Meet me at the Quarterback - Weeks 6 & 7

By Lee Wakefield

We have six weeks of the 2025 NFL season in the rearview mirror already! Time really does fly when you’re having fun, doesn’t it? And I really do think it’s been a fun season already, Jets fans may disagree, and perhaps the fanbases of a few other teams, too. Hi Ravens fans! You didn’t think it’d go like this, did you? But that’s part of it, for me… The 2025 season has a good amount of parity and several surprising teams that are overperforming, with, at the time of writing, the two teams with the best record in the league being the Colts and Bucs! Not the Chiefs and Eagles. Which, I for one, am pleased about, and not because I’m a Chargers fan – Even the win over the Dolphins wasn’t fun – because I’m an NFL fan! No, not in the Rob Lowe kind of way, I just want the league to be interesting.

With the season being around a third of the way through the regular season now, I thought I would break from the usual format today and bring you a (sure to be, not controversial at all) top-10 list of pass rushers for the first bit of the 2025 season.

1. Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns

This is obviously coming off the back of Garrett having an absolutely miserable performance against the divisional rival Steelers, and in opposition to the Steelers’ star pass rusher, and a player who he’s almost always compared to in T.J. Watt, but that’s fine.

I have been comfortable being on Garrett’s side of this debate for a long time, and I am still comfortable putting him atop the tree now.

Through six games, Garrrett has five sacks, from 25 pressures, and has a pass rush win rate of 35.7% in true pass sets (a rate which is the third highest in the league).

Garrett is also doing this whilst on a poor team who are often playing from behind, and also whilst facing a double team rate a shade below 76%.

Truly a player who affects the offensive game plan with his mere gravity.

2. Micah Parsons, Green Bay Packers

If I’d have done a preseason top-10 based on how I viewed the top pass rushers from talent alone, the top two would have been exactly the same.

Parsons had an excellent career in Dallas, for which he earned a four-year, $188m contract, making him the highest-paid non-QB in the league. The only issue for Dallas and their fans is that he was awarded this contract by the Packers after they developed Parsons into the top-3 (at worst) edge rusher in the league and then traded him.

Now the leader of the Packers’ defense, Parsons also has 25 pressures, which he has converted to just 3 sacks, but he also has a pass rush win rate north of 30%, one of only seven players league-wide to do so through six weeks.

Yes, 3 sacks isn’t a number that is going to impress many people, especially when I am putting Parsons second in this list, but like Garrett, Parsons is double-teamed over 60% of snaps and even triple-teamed over 10% of the time.

If you ask Packers fans, Parsons is also held a lot of the time and barely ever gets calls from the zebras.

3. Will Anderson Jr., Houston Texans

Anderson has become a truly elite star at the position with his start to this season. The Texans aren’t enjoying themselves overall, and by virtue of that, I’m sure Anderson isn’t happy with how the season is going, but on a personal level, he’s entering tier-1 of the pass-rushing leagues.

Anderson came into the NFL as a top prospect, but one who was probably known as being a better run defender than a true pass rusher. In his time in the league so far. He’s grown his skill set and is now one of the better all-around players at the position.

The Houston edge defender had the best “splash play rate”, at 23.6%, through the first five weeks of the season. Click the link there for the explanation of a splash play from Austin Mock of The Athletic.

Anderson also has 29 pressures (=4th in the NFL) and a league-leading 39.7% pass rush win rate in true pass sets. Another player in the top three with only three sacks to his name so far this season, but pressures are a much more stable metric, and as much as they don’t get the name recognition, they can be just as impactful on the game film, if not on the stats sheet.

4. Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit Lions

He’s well and truly back. Will he be Comeback Player of the Year? Who knows, but at this early stage of the season, Hutchinson is making a strong case.

The Lions have 19 team sacks through six weeks, and Hutchinson has six of those sacks. You can see from those numbers alone, just how important #97 is to this team, also how they missed him when he wasn’t on the field last season.

Alongside his six sacks, Hutchinson is also a joint leader in pressures so far this season (31), and a pass rush win rate of 22.9%, which is very respectable.

Outside of the sacks, Hutchinson also has an incredible nose for the ball and at the time of writing, is on a four-game streak of forcing a fumble. Vital splash plays that can be absolutely game-changing. Alongside the streak of forced fumbles, Hutchinson has only been shut out in the week 1 game against the Packers.

One of the hottest pass rushers in the league.

5. Nik Bonitto, Denver Broncos

Remember a few weeks back when I said that Nik Bonitto would be ranked very highly if and when I wrote out one of these lists… Well, here we are.

A few weeks ago, I wrote that Bonitto might be the quickest player off the snap in the league. Well, he’s not. He’s third. His Broncos teammate, Jonathan Cooper, is actually top of the list with 0.69 seconds to cross the line of scrimmage on average. Bonitto clocks in at 0.72 seconds, so not far behind.

It’s not surprising to see two Broncos in the top-3 of that particular stat, because when it comes to pass rushing and, in particular, sacking the QB, Denver leads the league. The Broncos have 30 sacks on the year so far this season; the next best teams are the Steelers and Seahawks, both with 20. Ten sacks apart! The difference between the Broncos and then the Steelers and Seahawks is the same difference between those teams and the Atlanta Falcons, who rank 23rd in the league. Usually, when people use “and it’s not even close” as part of their footballing vocabulary, it’s something that makes me roll my eyes, but in this instance, it’s absolutely the case.

As well as having one of the fastest get-offs in the league, Bonitto is the current sack leader with eight, as well as having accumulated 26 pressures.

A true Banshee off the edge.

6. Byron Young, Los Angeles Rams

Who is just half a sack behind the current leader? That’d be Byron Young of the Rams.

Young is enjoying a breakout season, having already matched his sack total from last year, and is only half a sack behind his career best total, which he set as a rookie in 2023.

Young is part of one of the best young defensive lines in the league – The Rams have done an unbelievable job of retooling their line once they lost Aaron Donald to retirement. They realised that no single player would be capable of replacing Donald, so they’ve recently drafted Young, Jared Verse (more of him very soon), Braden Fiske, Kobie Turner, and Josiah Stewart. 

Just like Bonitto, Young has 26 pressures but boasts a little higher of a pass rush win rate at 28.4%, to Bonitto’s 22.6%. Another comparable feature to another entrant on this list is that, similarly to Aidan Hutchinson, Young is also on a hot streak of sacks. Stretching back into last year, Young has registered at least half a sack in eight straight games now, which is the longest streak in Rams franchise history. Which is quite a feat when you consider Donald spent his whole career there.

7. Jared Verse, Los Angeles Rams

Back-to-back Rams in my list here, with Young’s running mate coming in just a spot behind him. 

I am writing this coming off a weekend where Verse led the league in pressures in week 6 with eight. Byron Young was second across the league with six pressures in the Rams’ win over the Ravens. They really aren’t easy to separate!

Verse’s eight pressures brought his season total up to 31, which leads the league alongside the aforementioned Aidan Hutchinson and George Karlaftis, who just missed the cutoff for this list. Verse is also one of those seven players who are winning their rushes at a clip of over 30% for the year.

Verse is another young player who looks to be truly breaking out in 2025. In only his second year out of Florida State, Verse has 3 sacks and 3 forced fumbles so far this season. The former Seminole had 4.5 sacks last year, so it looks like a surefire bet to smash that total in the coming weeks and stamp his authority on the league, announcing himself as one of the best pass rushers around.

Not many can stop Derrick Henry at this range, too…

8. Josh Hines-Allen, Jacksonville Jaguars

Say it quietly, but are the UK’s Jacksonville Jaguars actually a good football team in big 25? It may be so.

I know they’re coming off a loss, but one of the driving forces behind the Jags’ 4-2 record is the play of their premier pass rusher, Josh Hines-Allen. I know some might point to the fact that I have someone tanked eight with only half a sack to his name, but as we all should know by now, sacks aren’t equal, and they can lie to you.

Hines-Allen has 26 pressure and a pass rush win rate of 33.8% in true pass sets, both of which are top six ranks across the league. So, whereas some might ask how he’s in the top-10 with half a sack, I’d actually say that once those pressures begin to convert to sacks at a higher rate, which all the underlying numbers suggest is very possible, I will say he’s actually only going to rise up this list.

Regardless of football, or where I rank him, Hines-Allen received news that was bigger than football recently, with the announcement that his Son, Wesley, is now in full remission after battling leukemia.

9. Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals but for how much longer? It’s almost certain that the relationship will be over come the conclusion of the 2025 season, but will the Bengals cash in by trading away their star pass rusher prior to next months’ deadline?

My biggest question in that eventuality is, how bad will the Bengals’ defense become if they deal Hendrickson?

This is the one entry where the metrics, whether that’s counting stats or more advanced, don’t wholly support the case for a place in the top-10. Hendrickson is top ten in pressure rate at 28.6% but only has four sacks, after posting 17.5 in both of the past two seasons, and whilst 21 pressures is respectable, it’s not exactly elite.

Is that surprising though? The vibes are clearly off with the team as a whole, and would there be any surprise if Hendrickson just wasn’t motivated to play his heart out for the Bengals, given how he’s been treated? I don’t want to doubt his work ethic or heart; this could be subconsciously or consciously, and I don’t think he could be blamed.

Either way, talent keeps him in the top-10 far now, he gets the benefit of the doubt for basically being Cincy’s only good defensive player.

10. Nick Herbig, Pittsburgh Steelers

Were you expecting a different Steelers pass rusher to make the list? If so, I’m not sure why, because Nick Herbig is probably the best pass rusher on the team right now.

I gave Herbig a shout out after he balled out in Ireland a couple of weeks ago, and he’s been on an absolute tear recently, including that game in Dublin.

Herbig has 3.5 sacks, 4 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble across that period. Herbig has also made it his specialty to just wreck plays by getting quick pressures across the opening six games of the year  (although he’s only appeared in four), with 11 pressures coming in under 3 seconds after the snap so far.

Unless health continues to mean missed games, Herbig is on track to smash his previous career-highs across pressures and sacks. He’s already surpassed his TFL numbers this year, and if he continues to be healthy, he’ll have a shot at getting more than four forced fumbles for a breakout year across the board.

Type his name in on Twitter and see how delighted Steelers fans are with #51… I think they’ll be so pleased that I’ve put him in the list that they won’t even care that I didn’t consider T.J. Watt.

Just Missed the Cut

Danielle Hunter, George Karlaftis, Brian Burns, Tuli Tuipulotu and Josh Sweat.

We’ll see if any of these guys, or any potential new entrants can crack the rankings when I next update them around week 12.

King of the Interior

Jeffery Simmons’ time has come.

For years, everyone knew that Aaron Donold was the best interior defensive lineman in the NFL. I’d have gone a step further and said he was the best player in the NFL, but that’s a whole separate topic.

Once Donald retired, the throne was vacant for a time, and due to the Chiefs’ team success, I think some were quick to pass the crown of the NFL’s most disruptive interior player to Chris Jones. However, if you were someone who bestowed that honour on Jones, I think it’s very clear to see that that era came and went very quickly. 

Right now, Jeffery Simmons is by far the best player from a pass-rushing standpoint when it comes to interior guys.

Simmons has league-leading figures for interior defensive linemen, in pressures (24), sacks (4), and pass rush win rate 33.9% (the only interior rusher with over 30%). Simmons also registered a forced fumble in the season opener against Denver for good measure, and has one of the quickest sacks you’ll ever see from earlier this season.

Simmons is a truly dominant force and, for me, is the current king of the interior.

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.