2025 Best NFL Pass Rushers: Myles Garrett, T.J. Watt Lead Rankings

Every great NFL defense seems to have a top-tier pass rusher wreaking havoc on the field, but which ones are the very best?

We polled our FOX Sports NFL writers to answer that question, with each ranking the top 10 pass rushers in the league entering the 2025 season. The top two vote-getters are the exact same from last year’s top 10 list, and there are two brand-new names in the top 10.

So, let’s take a look at how our writers ranked the top 10 pass rushers in the league as we begin to unveil our top players at several positions before the 2025 season kicks off. 

2025 Best NFL Pass Rushers

Carmen Vitali: Verse may have been somewhat of an unknown throughout the season outside Los Angeles, but after winning Defensive Rookie of the Year, he has catapulted into the mainstream discourse and began solidifying himself as one of the league’s best defensive linemen. Verse only had 4.5 sacks last year, but he registered 18 QB hits, 11 tackles for loss and forced two fumbles. If that’s what Verse is capable of in his first year in the league, there’s no telling where his ceiling is going forward.

2024 rank: Unranked

Ben Arthur: After two strong seasons, Anderson is starting to get recognized as one of the league’s elite edge rushers. The reality is that he’s just now scratching the surface of how good he can be. The 23-year-old saw his sack total jump to 11.0 last season from 7.0 in 2023, when he won AP Defensive Rookie of the Year. He’s a high-motor player that’s very good in the run game as well (tied for ninth with 16 tackles for loss last season).

2024 rank: Unranked

Arthur: Hunter is on the wrong side of 30 — he turns 31 this season — but he’s still playing at an elite level late in his career. The former third-round pick has recorded double-digit sacks in each of the past three seasons, including 28.5 across the past two years with the Texans. He tied Micah Parsons for a league-best 19.1% pressure rate last season among qualified defensive linemen, according to Next Gen Stats.

2024 Rank: 7th (-1)

Eric D. Williams: Bosa remains a dominant force up front for San Francisco defensively. He finished with a team-leading 54 pressures and averaged the quickest pass rush get-off of his career (0.69 seconds) in 2024, per Next Gen Stats. However, the 27-year-old also averaged a career-low pressure rate of 15.3% last season, generating more than five pressures in a game twice last season after accomplishing that at least five times in every season he has played at least 10 games. Bosa’s 62.5 career sacks are third-most in 49ers franchise history.

2024 rank: 5th (-2)

Vitali: We saw the stress Hutchinson’s injury put on defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn in Detroit last season. After Hutch went down, the Lions blitz rate kept going up — it had to. They could no longer win at the line of scrimmage with just four without Hutchinson. That, in turn, put more stress on the secondary, and it’s no wonder the defense fell apart in their first postseason game, even after getting the first-round bye. Hutchinson was on a historic pace last year, too. At the rate he was going, he would have finished with 25.5 sacks if he had stayed healthy. There’s no doubt about his impact on this defense and his place among the NFL’s elite edge rushers. Here’s to hoping he’s fully healthy coming off injury this season.

2024 rank: 9th (+3)

Greg Auman: All the headlines are about his contract issues with Cincinnati, but he has had a remarkable second chapter to his NFL career there: four Pro Bowls in four years and 57.0 sacks. Since 2021, only Myles Garrett (60) and T.J. Watt (58.5) have more sacks. What’s incredible is that Hendrickson had 6.5 total sacks three years into his NFL career — the fewest total for any of the 45 players with 100 career sacks is William Fuller, who had 11.5. Hendrickson is 30, but needs only 23.0 sacks to join that fraternity — an easy two year’s work by his recent standards. If the Bengals want any shot at an improved defense to help them get back in the playoffs, it likely has to start with working something out with Hendrickson.

2024 rank: 8th (+3)

Henry McKenna: The 27-year-old missed time with an ankle injury last year but hasn’t fallen far in our rankings. I’m excited to see what head coach Pete Carroll can do with the elite edge player. It might just be a career year in the making for Crosby, who posted 14.5 sacks in his last full season in 2023. Could he be hunting for 20.0 this year?

2024 rank: 3rd (no change)

Ralph Vacchiano: He will likely get a new contract that makes him the highest-paid defensive player in the game, and with good reason. There might not be a more complete defender in the game today. Parsons’ sideline-to-sideline speed and pursuit are unmatched among linebackers. He can cover when necessary too. Even though he’s not turned loose as an edge rusher all the time, he’s great at it when he is. He’s had 52.5 sacks in his four seasons — including 12.0 in just 13 games last year. He’s a defensive weapon that every coach has to game-plan against, which isn’t easy because he can wreck offenses while lining up just about anywhere on the field.

2024 rank: 4th (+1)

Auman: Watt just got a massive, well-earned extension after leading the league in sacks three times over the past five years. He’ll likely pass his brother, J.J. Watt, in career sacks sometime this season, and with seven Pro Bowls, he’s a future Hall of Famer. There’s one glaring void in his résumé: postseason relevance. Only 30 players in NFL history have more sacks than Watt, and all of them have played more than his four career playoff games. Myles Garrett only has three, so Watt isn’t alone, but he deserves to not only make the playoffs but experience his first playoff win with Pittsburgh this season. Now, will he?

2024 rank: 2nd (no change)

Auman: Will Garrett end up as the next Joe Thomas, a Hall of Fame career spent without any real playoff experience in Cleveland? Garrett has had at least 14.0 sacks in four consecutive years, is already at 102.5 for his career and his new four-year, $160 million contract has him locked up in Cleveland through the 2030 season. Only two players in NFL history have more than 160 sacks, and he has a real shot at joining that group. Even 10.0 sacks a year through the end of his current contract would do that. Garrett boasts six Pro Bowls and four first-team All-Pro nods through his eight seasons, but will he ever see a conference championship game? That remains to be seen.

2024 rank: 1st (no change)

2024 NFL Positional Rankings

2025-26 NFL Defensive Player of the Year 

Aidan Hutchinson, Lions: +650 (bet $10 to win $75 total)
Micah Parsons, Cowboys: +750 (bet $10 to win $85 total)
Myles Garrett, Browns: +850 (bet $10 to win $95 total)
T.J. Watt, Steelers: +950 (bet $10 to win $105 total)
Will Anderson Jr., Texans: +1300 (bet $10 to win $140 total)
Jared Verse, Rams: +1500 (bet $10 to win $160 total)
Maxx Crosby, Raiders: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Nick Bosa, 49ers: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Jalen Carter, Eagles: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Trey Hendrickson, Bengals: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)

These rankings were compiled by:

Ben Arthur (@benyarthur)
Greg Auman (@gregauman)
Henry McKenna (@McKennAnalysis)
Eric D. Williams (@eric_d_williams)
Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano)
Carmen Vitali (@CarmieV)

Check out all of our Daily Rankers.

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