Breaking down who has the best collection of perimeter pass rushers in the division.
With training camp less than a month away and every roster in the league all but set, it’s time to take a step back and evaluate all four rosters in the AFC North, the only division in which every team finished with a winning record above .500 in 2023.
Up next in this multi-part article series ranking each individual position group are the edge defenders.
1.) Pittsburgh Steelers
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Depth chart: TJ Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, Jeremiah Moon, Julius Welschof and Jacoby Windmon
After an injury-shortened 2022 season, Watt was back to his usual prolific pass production in which he finished with the most sacks in the league for the third time in the last three seasons with 19—the second-highest single-season total of his career. Highsmith is his partner in crime who rushes opposite of him and has 21.5 sacks over the past two seasons including a team-leading 14.5 in 2022. Even more impressive than their sheer sack totals alone is the incredibly clutch factor they both, but especially Watt, play with. Their ability to come up with much-needed stops and force timely turnovers is integral to the Steelers being able to keep pace and even the best opponents who often have them outgunned or are superior teams on paper.
Behind them are a quartet of youngsters including a second-year pro in Herbig who showed some nice flashes as a rookie with three sacks and two forced fumbles, a former Ravens undrafted free agent in Moon and a pair of undrafted rookies in Welschof and Windmon. While the Steelers aren’t loaded at the position, they know how to develop and get production from it and their starting tandem is second to none at the moment.
2.) Cleveland Browns
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Depth chart: Myles Garrett, Za’Darius Smith, Ogbo Okoronkwo, Isaiah McGuire, Isaiah Thomas, Alex Wright and Sam Kamara
Led by the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in Garrett, the Browns have one of the deeper edge rushing units in the league. Even though he was the only member of the bunch to reach or even come close to double-digit sacks with 14, Smith is a three-time Pro Bowler who is only one season removed from a 10-sack season and Okoronkwo has been a good complementary rotational piece in every stop of his career. The two of them combined for 10 sacks last season in their first year with the team and should be even more comfortable in their second year of reigning Assistant Coach of the Year Jim Swartz’s defense.
Behind the talented trio is a handful of youngsters highlighted by ascending third-year pro in Wright who recorded five sacks in 2023 after having none as a rookie. They also have a second-year pro in McGuire who recorded a single sack as a rookie, a third-year pro in Thomas who spent last year on the practice squad after not making the roster and a fourth-year pro in Kamara who bounced between the active roster and practice squad last year but has yet to record his first career regular-season sack.
3.) Baltimore Ravens
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Depth chart: Kyle Van Noy, Odafe Oweh, David Ojabo, Malik Harrison, Tavius Robinson, Adisa Isaac, Malik Hamm and Joe Evans
Some might argue the reigning AFC North champions should rank dead last on this list given the fact that none of their edge rushers have yet reach double-digit sacks or get voted to a Pro Bowl whereas the next team has one player who has done both multiple times. However, while sacks aren’t everything in Baltimore, the Ravens still finished with most in the league by proving they are capable of getting the career best out of players at this position as well as solid contributions from up and down the depth chart.
They have several young hungry perimeter pass rushers froth with talent, itching to make a name for themselves and will be coached by renowned pass-rush guru Chuck Smith who is entering his second year as the team’s outside linebackers coach.
Oweh is a former first-round pick who tied his career-high in sacks last year with five in just 13 games. Ojabo has struggled to stay on the field but has flashed when healthy, Robinson established himself as a stout run defender as a rookie. Hamm made the team as an undrafted rookie last year but spent the entire season on injured reserve. Isaac has a chance to carve out a role as a rookie after being taken in the third round out of Penn State. Evans is a bit of a long shot to make the roster but could make a strong push depending on how he performs in training camp the preseason and if he can deliver on his two-way versatility as a H/fullback.
Last year the Ravens got 18.5 sacks from a pair of 10-year veterans who didn’t join the team until the preseason or later. While they lost one of them to free agency when three-time Pro Bowler Jadeveon Clowney signed with the Carolina Panthers, they were able to re-sign Van Noy who is a two-time Super Bowl champion and recorded a career-high nine sacks in just 14 games after being initially signed off the coach late last September. He and Harrison the Ravens’ top two options to play the SAM spot in their hybrid 3-4 since they both have experience dropping into coverage from their time spent as off-ball linebackers.
4.) Cincinnati Bengals
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Depth chart: Trey Hendrickson, Sam Hubbard, Myles Murphy, Cam Sample, Joseph Ossai Cedric Johnson, Jeff Gunter and Justin Blazek
The Bengals have one of the best and most consistent edge rushers in the league in Hendrickson who is a three-time Pro Bowler and recorded a career-high 17.5 sacks last season—tied for the second-most in the league. However, aside from him, their depth chart at the position hasn’t been very impactful or productive despite them investing a lot of resources in the position in recent years.
They signed Hubbard to an extension that pays him an average annual salary of $10 million but he has yet to surpass or even match his single-season career-high in sacks of 8.5 he reached in his second year in the league back in 2019. Myles Murphy was their first-round pick last year but struggled to crack the lineup regularly and only recorded three sacks. Ossai and Sample are fourth-year pros who combined for just 2.5 sacks last year. Gunter was a seventh-round pick by the team in 2022, spent last year on the practice squad and has yet to record his first career regular-season sack. Johnson and Blazek are rookies who were drafted in the sixth round and signed as an undrafted free agent, respectively.