2024 10 Best NFL defensive ends: Myles Garrett, T.J. Watt lead rankings

By FOX Sports NFL Staff
Updated Aug 21, 2024 8:24 pm ET

The NFL season is quickly approaching, and many players are looking to make names for themselves this year. With that being said, the FOX Sports NFL Staff has been rolling out its position rankings.

We've already completed off-ball linebackers and cornerbacks, and now it's time to move on to one of the most pivotal positions on defense — pass rushers. Our NFL staff listed its 10 best in order heading into the 2024 season. A first-place vote merited 10 points in our methodology and descended from there, down to a single point for 10th place. We then combined the scores to determine our rankings. 

Of the eleven players that cracked the list, a whopping four of them are making an appearance for the first time, while the other six made it last season. Myles Garrett was voted the top edge rusher by a wide margin, receiving a first place vote from six of our seven writers. T.J. Watt also dominated the votes, finishing with 58 total points behind Garrett's 69.

Here are the NFL's best pass rushers. 

2024 Best NFL Defensive Ends

1. Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns

Henry McKenna: "Myles is the best defensive end in football," said Joel Bitonio, who has played guard and tackle for the Browns.

There’s no edge defender that you can set and forget quite like Garrett. He does everything you could possibly want. He’s as big, quick, fast and strong as you could possibly need. He’s sort of old school: a true defensive end. And therefore, he doesn’t quite get as much love as Micah Parsons, who is a more versatile and flashy toy in Dallas. Garrett has also never had more than 16 sacks in a season, which is tough when we think of the truly great pass-rushers as logging 20 or more. But if you don’t think he’s the best in the NFL, you’re probably not watching him close enough. Garrett is reliable, productive and generally unstoppable.

"Myles is an alien," Browns defensive tackle Mo Hurst said, "so he just does alien stuff all the time."

2023 rank: 3 (+2)

2. T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers

McKenna: He led the NFL in sacks. Let’s start there. He took the quarterback down 19 times. Crazy thing is, that total isn’t his career-best. He posted 22.5 sacks in 2021. But in 2023, Watt also tied his career-best in tackles (68). He’s a menace as a rusher. But here’s the other headache with Watt.

"There's no other defensive lineman that I have to treat like a DB [defensive back]," Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said. "Like I have to be conscious about where he is at, because he is just going to jump up and catch it. There's nobody else that can do that. … You have to be very alert for him in the pass game, which is very unique, I would say."

Watt had eight pass breakups last year and has averaged one interception per season. He interferes with the passing game in more way than one.

2023 rank: 4 (+2)

3. Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders

Eric D. Williams: Crosby is the unquestioned defensive leader of the Raiders, and he’s developed into one of the most productive pass rushers in the league during his five NFL seasons. Since he entered the league in 2019, Crosby’s 52 sacks is No. 5 among all players. Even more impressive, Crosby has been effective in "got-to-have-it" moments for Las Vegas. According to Next Gen Stats, since 2019, only Myles Garrett (124) has more quarterback pressures in the fourth quarter and overtime than Crosby (120).

2023 rank: 5 (+2)

4. Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys

Ralph Vacchiano: The beauty of the 25-year-old Parsons is that he’s been one of the NFL’s best overall defenders in each of his three NFL seasons, and it still feels like the Dallas Cowboys haven’t really turned him loose. He has 40.5 sacks over those three seasons and based on the numbers, he probably should have more. Pro Football Focus has him with more than 100 total quarterback pressures over the last two seasons, and he led all edge rushers in pressure rate and finished second in pass-rush win rate last season. Probably the only reason he doesn’t have 20 sacks per season is that he’s asked to do so much more. He’s a strong run defender and good in coverage, too. Plus, offenses are constantly trying to run plays away from him, which with his speed proves to be impossible. He’s finished in the top three in voting for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in each of his three seasons. It’s only a matter of time before he wins.

2023 rank: 2 (-2)

5. Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers

Williams: The highest-paid edge rusher in the league, Bosa remains the engine that leads San Francisco’s potent pass rush. However, his 10.5 sacks in 2023 was Bosa’s lowest output in the past three seasons. While the sacks weren’t there, Bosa still affected the quarterback last season. According to Next Gen stats, Bosa generated 91 pressures in 2023, the third-most in the NFL. Unlike last year when he was going through contract negotiations and missed training camp, Bosa fully participated in offseason work and training camp this year, believing that will help him get off to a fast start in 2024.

2023 rank: 1 (-4)

6. Josh Hines-Allen, Jacksonville Jaguars

Ben Arthur: If it wasn’t for the Jaguars’ collapse down the stretch of last season, Hines-Allen likely would’ve been in the AP Defensive Player of the Year conversation. He was that good in a contract year (he inked a five-year, $141.2 million extension in April, the largest in Jacksonville’s history before Trevor Lawrence’s deal).

Hines-Allen set a single-season franchise record 17.5 sacks, seven more than his previous career-high and tied for second in the league. He was a force against the run as well (his 17 tackles for loss tied for seventh in the NFL).

The No. 7 overall pick in 2019, Hines-Allen is one of the most complete edge rushers in football, and playing alongside an ascending Travon Walker manning the opposite end for the Jags along with a defensive-line specialist in Ryan Nielsen as the new defensive coordinator, the former Kentucky star is poised to continue rising in 2024.

2023 rank: unranked

7. Danielle Hunter, Houston Texans

Arthur: For as dominant as Hunter has been throughout his career, it feels like he’s slid under the radar a bit. That should change in Houston, which boasts one of the NFL’s most hyped teams entering 2024 and is a legit Super Bowl contender. He joins the Texans — his hometown team — coming off a career-high 16.5 sacks in his age-29 season with the Minnesota Vikings, and will now join forces with reigning AP Defensive Rookie of the Year Will Anderson Jr., one of the top young edge rushers in football. A true pass-rush specialist, Hunter has 62 sacks since 2018, fifth in the NFL in that span. He paced the NFL with 23 tackles for loss in 2023.

2023 rank: 10 (+3)

8. Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati Bengals

Greg Auman: Hendrickson, 29, has been free-agent gold for the Bengals, making the Pro Bowl in each of three seasons since arriving from the Saints. Cincinnati gambled in 2021 that his 13.5 sacks with the Saints wasn't an outlier, and he's validated that each year, never more so than with a career-best 17.5 sacks in 2023.

He's also turned sacks into turnovers, with three forced fumbles in each of his three seasons in Cincinnati — that ties for second-most in the NFL since 2021, one behind T.J. Watt. Sacks in the last four years? He has 53, third-most behind Watt and Myles Garrett. He's under contract for two more years, having added a $21 million extension to his original deal, and as the Bengals try to bounce back with a healthy Joe Burrow in 2024, he'll lead the defensive side of that rebound.

2023 rank: unranked

9. Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit Lions

Carmen Vitali: The Lions have spent the last two years trying to fill out the defensive side of the ball, because the secondary specifically has been bitten in a bad way by the injury bug. Despite not having a ton of support from the back level, Hutchinson has still been incredibly effective up front. He had the fifth-most pressures among qualified pass rushers last season with 83, according to Next Gen Stats. He paired that with 11.5 sacks, giving him 21 through his first two seasons as a pro. Hutch was doing all of this as the focal point of the Lions’ defense. He’s come out of the gate as a ready-made pass rusher and has lived up to his first-round selection already.

2023 rank: unranked

T-10. Khalil Mack, Los Angeles Chargers

Vitali: No, Mack isn’t the player he was when he broke out with the Bears in 2015, tallying 15 sacks and earning a Pro Bowl nod and All-Pro honors. He’s not the player he was in 2015, where he earned both honors again after a 12.5-sack season. But on a subpar Chargers team, after four seasons under 10 sacks, Mack had 17 sacks for Los Angeles last season. That’s insane, even when you consider that six of those sacks came in Week 4 against the Las Vegas Raiders. Mack has also been this productive with Joey Bosa, who is supposed to bookend the Chargers’ defensive line, being hurt for a majority of the past two seasons. Mack may be 33 years old, but he is still the anchor for L.A. and deserves to make this list for his resurgent 2023 season.

2023 rank: unranked

T-10. Haason Reddick, New York Jets

Vacchiano: The 29-year-old current New York Jet is on this list for one big reason — it’s hard to argue with his production. His 50.5 sacks over the past four seasons is fourth most in the NFL, and his 27 over the last two seasons (both in Philadelphia) ranks third. When he’s turned loose and not constantly double-teamed, he can pressure the quarterback, period, with his speed and array of moves. He’s not very good in coverage, but he’s been good enough against the run that he’s been a three-down player during his time with the Eagles. He’d probably be higher on the list if he didn’t have a drop-off late last season. He had just 2.5 sacks in the last eight games, including the playoffs. That’s not great, considering he’s currently holding out and trying to become the highest-paid edge rusher in the game.

Honorable mentions: 

Matthew Judon, Atlanta Falcons

Montez Sweat, Chicago Bears

Brian Burns, Carolina Panthers

2024 NFL Positional Rankings

These rankings were compiled by:

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