Today’s NFL is all about finding a quarterback, protecting him and sacking the other team’s passer. The NFC West has done a good job addressing all three areas as a whole, but the crop of pass rushers is particularly strong.
There are some great edge rushers in the division, be it as 3-4 outside linebackers or 4-3 defensive ends. The Rams have some uncertainty at OLB, but there’s also good potential among their pass rushers.
Here are the six best edge rushers in the NFC West entering 2019.
1. Chandler Jones, Cardinals
Jones belongs in the conversation as one of the best edge rushers in the NFL, proving to be the model of consistency. He hasn’t had fewer than 11 sacks in a season since 2014 and only has two such seasons in his career. Yet surprisingly, he’s only made the Pro Bowl twice despite posting double-digit sacks in four straight years.
He’s a terror for opposing offensive tackles, making life very difficult with his athleticism, length and pass-rush moves. Jones knows how to create turnovers, too, forcing nine fumbles in the last three years and recovering three.
2. Dee Ford, 49ers
The concern with Ford isn’t his talent, but his consistency. He posted 13 sacks in 2018, but the year before, he had just two sacks in six games. In 2016, he recorded 10 sacks in 15 games, but that was his only other season with 10-plus sacks. The 49ers gave Ford a five-year, $85.5 million deal after acquiring him from the Chiefs, so expectations are now high for the sixth-year pass rusher.
What will certainly help Ford is having Nick Bosa on the other side of the defensive line, as well as DeForest Buckner inside. Ford has a lot of talent as a pass rusher, but he needs to show he can be consistent year after year.
3. Terrell Suggs, Cardinals
Suggs is entering his 16th season and yet he remains a productive pass rusher. In his last five seasons – excluding 2015 when he played one game – Suggs has three years with double-digit sacks and 48 total, averaging nearly 10 per season. Just last season at the age of 36, he had seven sacks and 15 quarterback hits.
He’s still a productive player despite being nearly 37 years old, and he should remain as such with his new team in Arizona. Suggs should not be discounted for being on the older side because he is still a quality defender.
4. Dante Fowler Jr., Rams
Fowler is difficult player to examine. On one hand, he looked good with the Rams in the second half of the 2018 season. On the other hand, he still only had two sacks in eight regular-season games and 3.5 total (including the playoffs). He has just 16 career sacks but he shows flashes of being a dynamic rusher off the edge.
Many believe he’ll have a breakout season in 2019 with the Rams, having a full offseason to work with Wade Phillips and Sean McVay, and to also learn the defense. His ceiling is high, but his floor is also relatively low, too. He needs to be productive next season to justify his $14 million contract.
5. Ezekiel Ansah, Seahawks
Ansah is one of the most inconsistent players in the NFL. He’s never had back-to-back seasons with more than eight sacks and only has two years with at least 10. In 2016, he inexplicably had only two sacks in 13 games, and last season, he was limited to just seven games (two starts). Ansah has elite athleticism and has shown he can beat even the best tackles, but he doesn’t do it consistently enough.
Ansah has to stay healthy and show he’s more like the player he was in 2017 (12 sacks) than 2016. If he can do that, he’ll once again be discussed as one of the top pass rushers in football.
6. Nick Bosa, 49ers
He’s only a rookie but there’s very little reason to believe Bosa can’t immediately come in and record at least 10 sacks like his brother did in 2016. What it’ll come down to is whether Bosa can stay healthy because he missed almost the entire 2018 season at Ohio State and is already battling a hamstring injury.
If he can avoid missing extended time, Bosa is going to be a productive player right away and show he was deserving of the No. 2 overall pick. If not for the Cardinals’ affinity for Kyler Murray, Bosa very easily could’ve gone No. 1 overall.
