Ranking the NFL's top edge rushers: Execs, coaches...
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- Myles Garrett swept every ballot at No. 1 after an NFL-record 23 sacks and 33 tackles for loss in 2025, with 47 of his 125.5 career sacks coming when his team trailed (third-most since individual sacks became official in 1982).
- Micah Parsons held at No. 2 despite a December ACL tear, owning 315 pressures since 2021 (23 more than any NFL player in that span) and a 24.6% pass rush win rate while facing double-teams on 37.8% of attempts.
- Will Anderson Jr. surged from No. 8 to No. 3 with 30 sacks in three seasons and 43 incompletions caused in 2025, leading Houston to commit to a three-year, $150 million extension.
- T.J. Watt tumbled from No. 2 to No. 7 after missing three late-season games with a partially collapsed lung caused by a dry needling incident, posting the lowest pass rush win rate (11.7%) among the top 10.
- Aidan Hutchinson rose to No. 5 with 14.5 sacks and 63 pressures in his comeback from a serious leg injury, becoming the first player since 1982 with 40-plus sacks and 5-plus interceptions through his first four seasons.
- Danielle Hunter climbed from No. 9 to No. 6 as voters belatedly recognized his late-career production, his 54 sacks over the past four years trailing only Garrett's 67.
- Nick Bosa dropped from No. 5 to No. 8, with several voters conceding he would rank higher if not for a torn ACL.
- Voters said Maxx Crosby's nonstop motor makes him a 'pain in the ass all game' but flagged his surgically repaired knee as a durability concern, after Baltimore nixed a trade for him in March over those worries.
Why it matters: Garrett's unanimous selection cements his case as the league's premier defender entering his age-31 season, while the reshuffling at the top — Watt falling out of the top five after a freak injury, Bosa sliding on an ACL tear — signals a shifting pass-rush hierarchy that could shape defensive matchups across both conferences in 2026.
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