Ranking the 10 best NFL edge pass-rushers ever

There are three tried and true tenets to building a championship-caliber team. You have to have a good quarterback, you have to be able to protect said quarterback, and you need players who can harass the other team's quarterback. Depending on who you ask, having a prolific pass-rusher or two might be the most important.

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That's because, next to a quarterback, no one quite influences a game like a powerful pass-rusher. A remarkable defender off the edge is someone who can singlehandedly break a game, in effect nullifying whatever coherent game plan an offense thought it would execute. They literally can't run a single positive play in the event a pass-rusher turns their switch on. Even the best quarterbacks and coaches are at the mercy of an edge pass-rusher who decides they are going to take over, no holds barred.

Here, we have the greatest edge pass-rushers ever to step in between the lines. These men took tremendous pleasure in scaring offensive players and in ruining the weekend of so many quarterbacks and coaches. Let's dive in and see who stands on top amongst their peers.

10. Jason Taylor

Teams: Miami Dolphins (1997-2007, 2009, 2011), Washington Commanders (2008), New York Jets (2010)

Accolades: Defensive Player of the Year (2006), 6-time Pro Bowler, 3-time First-Team All-Pro, sacks leader (2002), forced fumbles leader (2006)

A revolutionary defensive end for his era, Taylor utilized his elite combination of length and strength to dominate the edge time and again. He had six seasons with at least 11 sacks, peaking with Defensive Player of the Year honors in a marvelous 2006 campaign. A consistent wrecking ball, Taylor's 139.5 career sacks put him seventh on the all-time list. Perhaps more impressively, Taylor is fifth all-time in forced fumbles with 46. The best thing one can say about Taylor is he usually found a way to flip a game for his team at all costs.

9. Michael Strahan

Teams: New York Giants (1993-2007)

Accolades: Super Bowl 42 champion, all-time single-season sacks co-leader (2001), Defensive Player of the Year (2001), 7-time Pro Bowler, 4-time First-Team All-Pro, 2-time sacks leader (2001, 2003), forced fumbles co-leader (2001)

Strahan did not look like a franchise player to start his NFL career.

In fact, for his first four seasons, Strahan resembled a glorified situational rusher, not someone the Giants would ever build around. But in Year 5, the defensive end's production exploded, and he went on to enjoy one of the most productive edge careers in league history. One might even say the famous gap in Strahan's teeth was like a metaphor for his life in the NFL. A one-time Defensive Player of the Year. The single-season sacks record (now shared with Pittsburgh's T.J. Watt). Six double-digit sack campaigns. The rare career gloriously book-ended with a Super Bowl title. And a personality larger than life.

Strahan is an all-time legend who wore the Giants' red and blue with aplomb.

8. Derrick Thomas

Teams: Kansas City Chiefs (1989-1999)

Accolades: Defensive Rookie of the Year (1989), 9-time Pro Bowler, 2-time First-Team All-Pro, 2-time forced fumbles leader, sacks leader (1990)

In the entire history of the NFL, no one's peak was arguably as high as Thomas's. The man notched 20 sacks and six forced fumbles in just his second professional season. In 11 seasons in Kansas City, Thomas had at least double-digit sacks on seven occasions. To this day, he holds the game sack record with seven. Think about it. Seven sacks in one game. That's the production of some defenders over an entire season.

Thomas was the unmistakable face of a stacked Chiefs team in the 1990s that never went all the way simply because of mostly mediocre quarterback play. But Thomas's dominance can't be forgotten, even if his team could never climb the highest summit.

7. DeMarcus Ware

Teams: Dallas Cowboys (2005-2013), Denver Broncos (2014-2016)

Accolades: Super Bowl 50 champion, 9-time Pro Bowler, 4-time First-Team All-Pro, 2-time sacks leader (2008, 2010)

The Cowboys are not short on defensive greats. And in their illustrious history, Ware might be the greatest the franchise has ever seen. Ware was particularly noteworthy for being one of the first genuinely exceptional outside linebackers/defensive ends who thrived while standing up or with his hand in the ground. He could really be deployed anywhere and still wreak havoc. Ware enjoyed double-digit sacks in an astonishing eight of 12 playing seasons. He finally lifted the Lombardi Trophy as Von Miller's worthy sidekick for the Denver Broncos in 2015 -- an achievement well-earned for the Hall of Famer.

6. Von Miller

Teams: Denver Broncos (2011-2021), Los Angeles Rams (2021), Buffalo Bills (2022-Present)

Accolades: 2-time Super Bowl champion, Super Bowl 50 MVP, Defensive Rookie of the Year (2011), 8-time Pro Bowler, 3-time First-Team All-Pro

Miller got off the ground running as an NFL player, showing he would be an all-time great from the moment he donned the Broncos uniform for the first time. As an alumnus of the legendary 2011 NFL Draft, Miller might have been the best in class, taking home Defensive Rookie of the Year and Second-Team All-Pro honors in his first season. When the Broncos finally won another championship in Super Bowl 50, Miller was their centerpiece, the F-5 tornado ruthlessly ripping offensive lines apart week in and week out. After joining the Rams in 2021, Miller took a backseat to Aaron Donald but was no less integral to another eventual Super Bowl champion's end goals.

Miller is still humming along these days with the Bills, hoping to help get the championship monkey off the back of one of the NFL's more snakebitten franchises. But even if he doesn't, the edge rusher already has a bronze bust waiting for him in Canton one day.

5. J.J. Watt

Teams: Houston Texans (2011-2020), Arizona Cardinals (2021-2022)

Accolades: 3-time Defensive Player of the Year, 5-time Pro Bowler, 5-time First-Team All-Pro, 2-time sacks leader, forced fumbles co-leader (2018)

If not for injuries, Watt was on track to becoming the best defensive player in history. That's not a hyperbolic statement. Period. Even then, when healthy, it's hard to overstate just how superb the future Hall of Famer was at his finest. From 2012 to 2016, Watt recorded 315 tackles, 190 quarterback hits, 119 tackles-for-loss, 69 sacks, and 15 forced fumbles. It's only fitting that he won three Defensive Player of the Year awards in that time. Because point blank, it was one of the best peaks the league has ever seen.

We should consider ourselves fortunate we were able to enjoy Watt's unique mix of power and speed at full tilt while we still could.

4. Deacon Jones

Teams: Los Angeles Rams (1961-1971), Los Angeles Chargers (1972-1973), Washington Commanders (1974)

Accolades: 2-time Defensive Player of the Year, 8-time Pro Bowler, 5-time First-Team All-Pro, 5-time sacks leader

No one was more feared or extraordinary as a defender during their era than Jones in the 1960s. The "Secretary of Defense" flat-out humiliated offensive tackles every Sunday in a manner more reminiscent of a controlled implosion than a football player. While Jones has been retroactively awarded sacks for his playing career, the NFL not officially counting the pass-rushing statistic until 1982 likely cost him dozens of sacks that would've had him sitting on top of this list. Even then, it would be a travesty not to remember Jones' prowess.

3. Bruce Smith

Teams: Buffalo Bills (1985-1999), Washington Commanders (2000-2003)

Accolades: All-time career sacks leader, 2-time Defensive Player of the Year, 11-time Pro Bowler, 9-time First-Team All-Pro, 2-time forced fumbles co-leader

For nearly two decades, Smith gave opposing offensive coordinators so many sleepless nights. The all-time sacks leader -- the only NFL player ever to cross 200 career sacks -- was one of the Bills' leader cornerstones during their rampage of the AFC in the 1990s. He had 13 seasons with double-digit sacks and was an All-Pro in just about half of his career. For all intents and purposes, Smith was a superstar and one of the finer No. 1 overall picks ever.

2. Reggie White

Teams: Philadelphia Eagles (1985-1992), Green Bay Packers (1993-1998), Carolina Panthers (2000)

Accolades: Super Bowl 31 champion, 2-time Defensive Player of the Year, 13-time Pro Bowler, 8-time First-Team All-Pro, 2-time sacks leader

There will never be another defensive lineman like White. Not by player comparison, not by play style, and not by a personality that saw the "Minister of Defense" tell quarterbacks "bless you" after he buried them in the turf. White was a defensive end because despite his weighing over 300 pounds for most of his career, he had an uncanny quickness and burst that let him breeze by offensive tackles whenever he had to. But when White had to convert to power, he let his signature "hump move" do all the talking.

By the time he hung his cleats up, White finished second all-time in career sacks (198) while leaving behind a petrifying legacy of defensive greatness.

1. Lawrence Taylor

Teams: New York Giants (1981-1993)

Accolades: 2-time Super Bowl champion, MVP (1986), 3-time Defensive Player of the Year, Defensive Rookie of the Year (1981), 10-time Pro Bowler, 8-time First-Team All-Pro, sacks leader (1986)

Decades after his retirement, Taylor still holds many titles that would make no one bristle.

Taylor was, in no particular order, the best defensive player in NFL history, the most feared player in NFL history, and perhaps the most singularly dominant player at any position ever. Taylor was a physical specimen, a Tasmanian devil who intimidated quarterbacks and ball-carriers like no one else the moment he came screaming off the edge. To this day, he remains one of the only defenders ever to win MVP honors and one of only three men to win Defensive Player of the Year on three occasions.

If there were a complete book about the NFL's history to this point, Taylor would have so many chapters written about his career alone.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Ranking the 10 best NFL edge pass-rushers ever