2025 NFL defensive line rankings ahead of Week 6: Browns continue to dominate, but Rams and Texans are closing the gap

• A depleted Ravens offense was no match for a surging Texans defensive line: Will Anderson Jr. led the charge with a dominant 92.1 overall grade, fueled by a 40% pass-rush win rate and five total pressures.

• Denver is racking up the quarterback pressures: The Broncos continue to lead the NFL in total pressures, a tally that now stands at 106 through five weeks. Nik Bonitto leads the charge with 25 pressures and an NFL-best eight sacks. Jonathan Cooper (21) and Zach Allen (20) are right behind him, giving Denver a formidable trio up front.

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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 throughout the season. 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 through October.

Here are the highlights for the top defensive lines after Week 5 of the 2025 season.

Rank	Last Week	Team	PFF Grade	Top-graded player	Move
1	1	Cleveland Browns	90.4	Myles Garrett	0
2	2	Los Angeles Rams	87.4	Jared Verse	0
3	3	Houston Texans	85.1	Will Anderson Jr.	0
4	5	Detroit Lions	83.3	Aidan Hutchinson	+1
5	4	Green Bay Packers	79.5	Micah Parsons	-1
6	6	New York Giants	78.4	Brian Burns	0
7	7	Seattle Seahawks	75.9	Byron Murphy II	0
8	8	Philadelphia Eagles	75.8	Joshua Uche	0
9	9	Buffalo Bills	74.6	Ed Oliver	0
10	12	Washington Commanders	74.6	Dorance Armstrong	+2
11	10	Pittsburgh Steelers	72.0	Cameron Heyward	-1
12	11	Indianapolis Colts	70.9	Laiatu Latu	-1
13	21	Carolina Panthers	69.3	Derrick Brown	+8
14	13	Denver Broncos	68.3	Nik Bonitto	-1
15	15	Los Angeles Chargers	67.7	Teair Tart	0
16	22	Tennessee Titans	66.0	Jeffery Simmons	+6
17	24	Minnesota Vikings	65.7	Jalen Redmond	+7
18	14	New England Patriots	65.1	Harold Landry III	-4
19	23	New York Jets	64.5	Quinnen Williams	+4
20	18	Atlanta Falcons	64.3	Jalon Walker	-2
21	17	Las Vegas Raiders	63.3	Maxx Crosby	-4
22	25	Dallas Cowboys	63.2	Dante Fowler Jr.	+3
23	16	Jacksonville Jaguars	62.3	Josh Hines-Allen	-7
24	19	Arizona Cardinals	62.0	Josh Sweat	-5
25	20	San Francisco 49ers	61.4	Bryce Huff	-5
26	26	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	59.8	Yaya Diaby	0
27	27	Cincinnati Bengals	59.0	Trey Hendrickson	0
28	30	New Orleans Saints	56.5	Chris Rumph II	+2
29	29	Baltimore Ravens	55.8	Nnamdi Madubuike	0
30	28	Chicago Bears	55.7	Montez Sweat	-2
31	31	Kansas City Chiefs	49.4	George Karlaftis	0
32	32	Miami Dolphins	39.7	Jaelan Phillips	0

Week 5 Highlights

Best defensive line: Houston Texans

A depleted Ravens offense was no match for a surging Texans defensive line, which now ranks third in the NFL. Will Anderson Jr. led the charge with a dominant 92.1 overall grade, fueled by a 40% pass-rush win rate and five total pressures. On the interior, Sheldon Rankins and Tim Settle anchored the unit with impressive 88.3 and 88.0 overall grades, respectively.

Best pass-rush unit: Detroit Lions

It took Aidan Hutchinson a few games to return to his 2024 form, but he’s officially back to dominating. He racked up eight total pressures and posted a devastating 32.6% pass rush win rate. Without penalties, that total would have jumped to 11 pressures and three sacks. Opposite him, Al-Quadin Muhammad continued his strong season with six pressures, while Tyleik Williams (76.3) and Roy Lopez (70.0) held their own on the interior.

Best run-defense unit: Houston Texans

While Will Anderson Jr. dominated as a pass rusher against the Ravens, the rest of the Texans' defensive linemen made their mark against the run. Anderson posted an 83.4 run-defense grade, but it was Tim Settle who led the group with four run stops, including two at or behind the line of scrimmage. Dylan Horton and Mario Edwards Jr. each added two run stops, with Edwards contributing one for no gain. The unit combined for seven run stops and an average depth of tackle of just 1.57 yards.

Most pressures: Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys defensive line was largely overlooked entering the season following the Micah Parsons trade, but it’s quickly becoming a productive unit. Their 29 total pressures led the NFL in Week 5, with Dante Fowler Jr. pacing the group with six pressures, including four quarterback hits and a sack. James Houston and Osa Odighizuwa each added five pressures and combined for three sacks, rounding out a dominant showing from the Dallas front.

Most Run Stops: Los Angeles Rams

The Rams defensive line was dominant on Thursday Night Football, tallying 16 run stops on just 33 run defense snaps. Jared Verse led the way with five, while Poona Ford added four of his own. Ford earned the group’s highest run-defense grade at 84.2, followed by strong performances from Verse (78.8) and Byron Young (71.6). Two of Verse’s stops came at or behind the line of scrimmage, and the unit missed just three tackles all night.

Season Highlights

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

The Browns continue to dominate in the trenches, but the Rams and Texans are beginning to close the gap. Myles Garrett and company still posted the sixth-best unit grade in Week 5, but it felt like an underwhelming performance considering the Vikings’ injuries along the offensive line. Alex Wright took advantage of the situation, earning a career-best 91.1 overall grade. He’s been one of the breakout performers of 2025, as his 89.5 overall grade is tied with Danielle Hunter for eighth-best among edge defenders, and his 85.9 run-defense grade trails only Garrett at the position.

Garrett remains the anchor of the league’s top defensive line, ranking third in both overall grade (92.1) and pass-rush grade (92.0). Week 5 was his quietest showing yet, with just two pressures—his first game all season with fewer than five.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the season is Maliek Collins. The veteran interior defender owns a career-high 90.0 overall grade, second-best among all interior linemen. His 91.4 pass-rush grade and 20.6% pass-rush win rate both lead the NFL, and he’s on pace to shatter his previous career highs of 77.6 (pass-rush grade) and 12.6% (win rate), set in 2019 and 2024.

Most pressures: Denver Broncos

The Broncos continue to lead the NFL in total pressures, a tally that now stands at 106 through five weeks. Nik Bonitto leads the charge with 25 pressures and an NFL-best eight sacks. Jonathan Cooper (21) and Zach Allen (20) are right behind him, giving Denver a formidable trio up front. As a unit, the Broncos rank sixth in pass rush win rate at 52.1% and first in pressure rate at 41.0%, the most disruptive front in football so far.

Most Run Stops: Los Angeles Rams

A dominant Week 5 performance pushed the Rams past the Ravens and Jets for the league lead in total run stops, now sitting at 47. Jared Verse and Byron Young lead the way with 11 each, while Tyler Davis and Poona Ford have eight apiece. The Rams’ run defense grade ranks fourth in the NFL, giving them a strong edge to hold the top spot, especially with the Jets (eighth) and Ravens (28th) trailing behind.