Meet Me At The Quarterback; Weeks 3 & 4

By Lee Wakefield

We have three NFL weeks in the books and the season is taking shape. Six teams are 3-0, more than there ever have been for a long time; some expected, like the Bills, like the Eagles… Some less so, like the Daniel Jones Colts.

Our hierarchy of pass rushers is also taking shape. I came away from last week’s article feeling like I hadn’t written about a number of guys who’ve got off to a fantastic start to their seasons, and I wanted to waste no time in righting that wrong.

The Houston edge rushers, Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, Nik Bonitto, and, truth be told, the whole of the Denver defensive front, and Jonathan Greenard. There are more, too, that I’ve simply not given enough love to.

So, let’s talk about some of those guys today!

Three weeks in, let’s check in on some outstanding players...

Nik Bonitto, Denver Broncos

Is Nik Bonitto the fastest player off the snap in the NFL? Or, going a step further, is he the best pass rusher that nobody really talks about?

I will have to put together a top-10 ranking for this article at some point, or even periodically throughout the season, and when I do, Nik Bonitto will feature very highly.

I saw firsthand this Sunday where Bonitto went up against Joe Alt, who had been almost unbeatable through the first couple of weeks. Alt was forced to give up a couple of pressures to Bonitto, plus a sack, the first that Alt has allowed so far this year.

Bonitto wasn’t just impactful this week, though; in week 1, he had nine pressures, six in week 2, and six more in total on Sunday against the Chargers.

I want to quickly piggyback off of my praise of Bonitto to give a shout out to the rest of the Broncos front: Zach Allen, Jonathan Cooper, John Franklin-Myers, et al. These guys are like a pack of wolves on the field! I know the Chargers don’t have the greatest offensive line in the league, but the Denver defense managed to lay 14 hits on Justin Herbert – the most punishment the Bolts’ QB has ever taken in an NFL game.

Will Anderson Jr. & Danielle Hunter, Houston Texans

Speaking of ferocious defensive fronts. Alongside Denver, the Texans’ pass rush is right up there with the best in the NFL.

This group is headlined by Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, a pair who certainly have a valid claim for the most talented and potent duo in the league.

This is from week 2, but Bucs offensive line coach, Kevin Carberry, was suitably impressed with the Houston Pair (see below).

Both players have started this season absolutely on fire. Anderson leads the league with 19 pressures through 3 weeks of the season, 3 sacks, and a 38.3% win rate in true pass sets.

Not to be outshone too much by his younger colleague, Hunter isn’t far behind with 12 pressures, 2 sacks, and a 35.4% win rate.

The Texans haven’t had a good start to the season and will need the defense to be the driving force while CJ Stroud and the offense find their form again.

Jonathan Greenard, Minnesota Vikings

On Sunday, the Vikings had their way with Jake Browning and the Bengals as Minnesota improved to a 2-1 record, with a loss against the Falcons as the only slip-up.

I wanted to shout out Greenard this week, as he is a player who I believe would pretty much lead the league in a stat that doesn’t exist. Or at least not to my knowledge – If this does exist, hit me up @Wakefield90 on twitter/X.

What I am talking about is assists for sacks. What the statisticians in soccer might abbreviate to “aSacks”.

When I watch Greenard rush in the Vikings defense, he gets a ton of pressure on the QB – he has 16 total pressures through three weeks – And that pressure that he applies to the opposing QB doesn’t always result in a sack for himself.

However, because Vikings DC Brian Flores is almost always bringing more than four bodies in the rush, there are more rushers involved who can chase the QB to each other or draw penalties from panicky offensive linemen.

Greenard is the king of this in my book. The former Florida Gator only has one sack so far this season, but is a major agent of chaos in the most agent-of-chaos-y” defense in the NFL.

If we extrapolate Greenard’s 16 sacks over 17 games, he is well on pace to surpass his career best of 80 total pressures, which was set last year.

Whether he beats his 11 sacks from last season, or even his career-high 14 (set in 2023), is a different question.

Regardless of what numbers he puts up, I’m sure Greenard would settle for more dominant performances from the Minnesota defense throughout the rest of the season, over personal accolades.

Top Performers in Week 3

Yaya Diaby, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Diaby registered anywhere between nine and eleven pressures in Sunday’s game against the New York Jets, depending on whose figures you believe.

Either way, the former third-round pick led the league in pressures in week 3, whilst registering his first sack of the season.

Sacks can turn games and can be vital plays in close games like the one that the Bucs prevailed in on Sunday.

Diaby has shown a lot of improvement in his time in the league, showing testament to both his coachability and aptitude for improvement, and the Buccaneers’ patience with their home-grown product. Diaby has risen from supplemental rusher and project player to being a key component in the Tampa Bay defensive front.

With Todd Bowles’ tendency to crank up the pressure on quarterbacks, Diaby will have more opportunities to put up numbers equal to and beyond what he did on Sunday.

If the former Louisville rusher continues to put up numbers, this could be the season where he goes from underrated to a household name.

Mason Graham, Cleveland Browns

Sorry to any Packers fans reading this, but I do have to mention the Browns’ victory again in some small way.

I also need to acknowledge that I began this article by saying I wanted to give attention to players who I’ve not given attention to, to this point this season… I’ve not mentioned Mason Graham so far this season, but I am getting into the habit of mentioning the Browns (or more to the point, Myles Garrett) every week. 

That said, it is not every week that an interior defensive lineman has a 43% pass rush win rate, per ESPN (although conflicting information is out there, like the graph I’ve posted below regarding Jeffrey Simmons).

A win rate of 43% is high, sky-high for a defensive tackle. To put that in perspective, the average for the position is just 9%. I think the film clips below show that Graham had a pretty good week, whatever the true numbers are.

The Browns’ defense is looking like it is rediscovering its 2023 form, when it was one of the better defensive units in the league. The rookies, including Graham, are a factor, and with 4 pressures and a sack this week, Graham has laid the foundations for a strong rookie year. 

Bobby Wagner, Washington Commanders

Wagner has reinvented himself from one of the best coverage linebackers of his era to a quarterback-seeking missile in recent years.

Wagner no longer has the athletic traits to hang with much younger and more agile receivers these days, and nowadays his role on the Washington defense has become more specialised. Wagner is now a downhill, see-ball-get-ball kind of player, who is still an elite run defender with a super high football IQ. Wagner is also deployed super effectively as a blitzer, which was all over the week 3 tape in his tape against the Raiders.

Wagner had seven pass rush snaps. These seven snaps resulted in five pressures, and of those five pressures, Wagner sacked Geno Smith twice.

Pass rushing efficiency was just off the charts throughout his performance. Five pressures were the most by an off-ball player thus far in the 2025 season.

Looking Ahead to Week 4...

Tuli Tuipulotu, Los Angeles Chargers (vs. New York Giants)

With Khalil Mack on short-term IR,the Chargers need Tuipulotu to step up and assume the role of Edge1. This represents somewhat of a quick promotion for the third-year defender, who was only promoted to full-time starter at the start of this season, when Joey Bosa left L.A.

This is also an opportunity for Chargers coaches and front office staff to assess the L.A. native for the future, for life after Khalil Mack.

Can Tuipulotu lead an effective rush until Mack returns?

Against the Broncos, there were plenty of pressures but no sacks. Can the splash plays follow against an iffy Giants line as the Chargers seek a 4-0 start? Pressures are a less volatile stat than sacks, but Tuipulotu needs to prove that he can consistently finish his rushes off and make splash plays.

Jeffery Simmons, Tennessee Titans (vs. Houston Texans)

I feel like the Titans have been a little bit of an afterthought around the league in the post-Derrick Henry days. Because of the lack of results and the lack of star power on the roster, Jeffrey Simmons doesn’t get the national media attention that he deserves.

Through three weeks of the 2025 season, Simmons boasts a league-leading 31.4% pass rush win rate in true pass sets for a defensive lineman across this season, and is consistently one of the more productive interior rushers in the league. The graph below shows his week 3 numbers, where we and the Vikings’ Jalen Redmond were head and shoulders above any other interior rushers.

Tennessee faces divisional rival Houston in week 4, with both teams looking to kick-start their year. The Texans’ defensive line has been leaky to say the least, and C.J. Stroud hasn’t looked like the player that many were calling the top passer in tier 2 of their quarterback rankings in the not-too-distant past.

George Karlaftis, Kansas City Chiefs (vs. Baltimore Ravens)

Well, well, well…the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens both hold a 1-2 record through three weeks.

Hands up for those of you who predicted that to be the case?!

Both of these teams would have had pre-season aspirations of battling for the number one seed in the AFC, but whoever loses this game could be three games back from the top of the AFC tree. Whilst this isn’t an insurmountable task for either team, it was certainly unforeseen.

My focus will be on George Karlaftis on Sunday, a player who, I think it’s fair to say, splits the online opinion amongst Chiefs fans.

The former Purdue edge rusher is another young player who is looking to ascend into being one of the more important pieces on his unit.

However, the Ravens won’t make it easy. Lamar isn’t an easy QB to get on the ground. Kansas City needs Karlaftis to step up and make a difference on a regular basis and in these big games. Karlaftis has had a decent start to the season with 15 pressures and a 19.1% pass rush win rate. The pressure numbers are pretty good, the win rate, whilst acceptable, needs improvement.

No better place to start than in Arrowhead on Sunday.

Lee Wakefield

NFL Content Lead

Lee Wakefield IS A defensive line enthusiast, Chargers Sufferer, and LONG-TIME writer and podcaster with a number of publications. @Wakefield90 on twitter/X.