Josh Hines-Allen, Brian Burns Fall Out of Top 10 EDGE Rankings by NFL Execs, Coaches

After being considered among the top 10 edge rushers in the NFL as part of an anonymous poll last year, Josh Hines-Allen of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Brian Burns of the New York Giants fell outside the top 10 for 2025.

In the poll of league executives, coaches and scouts conducted by ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Hines-Allen and Burns were the only two players who failed to maintain their status as a top-10 edge rusher, per ESPN.

The top 10 edge rushers for 2025, as voted on by NFL talent evaluators, are as follows:

1. Myles Garrett (Cleveland Browns)
2. T.J. Watt (Pittsburgh Steelers)
3. Micah Parsons (Dallas Cowboys)
4. Maxx Crosby (Las Vegas Raiders)
5. Nick Bosa (San Francisco 49ers)
6. Trey Hendrickson (Cincinnati Bengals)
7. Aidan Hutchinson (Detroit Lions)
8. Will Anderson Jr. (Houston Texans)
9. Danielle Hunter (Houston Texans)
10. Jared Verse (Los Angeles Rams)

The only new additions to this year's list are Anderson and Verse. They replaced Hines-Allen and Burns, who were ranked eighth and 10th, respectively, last year.

Hines-Allen, who turns 28 on Sunday, is a two-time Pro Bowler set to enter his seventh NFL season.

In 2023, Hines-Allen set a new career high with 17.5 sacks, but he took a big step back last season with eight sacks. That was still the third-highest total of Hines-Allen's career, as he has only reached double-digit sacks twice.

For this year's list, Hines-Allen was listed among those who were also receiving votes.

The 27-year-old Burns is coming off his first season with the Giants following a trade from the Carolina Panthers.

During his five-year run in Carolina, Burns recorded a total of 46 sacks, and he was named a Pro Bowler on two occasions. While he didn't make the Pro Bowl last season, he delivered his usual level of production.

Starting all 17 games, Burns registered a career-high 71 tackles and 17 tackles for loss to go along with 8.5 sacks. All of those numbers represented an improvement over his 2023 stats.

Although Burns was only chosen as an honorable mention this year, an anonymous NFL personnel evaluator gave him a glowing review, saying: "He's still got premier ability, someone you have to account for on every snap. If this was a skill-set conversation only, he'd be top five. He's got everything you want from that standpoint. But he just hasn't had the consistent production."

Given the Giants' selection of star Penn State pass-rusher Abdul Carter with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, and the return of both Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux, Burns could be in store for a huge 2025, assuming he faces fewer double teams than usual.