Myles Garrett locked down the No. 1 spot in ESPN’s 2026 edge rusher rankings. Every single first-place vote from over 70 league executives, coaches, and scouts went to the new Los Angeles Rams defensive end.
The consensus is absolute. In the seventh annual positional survey, Garrett completely swept the ballots. This unanimous decision comes just months after his blockbuster move to the West Coast, firmly establishing him as the ultimate standard among league evaluators. Micah Parsons grabbed the No. 2 spot. The Green Bay Packers edge rusher earned that high mark despite suffering a torn ACL during the 2025 season.
Some familiar names took a severe hit this year. T.J. Watt plummeted five spots down to No. 7. The Pittsburgh Steelers star watched his production drop to seven sacks last season. A dry-needling accident caused lingering injuries that derailed his year. Nick Bosa suffered a similar fate. The San Francisco 49ers standout fell to No. 8 after tearing his ACL for the third time in his career, limiting him to just three games in 2025.
Nik Bonitto finally broke through. The Denver Broncos pass rusher debuted at No. 10 following a 14-sack breakout campaign, edging out Cleveland’s Jared Verse for the final spot on the list. Several heavy hitters missed the cut entirely. Montez Sweat, Travon Walker, Jaelan Phillips, and Alex Highsmith all landed in the “also receiving votes” category.
Evaluators consider this a golden era for the position. Six of the top 10 players appeared on at least 90 percent of all submitted ballots. The concentration of elite talent rushing the quarterback has never been higher.