We're on to the Edge position today and will be looking at the two guys on each team that will be attempting to bring down the QB during pass rush downs.
4. New England Patriots - Bradley Chubb, Carl Lawson. Let us start by saying all 4 of these teams have elite or soon-to-be elite pass rushers. What set's the Patriots at the back of the pack for now is they have the latter. Chubb has a very bright future and any team would be thrilled to build around him. He has all the tools to be disruptive in the pass game and he will likely increase upon his sack total from last year. We like Lawson too but he can't seem to stay on the field. There is little optimism he plays all 16 games so look for rookie first round pick Brian Burns to get some opportunities this year.
3. Miami Dolphins - Olivier Vernon, Whitney Mercilus. The Dolphins were busy this offseason with a flurry of trades. Two of these brought in a completely new pass rush tandem. Let's start with number one on the depth chart: Olivier Vernon. We were a little surprised to see the Giants move him, but when we remembered Dave Gettleman is running the ship up there, it suddenly all made sense. What Miami gets is an elite pass rusher who immediately makes the Dolphins defense that much scarier. Opposing teams will have to game plan for him which is something the team lacked last season at this position. If this were 2015, we would probably have this team at number one. However, Mercilus is on the downhill side of his career. The Dolphins are hoping he has just enough left in the tank to be an effective number two this year.
2. New York Jets - Trey Flowers, Haason Reddick. The Jets possess the best edge rusher in the 3GML in Flowers. They had to pay for him, but considering the value of the position, it was probably worth it. He comes from a team that ran multiple looks on defense, so considering the Jets are heading that direction too, we expect him to fit right in and disrupt the passing game with regularity. Reddick is the unknown here and the only reason New York isn't number one. On the positive, he is mainly going to be asked to rush the quarterback this season. We think Arizona played him out of position too much and kept him from doing what he does best. If the Jets can have him play to his strengths, it could get the former first round pick's career back on track.
1. Buffalo Bills - Myles Garrett, Harold Landry. What is amazing about this duo is they are both still on their rookie contracts. Buffalo is getting incredible value at one of the most important positions in the NFL. Garrett was a no-brainer number one pick for the Bills a few seasons ago, as he is everything they hoped he would be. Every year he has gotten better and has top 5 edge written all over him. He will continue to cause headaches for the offensive coordinators of the 3GML. When Harold Landry fell to the second round in last year's draft, Buffalo ditched their traditional draft-for-need strategy and went with the best player available. He has not let them down by quickly showing why most analysts had a first round grade on him. With Garrett likely to garner most of the attention, look for Landry to quietly put up big numbers.
We will be assigning cumulative points to these rankings to determine the best overall team in the 3GML.
Buffalo - 28
New England - 25
Miami - 20
New York - 17
