Most Marketable Defensive Players in the NFL
In just about any sport, offensive players who make high-flying plays and score all the points are the ones who catch the eyes of fans the easiest. This harps back to the old saying, “offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships.” Even in the movie Draft Day, the fictitious Cleveland Browns owner, Anthony Melina, tells General Manager, Sonny Weaver Jr., “Defense doesn’t make a splash.” Today, we are going to prove Anthony Melina wrong by breaking down the NFL’s best defensive players who not only make a splash but are the faces of their franchises as well.
Micah Parsons - Dallas Cowboys
Micah Parsons is probably the best overall athlete in the entire NFL who also plays for the most televised and polarizing franchise in the league. Although Parsons was originally drafted as a middle linebacker out of Penn State, he quickly made a name for himself as a pass rusher recording 13 sacks and forcing three fumbles in his rookie campaign. Many thought he should win Defensive Player of the Year for his tremendous rookie season, but he couldn’t bring home the award over other prestigious veteran edge rushers. Since then, he has only increased his output putting up 13.5 sacks in 2022 and 14 sacks in 2023. At his size, six feet and three inches and 245 lbs, he is a one-man wrecking crew, who also has wide-out speed clocking 4.36 seconds in the 40-yard dash. Even with other notable athletes like Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb on the offensive side of the ball, Micah Parsons’ defensive ability to create havoc in opposing offensive backfields certainly makes him a player who flies off the screen when people tune in to watch the Dallas Cowboys play.
T.J. Watt - Pittsburgh Steelers
When someone talks about the Pittsburgh Steelers, the first thing any reasonable NFL fan should think about is defense. In an offense-driven league, the Steelers have gone against the grain of the NFL and made it very clear that they are focused on creating an unstoppable defense. T.J. Watt is the highlight of that defense. Since coming into the league, T.J. Watt has always had the pressure to be a tremendous pass rusher because of his Hall of Fame brother J.J. Watt who played the same position to near perfection. T.J. Watt not only met those expectations but absolutely crushed them. Throughout his seven-year career so far, T.J. Watt has accumulated 96.5 sacks which means he is averaging over 13.5 sacks a season even with injuries keeping him out for most of two seasons. His ability to get to the quarterback is matched by very few in the league and if he continues on this pace he could very likely pass his brother in career sacks within the next season or two.
Sauce Gardner - New York Jets
Cornerbacks almost never get the respect they deserve because they could play amazing coverage for 99% of a game, but if they get beat and allow one big play, that corner will be trolled on the internet for the rest of the season for that one play. Sauce Gardner is a different breed at that position. Unlike the others on this list whose stats as an edge rusher can speak for themselves, cornerback stats don’t always reflect the ability of the player. However, what can speak to his ability is what offenses didn’t do to him. Quarterbacks avoided Gardner like the plague only throwing within his vicinity 51 times all season despite playing 16 games last year. He was the least thrown at corner in the league and of those minimal targets, he deflected 12 of them and allowed only 29 receptions all year. With Gardner primarily taking the other team's number one target on each play, he held them to about two receptions a game on average. A true lockdown corner doesn’t come along all that often especially in today’s pass-happy league which makes Gardner a valuable asset to the Jets and in this league.
Myles Garrett - Cleveland Browns
Although Anthony Melina in Draft Day might not have believed in the Cleveland Browns getting a defensive edge rusher with the first overall pick in the NFL draft, I think he would’ve loved the pick if he knew Vontae Mack would have the career that Myles Garrett has had in Cleveland. Over the past three years, Myles Garrett has certainly been making a splash as he has been averaging around 15 sacks a year for the Browns. Even with questionable quarterback play on the other side of the ball, the Browns have been able to hold it down as one of the top defenses in the league with Myles Garrett as their ring-leader. Throughout his career, Garrett has only continued to improve as an edge rusher and look for him to have another great season no matter what happens on the offensive side of the ball.
Maxx Crosby - Las Vegas Raiders
Maxx Crosby may be the only good Raiders player that the organization has drafted and managed to keep on the team. Despite being overshadowed at times, Crosby has played as well, if not better, than any other edge rusher in the league. As one of the two-star players on the Raiders roster currently, Crosby is going to have chances to play unbelievably this upcoming season and will get heavily featured in the Las Vegas market as the only other player the Raiders can look to provide some dynamic ability is wide receiver, Davante Adams. With Maxx Crosby in complete control of this defense, look for him to be heavily featured by the Raiders as the team attempts to contend for anything next season.
