Ranking the Best Pass-Rushing Duos of the 2021 NFL Season So Far

As NFL quarterbacks continue to drive football's evolution, teams count on star pass-rushers to make those passers uncomfortable and disrupt the timing of high-flying offenses. 

Teams pay top dollar to secure game-changing players at what has quickly become the most important, premium, non-quarterback position of all. Across a variety of formations, whether it's a player on the edge, an interior lineman or a guy who can play all over the formation, pass-rushers are immeasurably valuable.

Typically, one dominant edge-rusher dictates offensive formations and helps the pass-rusher on the opposite side be even more productive. However, a handful of teams have been fortunate enough to unearth elite edge-rushing duos in 2021. 

Keep in mind some potentially elite duos have been derailed in 2021 so far because of injuries (Green Bay's Preston Smith and Za'Darius Smith, for example). Going off production from the early returns this season and ranked by that and the game-changing threat their presence provides, these are the best pass-rushing duos in the NFL. 

7. Chandler Jones-J.J. Watt, Arizona Cardinals

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As expected, the almost dream-like pairing of Chandler Jones and J.J. Watt has paid off big time for the Arizona Cardinals. 

Jones led the Cardinals in pressures (15) and sacks (five) over the first four games of the season, with Watt right behind him with nine pressures. 

But these two aren't as high up the rankings as one might expect because the overall numbers are inflated. All five of Jones' sacks came during a herculean performance in a Week 1 blowout win over Tennessee. 

Still, the two were a key cog in the Cardinals starting the season undefeated while allowing more than 20 points in a game just once. The attention both command in the trenches is a nightmare for opposing offenses to prep for and makes things easier on the secondary. It feels like a matter of time before both break through en route to massive season-long totals. 

6. Von Miller-Malik Reed, Denver Broncos

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Typically, Denver Broncos pass-rushers on a list like this would include veteran Von Miller and up-and-comer Bradley Chubb. 

But Chubb has only been able to appear in one game this year because of an ankle injury. Miller hasn't had many problems being his usual disruptive self, though—over his first four games, he accumulated 4.5 sacks and a team-high 12 pressures. 

Malik Reed has been the biggest benefactor of Chubb's absence while playing across from Miller, as he tallied one sack and nine pressures over that same timespan while playing on just 78 percent of the defense's snaps. He added another sack in a Week 5 loss. 

This isn't the duo anyone would have predicted before the season, but Reed picking up the pace alongside Miller helped the Broncos sprint to a 3-0 start while allowing no more than 13 points in any of those games. It only means great things for the defense as a whole when Chubb returns, as the Broncos should boast one of the league's deepest pass-rushing rotations. 

5. Chase Young-Montez Sweat, Washington Football Team

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Perhaps no team has spent more high-profile draft assets on pass-rushers than the Washington Football Team.

Chase Young, the second overall pick in 2020, had eight pressures and six hurries through four games. Montez Sweat, a first-round pick in 2019 the team traded back into the opening round to get, had a team-high 11 pressures with five hurries and three sacks in that same timespan.

Young's numbers are a little down compared to what onlookers might expect after those 7.5 sacks and 24 pressures over 15 games as a rookie.

But his sheer presence alone helped interior options Da'Ron Payne and Jonathan Allen combine for 19 pressures and three sacks over the first four games. 

That threat of two premium prospects off the edge continues to help Washington have one of the nastiest front sevens in football. 

4. Aaron Donald-Leonard Floyd, Los Angeles Rams

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It shouldn't come as any great shock to hear the Los Angeles Rams led the NFL in pressure (58) over the first four games of the season. 

Along the way, three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald put up 15 pressures and three sacks, again providing the most unorthodox of presences as an interior pass-rusher who posts better numbers than most edge players (88 sacks over 115 games). 

Leonard Floyd once again feasted on the edge in the process, nearly matching Donald's pressure count (13) and matching his three sacks. It's merely an expected extension of Floyd's breakout, 10.5-sack season last year during his debut with the team after a ho-hum four years as a Chicago Bears top-10 pick. 

Like Floyd, the Rams are reaping the benefits of rostering one of the best players of his generation in Donald, a game-breaking presence who deserves that sort of moniker.

3. Myles Garrett-Jadeveon Clowney, Cleveland Browns

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The Cleveland Browns had one of the four best pressure rates (30.1 percent) in the NFL through four weeks, mostly thanks to Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney. 

Garrett, the first pick in 2017, now has 48.5 sacks in 55 appearances after starting with six over four games this year, meaning he's on pace to pass a personal best of 13.5 set in 2018. He also easily led the team in pressures with 16, already half of his 14-game total last year. Then he added another sack in a Week 5 loss.

Jadeveon Clowney, the first pick in 2014, has seen something of a career revival. Over his first four games with his new team, he posted two sacks and 12 pressures. A year ago, he had no sacks over eight games in Tennessee and just 11 pressures. 

Clowney's inability to find a steady team or big payday centered on his ho-hum ability to create pressure off the edge. But he's found one of the best possible landing spots in the NFL for his talents, and the Browns are better for it as offenses throw everything they have at attempting to stop Garrett. 

2. Khalil Mack-Robert Quinn, Chicago Bears

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Things seem mostly business as usual for Khalil Mack in his fourth season with the Chicago Bears. 

A four-game stretch saw him produce as many sacks, bringing his career total to 74.5 over 114 games. He's yet to match the 12.5 sacks he posted in his Chicago debut back in 2018 over 14 games (not including his time with the Raiders), but the sacks, plus six pressures, helps other defenders find opportunities across the formation. 

One of those is Robert Quinn, now in his second season with the Bears. He drummed up 4.5 sacks and 10 pressures over those four games, a mini-breakout of sorts for the 2011 first-round pick after he managed just two sacks and 16 pressures over 15 games last year. 

Those two coming off the edge helped six other defenders tally at least two pressures over four games, with the 35 ranking as a top-five number in the league over that span. As expected, it falls on Mack, Quinn and the defense to carry most of the weight for a team that started 2-2 before moving to 3-2 in Week 5 with a Mack sack on the tally for good measure. 

1. Haason Reddick-Brian Burns, Carolina Panthers

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The Carolina Panthers, the league's outright leader in pressure percentage (37.8) over four games, achieved the feat through smart drafting and smarter free-agency spending. 

Brian Burns was a knockout of a first-round pick in 2019 as he sprinted to 16.5 sacks over his first two seasons. He added three more over the first four games this year, plus 10 pressures. 

That pressure count wound up tied with free-agent addition Haason Reddick. The 2017 first-round pick registered 4.5 sacks before adding two more in a Week 5 loss. 

Carolina took a risk on Reddick, who had his fifth-year option in Arizona declined before erupting for 12.5 sacks and 34 pressures last year.

That he's teaming so well with Burns is an underrated free-agency win for the Panthers, who as a result had eight players with at least one sack and 10 players with at least two pressures over the first four games for the league's best pass rush.