2025 NFL defensive line rankings ahead of Week 5: The Cleveland Browns continue to dominate

• The Browns’ defensive line continues to hold the top spot in overall, run defense and pass-rush grades: The unit has earned a 90.5 overall grade, led by Myles Garrett at 92.9. Maliek Collins has been dominant on the interior with a 90.2 grade — seventh-best among interior defenders — while seven Browns defenders have overall grades of 71.5 or better.

• The Jets are shutting down the run: The Jets have led the NFL in run stops for two consecutive weeks and now sit atop the league in total for the season. Quinnen Williams leads all players in run stops (16), earning a 92.3 run-defense grade and an average depth of tackle of -0.08 yards.

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The defensive line is the heart of any successful defense, tasked with both disrupting the opposing quarterback with a pass rush and shutting down rushing attacks at the line of scrimmage.

Elite defensive lines can change the course of a game by applying pressure, forcing hurried throws and creating turnovers while also stifling run plays to control the tempo.

This season, we will closely monitor NFL defensive line play all season long. Unlike our offensive line rankings, which in some cases consider previous-season rankings, these rankings will be based purely on 2025 play.

A fixture near the top of last year’s rankings, the Cleveland Browns’ defensive line reclaims the No. 1 spot, powered by the dominant duo of Myles Garrett and Maliek Collins. These early-season rankings are still in flux and should begin to stabilize as we head into October.

Here are the highlights for the top defensive lines after Week 4 of the 2025 season.

Rank	Last Week	Team	PFF Grade	Top-graded Player	Move
1	1	Cleveland Browns	90.5	Myles Garrett	0
2	2	Los Angeles Rams	85.4	Jared Verse	0
3	5	Houston Texans	80.1	Danielle Hunter	2
4	3	Green Bay Packers	79.5	Micah Parsons	-1
5	13	Detroit Lions	78.8	Aidan Hutchinson	8
6	9	New York Giants	78.8	Brian Burns	3
7	7	Seattle Seahawks	77.3	Leonard Williams	0
8	8	Philadelphia Eagles	76.5	Joshua Uche	0
9	6	Buffalo Bills	76	Ed Oliver	-3
10	11	Pittsburgh Steelers	72.5	Cameron Heyward	1
11	15	Indianapolis Colts	71.6	Laiatu Latu	4
12	4	Washington Commanders	70.4	Javontae Jean-Baptiste	-8
13	16	Denver Broncos	69.5	Nik Bonitto	3
14	10	New England Patriots	68.7	Harold Landry III	-4
15	18	Los Angeles Chargers	67.8	Teair Tart	3
16	12	Jacksonville Jaguars	66	Josh Hines-Allen	-4
17	26	Las Vegas Raiders	65.2	Maxx Crosby	9
18	23	Atlanta Falcons	64.3	Jalon Walker	5
19	17	Arizona Cardinals	64.1	Calais Campbell	-2
20	14	San Francisco 49ers	64.1	Bryce Huff	-6
21	22	Carolina Panthers	63.8	Derrick Brown	1
22	29	Tennessee Titans	63.7	Jeffery Simmons	7
23	27	New York Jets	62.6	Quinnen Williams	4
24	20	Minnesota Vikings	62.4	Jalen Redmond	-4
25	21	Dallas Cowboys	61.2	Osa Odighizuwa	-4
26	24	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	61	Haason Reddick	-2
27	19	Cincinnati Bengals	60.6	Trey Hendrickson	-8
28	28	Chicago Bears	56.3	Montez Sweat	0
29	25	Baltimore Ravens	55	Nnamdi Madubuike	-4
30	30	New Orleans Saints	53.7	Chris Rumph II	0
31	31	Kansas City Chiefs	48.9	George Karlaftis	0
32	32	Miami Dolphins	40.2	Jaelan Phillips	0

Week 3 Highlights

Best defensive line: Detroit Lions

With the Browns starting two backup offensive tackles, the Lions’ defensive line was expected to dominate — and they delivered. Aidan Hutchinson looked like his 2024 self, earning a league-best 94.2 pass-rush grade with three sacks, three hits and nine total pressures. Al-Quadin Muhammad and Trevor Nowaske also feasted, posting 86.4 and 84.8 overall grades, respectively. DJ Reader and Tyler Lacy were stout against the run, anchoring a unit that disrupted the Browns’ offense from start to finish.

Best pass-rush unit: Los Angeles Rams

The Rams narrowly edged out the Lions for the top defensive line performance of the week, consistently harassing quarterback Daniel Jones from start to finish. Jared Verse led the charge with a dominant 93.1 pass-rush grade, while Kobie Turner wasn’t far behind at 87.0. Verse posted an elite 32.3% pass-rush win rate, continuing to overwhelm opposing offensive linemen. Byron Young paced the group with seven total pressures.

Best run-defense unit: Seattle Seahawks

The Cardinals called just 12 designed runs on Thursday Night Football, but the Seahawks shut down the ground game early and built a comfortable fourth-quarter lead. Seattle’s defensive line recorded six run stops for a 50% run-stop rate. Their -0.230 EPA per rush allowed ranked fifth-best in the NFL for the week, and their 75.0% positive grade rate led all teams.

Jarran Reed and Derrick Hall anchored the unit with run-defense grades of 78.2 and 75.7, respectively. Hall and Uchenna Nwosu each contributed two run stops.

Most pressures: Indianapolis Colts

The Colts’ defensive line generated an impressive 27 pressures on 45 pass-rush snaps, led by second-year UCLA product Laiatu Latu, who notched nine. Latu posted an elite 35.5% pass-rush win rate and earned an 87.8 pass-rush grade for the game. Samson Ebukam and DeForest Buckner each added five pressures as the unit finished with a 42.2% pressure rate, keeping Matthew Stafford under duress throughout the game.

Most Run Stops: New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens

For the second straight week, the Jets lead the NFL in run stops—this time tied with the Ravens at 11 apiece. Quinnen Williams once again led the way with four stops, followed by Michael Clemons with three and Will McDonald IV with two.

On the Ravens’ side, Odafe Oweh paced the team with three run stops, while four others chipped in with two each. Rookie Mike Green was the only player on either team to record a tackle for loss.

Season Highlights

Best defensive line, best pass-rush unit and best run-defense unit: Cleveland Browns

The Browns’ defensive line continues to hold the top spot in overall, run defense and pass-rush grades. The unit has earned a 90.5 overall grade, led by Myles Garrett at 92.9. Maliek Collins has been dominant on the interior with a 90.2 grade—seventh-best among interior defenders—while seven Browns defenders have overall grades of 71.5 or better.

In the pass rush, Garrett once again leads the team and ranks second in the NFL behind Micah Parsons with a 93.0 grade. Collins follows closely at 90.9. Despite being the most double-teamed edge rusher in the league, Garrett leads all players with a staggering 35.4% pass-rush win rate.

Garrett is also in the midst of his best season as a run defender, posting an 85.9 run-defense grade and leading the team with seven run stops. In Week 4, Shelby Harris led the unit in run-defense grade at 84.5, while Collins led the way with four run stops.

Most pressures: Denver Broncos

The Broncos lead the NFL with 100 total pressures through four weeks, and edge rushers Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper are pacing the group with 21 each. Bonitto leads the team with a 22.5% pass-rush win rate, closely followed by Cooper at 22.1%. After leading the league with 477 total pressures in 2024, Denver appears well on its way to repeating that feat in 2025.

Most Run Stops: New York Jets

The Jets have led the NFL in run stops for two consecutive weeks and now sit atop the league in total for the season. Quinnen Williams leads all players in run stops (16), earning a 92.3 run-defense grade and an average depth of tackle of -0.08 yards. Harrison Phillips ranks second on the team with six run stops, while Jowon Briggs — acquired from the Browns before roster cutdowns — has made an immediate impact. He ranks second on the unit with a 74.3 run-defense grade and has recorded five run stops.