The last edge-benders
If you believe that rushing the passer is an art, Watt and Highsmith should be high on your list of edges to watch on a weekly basis. When both guys are on a roll, they can be devastating for opposing quarterbacks who are waiting for receivers to break open against Pittsburgh’s stingy man coverage. Watt’s 38 quarterback hits and 19 sacks were both league-leading marks in 2023, and Highsmith finished top 20 in total pressures. The Steelers aren’t trying to trick anyone with simulated pressures or complicated coverage schemes, and you have to respect how effective Mike Tomlin’s straightforward approach has been for years. If nobody can hit their fastball, why should they throw a changeup?
7. Green Bay Packers
Lead rusher: Rashan Gary
Supporting cast: Preston Smith, Kenny Clark, Devonte Wyatt
Pass-rush style: The sweet science of heavyweight hand-fighting
This is another projection pick for me because Green Bay has struggled for years to find a defensive identity that fits the type of defensive linemen—very, very big ones—the Packers have drafted and signed. Gary always seems like he’s on the verge of an All-Pro season when he’s healthy, and playing within new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s simplified and aggressive scheme seems like the best chance to actualize his potential. Gary has grown as a technician and finisher over the past few seasons, with 59 quarterback hits since 2021—which ranks in the top 15 and makes him one of just two players to hit that mark with fewer than 1,000 pass-rushing snaps. Rushing mate Smith may be in a bit of a square peg–round hole situation in Hafley’s defense because he’s more of a pocket pusher than a winner on the edge—but defensive tackles Clark, Wyatt, and Karl Brooks should all benefit from the scheme change.
8. Cincinnati Bengals
Lead rusher: Trey Hendrickson
Supporting cast: Sam Hubbard, Sheldon Rankins
Pass-rush style: Speed rushers and pocket crushers
In an era when quarterbacks are better than ever at playing out of structure, it’s rare to see teams prioritize pure speed rushers over guys who can manipulate the pocket with power or a wide array of rush moves. What I love about Hendrickson as a rusher is his commitment to winning the edge without using many counters or inside moves, and he’s good enough at it that he should be considered among the best pure speed rushers in the NFL. The Bengals gave up explosive passes left and right last year—finishing bottom three in explosive pass rate and yards per attempt allowed—but still finished in the top half of the league in defensive expected points added on sacks thanks in large part to Hendrickson’s effectiveness on the edge, combined with how defensive play caller Lou Anarumo used Hubbard and his defensive tackles on stunts to keep quarterbacks trapped in the pocket.
9. Kansas City Chiefs
Lead rusher: Chris Jones
Supporting cast: George Karlaftis, Michael Danna
Pass-rush style: Pure synergy, rushing four as one
As long as Jones feels that his body can handle the rigors of an NFL season, this pass-rush unit will be good enough to contend for Super Bowls. Jones and the now-retired Aaron Donald were the gold standards of interior pass rushers over the past half decade, and Jones’s new $159 million deal comes with the responsibility of being the tide that lifts Karlaftis, Danna, and Felix Anudike-Uzomah to league-average pass-rush production. While Jones finished eighth in quarterback hits in 2023, Karlaftis and Danna each finished outside of the top 50. I’m banking on Jones and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to get the most out of these talented but raw prospects.
10. New York Jets
Lead rusher: Quinnen Williams
Supporting cast: Haason Reddick, Jermaine Johnson
Pass-rush style: Wild dogs, biding time to strike with speed
The Jets need to pay Reddick already; we deserve to see him and Williams, one of the league’s elite pass-rushing defensive tackles, crank into high gear on third downs this season. Williams, particularly, is one of the better cases of a player who can flip the switch on passing downs. The aggregate data since 2021 would suggest that he’s a good pass rusher only compared to other defensive tackles—but Wilkins ranks top 10 in pressures, quarterback hits, and sacks on third down in that span.
After the team lost Bryce Huff and John-Franklin Myers in the offseason, there will be some pressure on Johnson to finish better than both 63rd in quarterback hits and outside of the top 30 in total pressures. If he takes a step forward, though, this will be another unit with a high ceiling despite its lack of depth.
