- 7/9/2025
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00:00ESPN kind enough to drop the edge rushers this morning the top 10 edge rushers in the NFL
00:07accord is an annual ritual this is an annual vote that they do among 70 voters okay so there's the
00:13total number 70 that's a pretty big sample 70 voters and the constituency is coaches scouts
00:19and executives around the NFL and they vote on their top 10 at each position and ESPN is uh is
00:26dropping the uh the the final tabulations of the votes one position per day uh all the way up
00:32through so they're running backs they did that Monday um Joe Mixon made the made the list on on
00:38Monday he's the ninth best running back according to these voters nobody on the Texans made the
00:44defensive tackle list we talked about that earlier this morning um let's go with the edge rushers here
00:49Seth and the you and I both predicted that Daniil Hunter and Will Anderson would find their way on
00:55to the top 10 on this list you and I just as we predicted that the Astros would not play down
01:00to the level of their competition it's true yeah yes yes so we're due today of many it's been a week
01:05of many predictions we're due we're due to do any better on this Sean did we do any better on this
01:09one let's check all right let's count them let's count them count them up uh we'll start we'll start
01:14at the top number one is Miles Garrett uh of the Cleveland Browns he's the number one edge rusher
01:19in football yeah got no issues with that and when they call it edge rusher they're you know that
01:24that's the position these days for those that don't haven't realized the transition yeah so it's
01:29that it's not just grading them on their pass rushing ability it's how good are these guys in
01:33their position of edge rush that's right um number two T.J. Watt who is in a bitter contract dispute with
01:40the with the uh Pittsburgh Steelers right now I might have ranked him a little bit lower than some of
01:44these other guys that are coming up um and it'll be interesting if he goes into a different scheme
01:49that where like Miles Garrett got a lot of guff for pointing out that you know Garrett has to do it on
01:56his own more than T.J. Watt does the Steelers will blitz a lot and create more one-on-ones for T.J. Watt
02:01than Miles Garrett gets so I actually agreed with Miles I don't know if I would have said it if I were him
02:07um but and I would so but T.J. Watt definitely still a top five yeah his highest ranking was
02:14number one his lowest ranking was three so everybody had him everybody had him in their
02:19top three when he was and he kind of slowed down in the second half of the season but I think that's
02:23when people are looking at the entire situation in Pittsburgh and saying well it was just a weird
02:28year in Pittsburgh yep uh Micah Parsons number three on the list Dallas Cowboys uh he too was highest
02:35ranking one lowest ranking of six for Micah Parsons among the 70 voters who voted in this he's got
02:41the highest double team rate uh amongst the edge rushers on this list so I mean he commands the most
02:47attention of all these guys and still still does a does a pretty damn good job of providing pressure
02:53number four Max Crosby Las Vegas Raiders like Parsons Seth highest ranking one so there's at least
03:01one voter out there that thinks Crosby is the best of all these maybe more uh lowest
03:05ranking of six for Max Crosby who've briefly reset the market for uh non-quarterbacks yeah and uh
03:12until the Browns had to until the Browns had to whore themselves out for Miles Garrett
03:16Brown said who Miles Garrett just wanted to win remember he just went away he just wants to be
03:22a Cleveland Brown he just wanted to win and then the Browns would go on to create just a quagmire of
03:26a mess of a disaster at quarterback in the offseason to to uh in their efforts to go help him win him
03:32that clearly win that Super Bowl yeah yeah so Crosby at four I don't have a problem with any
03:36of these so far I don't okay so this is where we get into um if people start I I get it if people
03:41start getting peeved about Will Anderson not being above any of these guys I think there's very real
03:46reasons and uh that that he's not ranked above these guys yet but these next Will Anderson is very
03:54very close to them yeah very close there's just a couple things have to come in order for him uh for
03:59him to surpass these guys here they are number five on the list Nick Bosa San Francisco 49ers
04:05highest ranking he got was three there was at least one person that left him off their ballot
04:10entirely unranked Bosa Bosa's an interesting one because I it's funny Bosa's one of those guys where
04:16in your mind you feel like he's injured all the time but he actually hasn't missed that many games
04:20but he feels like he's affected by injuries at times yeah so he has and recognizing that sacks don't
04:26tell the whole story you know in the last couple years he's had ten and a half sacks and nine sacks
04:31so his production his production isn't quite as great as what I think he's capable of yeah um number
04:38six yet another contract dispute going on right now Trey Hendrickson Cincinnati Bengals like Bosa highest
04:46ranking among the voters three and there were voters that left him off the ballot entirely he led the
04:51league in sacks last year yeah so Hendrickson's a classic guy where you can't quite figure out why
04:57he's so good but he just produces produces produces he doesn't look like any of these other guys like
05:02he's got a very yeah they've got a white guy guy body it's not a white guy no it's like he just
05:06doesn't he doesn't he looks like a skinny defensive tackle yeah yeah yeah who's the and doesn't have
05:12any of the uh accoutrements like gloves or wristbands or anything like he's just got bare arms football
05:17player he's just a football player I want to go want me want hit that yeah yeah yeah yeah which gives
05:24him a little bit of a duke point guard feel to me to where I hate him I hate this white guy
05:30love him I hate him I hate him I do think that I think that will when it comes to um to Max Crosby
05:41Nick Bosa and Trey Hendrickson yeah I think Will Anderson's upside in terms of explosiveness and
05:47potential for physical domination both the run game especially in the run game as well as being a
05:52pass rusher I think Will's very close to surpassing those guys Bosa it's a matter of I mean I I like
05:59Bosa as a comp for Will in a lot of ways but I think Will is more conscientious against the run than
06:05Bosa is so that's where I'd say those those three guys Crosby Bosa and Hendrickson Will is very very
06:12close to them the one big difference between Will and Hendrickson and Crosby yeah it's simply being on
06:19the field more yeah because those guys those guys both if I recall properly had about 150 to 200 snaps
06:25more more than Will Anderson had this year so when it comes to just looking at the counting stats part
06:30of it is just Will figuring out a way to keep his ankles healthy and be out there for 17 games yeah
06:35I'm okay with that like I it'd be fun for these accolades and to pile up the counting stats that
06:40will yeah played the same number of snaps if you got depth that you feel comfortable with putting it out
06:45there and it keeps Will fresher for later in the season it keeps him out of harm's way for 100 or
06:50200 snaps I'm totally cool with that number seven we still haven't gotten to Will Anderson or Daniil
06:54Hunter yet number seven these are the best edge rushers according to 70 executives coaches and scouts
07:00as tabulated by ESPN.com number seven is Aiden Hutchinson the Detroit Lions who had his season cut
07:07short last year by a gruesome broken leg injury he missed 12 games because of that injury
07:13uh I can't argue with him being ahead of Will Anderson I'm surprised that it feels like Aiden
07:18Hutchinson got knocked for his injuries by some of the voters because some voters had him unranked yeah
07:24um where others said that he would have been defensive player of the year if he hadn't got
07:28injured I think the biggest thing with Aiden Hutchinson was you could see him as soon as he got
07:32injured the Lions had to change their complete style of play calling Aaron Glenn had to call way more
07:37blitzes than he typically does because that's he he has that much of an effect on a on an offense and
07:43they lost so many guys you know like that that Lions defense got racked with injuries that they
07:48finished 15 and 2 is really is somewhat remarkable his his pass rush win rate the next close it was
07:5635 so don't worry if you don't know whether that's good or not the next closest one in pass rush win
08:02weight was Daniil Hunter who finished nine percentage points below him at 21 uh or uh 26 26 wow uh like it
08:11was he was playing that well before he got in yep yep um so he yeah he was playing he had seven and a
08:18half sacks through five games when he got hurt so he's number seven on the list here we go number eight
08:24will Anderson jr who was ranked as high as six by at least one voter unranked once you start to get
08:32in the back end of the top 10 unranked is the lowest ranking for all these guys he was honorable mention
08:36last year in this exercise he finishes eighth here's what they're saying about him Seth an AFC executive
08:42said this he's got a complete skill set and he's only getting better only two years in the league
08:48he'll keep improving an NFL personnel evaluator said what I have a lot of glaring weaknesses he can rush
08:55set a hard edge and play the run yeah it's hard to find holes in his game yeah his uh his willingness
09:02to play the run especially when it comes to high like high output defensive ends that's that's not
09:09always a given that right give it give a damn about the run but then his physicality in the run game
09:14that that's why I think he probably gets the notch above Daniel Hunter I bet most most voters on
09:19this list probably think Daniel Hunter is a better pure pass rusher but Will's Will's the complete
09:26package like the one guy said what I like about him is he doesn't have a lot of glaring weaknesses
09:31he can rush set a hard edge and play the run um with Will I I am very comfortable with him being
09:38eighth on this list because I do think he's gotta he's gotta continue on the track he was on last year
09:42and he's just he is right at the heels of those guys in front of him it's just a matter of staying
09:47healthy and continuing to work on the things he's worked on number nine his alone his jump from year
09:52one to year two there was a lot that he had to really refine this year it's he's got a few things
09:59that he just needs to continue to refine yep uh number nine right next to his teammate Daniel Hunter
10:04is number nine like Will Anderson highest ranking of six lowest ranking unranked and they say this many
10:11will argue that Hunter is Houston's best is Houston's best pass rusher over Anderson who has
10:17advantages in upside and age and again this exercise the instructions for the voters in this
10:22was who is the best in 2025 not who's going to be the best for the next two or three years or who
10:27would you rather have long term it's who's the best this year so they're right next to each other
10:31they list a bunch of this just pointed out Daniel Hunter 26 percent in pass rush win rate second only
10:38to Aiden Hutchinson caused a bunch of incompletions ranked first in pass rush wins um and and had
10:46double digit sacks again here's what they're saying about him an AFC executive said this that's why they
10:51call him cyborg he's always been an incredible athlete and he's learned to expand his pass rush ability
10:56and can win in a variety of ways another executive says this he can get a few more double digit sack
11:02seasons he has the body type that will age well and yeah I like uh that they brought up the cyborg
11:07the nickname because it reminded me that wait a second Will Anderson was called the terminator in
11:14college yeah and we haven't heard that as much I feel like he's played well enough that he can be
11:18called the terminator in the NFL Mark Mark calls him that sometimes yeah yeah Vandy calls him that
11:24sometimes but it hasn't gotten it's not as widespread as I'd like it to be and it hasn't
11:28he's not there's no I don't know if there's any terminator merch or anything like that that's that's
11:32where it catches on so I like that there's a cyborg on one side and a terminator on the other good
11:37about that yeah yeah and then either of those could be good or evil yeah you know there's a little bit
11:43so like wait cyborg in a good way or a bad way right right later in a which which uh which movie
11:49a terminator the the nice Arnold Schwarzenegger or the skinnier guy that's right scary yeah
11:54you know the old saying as long as the cyborg and terminator on your team you know they're your
12:00favorite place like Dylan yeah you know it's as long as he's on my team he's my he's my cyborg and
12:04my terminator I love him that's true yeah so as opposed to like c-3po sucks worst
12:11oh god the one I like that they pointed out was that he's found ways to beat offensive tackles with
12:17a bull rush or an NBA style euro step into a spin yes this is a thing honestly Sean I was doing oh I
12:25was watching Daniil Hunter film and I was watching uh an arm drag that he does and it's just funny
12:32because these guys have gotten so advanced and I'll credit YouTube for a lot of this guys are just able
12:37to watch all the great pass rushers and I'm not saying that Daniil Hunter or Will Anderson are doing
12:41that necessarily but there's this culture amongst pass rushers now that just flat out did not exist
12:45back when I was playing yeah but I can remember as a as a you know I was a high school wrestler and
12:50everything and I always remember wondering like why don't they teach an arm drag so an arm drag is
12:55exactly what it sounds like you just come in I use my right hand to grab the right arm of the
13:01offensive lineman and pull him through and I was I just wish I'd had the I wish I'd had the gonads to
13:06just do it but it wasn't a coach to move yeah yeah and I would always just kind of think like I
13:11really should be of course back in the day though too we got away with guys guys were putting you
13:15know Vaseline on their arms and silicone on their shoulder pads so it's harder to hit an arm drag yeah
13:19they check for that now um but yeah like the euro step the arm drag the ghost move there's a there's a
13:26whole arsenal of moves that guys use nowadays that really were we're not even in existence back in the
13:32yeah it's a glorious time to be alive it is it's fun to be alive especially when you got a guy on
13:35your team that's doing all of them like Daniel Hunter number 10 on this list is Jared verse who
13:40the Texans will face in week one of the uh the NFL season this year so we talked about Kobe Turner
13:46on the defensive tackle list and Jared verse on this edge rusher list so Jared first to the text I did
13:54I did a little bit of a mini study on Jared first the other day and it was after Tron Armstead had said
14:00uh as Tron Armstead was on a podcast I think it was busting the boys the offensive tackle
14:05and he was I think he was listing reasons he wouldn't come back and he said Jared verse yeah
14:10I don't need to be I don't need to see that bull rush ever again and I was intrigued because I'd
14:14watched Jared verse and I knew that he's really strong and physical and I'd seen a little bit of
14:18him this year um but usually when you hear about a young player who's got a really good bull rush
14:24you're like all right yeah like go ahead and try doing that for 60 snaps a game dude I'd see
14:30exactly where Tron Armstead was coming from he he is so strong he's he is country strong uh there was
14:38um there was a player back in the day who had a vicious jumpy gathers um uh jumpy gathers he had a
14:45move called a forklift it's just it's a move yeah but no it's different than what they call the
14:50forklift these days um because he would he would just like put put his arms out like like he was
14:58doing a front shoulder raise which you know you can't use a lot of weight with a front shoulder raise
15:02and he would just lift guys up in the air and and drive them back into the quarterback like so it's
15:09a there's still a forklift move but it's not like the way jumpy gathers used to do it he was so
15:14freakishly strong that he was doing things that nobody could do I think Jared verse I like his whole
15:19game could be his bull rush and a few variations off of it and I don't know what people are going
15:25to do about it why do you only have four and a half sacks last year probably because he's bull
15:29rushing and said he needs to he needs to he's a little bit okay Anderson Anderson leaned on his
15:35bull rush too much and he learned his rookie year that all right I gotta I gotta come with some
15:40variations off of that and I think part of that is that like you gotta it's great to it's great to
15:45bull rush a court a dude into the quarterback but quarterbacks these days are pretty nimble at
15:50getting out of that situation yeah so the separation at the top of the rush that's um that's like where
15:55will was working on exactly that but versus just he's more country strong than will Anderson is but
16:02like it's right there he's a lot like will Anderson was his rookie year like man you see the potential
16:07there the one thing about Jared verse and I'm going to be intrigued to see how Nick Haley treats
16:11him when the Texans play him Jared verse was like completely lost at times when it came to pulling
16:17guards and wham blocks and some of those things but again it's dude he's completely unaware yeah
16:25doesn't realize that the running backs about to cut him or the fullbacks about to cut him
16:29and the fullback tries to cut him and the fullback bounces off and he's still yeah it doesn't matter
16:34yeah it doesn't matter he's still making plays yeah it doesn't matter
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