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Edge rushers, defensive ends, and pass-rushing linebackers will impact your fantasy life—an impact felt on both sides of the ball. So, if you play IDP, you will want to grab these men up. If you are playing standard, half-PPR, or PPR without playing IDP, you might want to consider fading your quarterback/wide receivers when choosing what defenses to attack. These six edge rushers will impact your fantasy fortunes somehow.
There was very little movement for impactful edge rushers this season. Nick Bosa’s and Chris Jones’ holdouts could alter the landscape for pass rushers. But two veteran edge rushers were moving on from their 2022 teams. However, it could be the rookies that impact fantasy fortunes in 2023.
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Six Edge Rushers Who Will Impact Your Fantasy Football Fortunes
- Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Kansas City Chiefs
Anudike-Uzomah will join the 2022 first-round selection George Karlaftis and the 2023 free agent acquisition Charles Omenihu. Last season Karlaftis was on the field for 234 run defense snaps and 462 pass rush snaps. He finished the season with 25 tackles, 37 quarterback hurries, four hits, and seven sacks.
Omenihu was formerly of the San Francisco 49ers. He was on the field for 153 run defense snaps and 417 pass rush snaps. In San Francisco, he finished the season with 54 total pressures, 39 quarterback hurries, 10 hits, and five sacks.
Anudike-Uzomah stands 6’3”, weighs 255 pounds with 33 ½ inch arms. He was the 31st overall pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2023 NFL Draft. Here is what the Sports Illustrated Draft Bible said about Anudike-Uzomah:
“A productive and refined pass rusher, Felix Anudike-Uzomah can see the field early on passing downs thanks to his advanced hand usage, excellent understanding of leverage, and well-rounded athletic profile; that said, the Kansas State rusher has inconsistent power and will be a liability in run defense early.”
The Chiefs were second in team sacks last season with 55. Unsigned Jones is the linchpin in this defensive front. He led all Chiefs with 15 sacks and was fourth in the NFL. Jones had 77 total pressures, 50 hurries, and 12 quarterback hits. The impact of Anudike-Uzomah will depend upon whether Jones returns.
- Will McDonald, New York Jets
Make no mistake about the Jets were impacting your fantasy football teams before the 2023 NFL Draft. Now they are stacked on stacked. McDonald was the 15th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. He left Iowa State as the leader in sacks (34) even though he played in a scheme that didn’t fit his strengths. On draft night, head coach Robert Saleh told McDonald, “We’ll get you out of that 4i and get you in that wide 9”. It seems to be working.
https://twitter.com/NYJetsTFMedia/status/1690793078032912384?s=20
The Jets’ rotation on the defensive line is deep. In five quarters of the 2023 preseason, the Jets’ defense has 5.5 sacks. McDonald’s has one of them.
Attacking this defense is not a wise decision. Drafting Jets defensive players on your fantasy IDP or the Jets defense in a non-IDP league is where you are going to have the most impact on your fantasy rosters.
Per Next Gen Stats, defensive tackle Quinnen Williams was a top-10 disruptor last season. He had a quarterback pressure rate of 13.4%, 21 quarterback hurries, and 12 sacks. Linebacker C.J. Mosley led the—team with 158 total tackles, one sack, and one interception.
https://twitter.com/NYJetsTFMedia/status/1690793078032912384?s=20
But if you want to get a little contrarian and are playing in a deep IDP league, attack McDonald in your drafts. Just stay away from playing your offensive players against the Jets’ defense.
4. Lukas Van Ness, Green Bay Packers
The Packers drafted Van Ness 13th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. He is the eighth first-round pick on the Packers’ defensive unit. With eight first-round picks, you expect more, but the Packers are mind-numbingly average.
In 2022 they were the 17th-ranked total defense. They finished the season with 34 sacks (Eagles led the league with 70). They were 16th in points allowed (21.8), 16th in yards allowed per game (336.5), and 23rd in rushing touchdowns per game (1.1).
Presumably, Van Ness is the next man up if Rashan Gary’s return is delayed. Gary suffered a torn ACL in November. Per ESPN Stats & Info, the Packers had a 40% pressure rate when Gary was on the field. The rate dropped to 32% when Gary was not on the field.
According to NFL Draft Profile, Van Ness is the man for the job.
Lukas Van Ness is as strong as they come in terms of pass-rushing ability. Known for his power rush, he was able to generate 46 pressures and nine sacks this past season for the Hawkeyes. He is one of the reasons Iowa had such a dominant defense. Van Ness is also better against the run than most defensive ends in his class, finishing with an 80.9 run-defense grade in 2022.
But Van Ness never started a game at Iowa. Last season his 80.9 run defense grade was 10.1 higher than the year before, with one less game played in 2022. Is Van Ness just a one-year wonder? Will consistency be an issue for a player who never started a game at Iowa and is now being asked to play the brutal NFL schedule?
Just remember, this is the same defense that had eight first-round picks and finished one step above average in total defense last year. The impact of their edge rushers is not great.
- Will Anderson, Houston Texans
Anderson was drafted third overall in the 2023 NFL Draft by the new regime in Houston. Last season the Texans had 39 total sacks, 14 forced fumbles, and 11 fumble recoveries.
https://twitter.com/MockDraftGuyYT/status/1693026453741302204?s=20
Anderson’s tenure at Alabama ended with him having the second most sacks in school history (34.5 in 41 games) behind Derrick Thomas. It also has him leading the nation with 207 pressures, 71 quarterback hits, and 58.5 tackles for loss.
Last season the man nicknamed ‘The Terminator’ by Mac Jones had 51 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, and 10 sacks in 13 games. It appears that Anderson is not letting the NFL preseason slow him down. He has three tackles, one forced fumble, and one sack in his two preseason games.
Anderson is going to impact your fantasy fortunes. If you are playing IDP and draft him, it is going to impact you in a good way. If you are playing offenses against him, you will be singing, “So you had a bad day”!
- Javon Hargrave, San Francisco 49ers
Hargrave’s movement will impact your fantasy fortunes on two different teams. Hargrave is coming from the Philadelphia Eagles to the 49ers on a four-year $84 million contract with $40 million guaranteed. A round-three draft pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2016, Hargrave had his best year last year in Philadelphia.
Last year in the regular season, Hargrave had 11 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, 16 quarterback hits, and ranked fourth among all interior pass rushers with 57 quarterback pressures.
It is almost like the rich get richer, except the 49ers had the third-worst interior defensive line grade. While the team was second in run defense, allowing an average of 82.5 rushing yards per game, they were 14th in passing defense. The 49ers gave up an average of 223.1 passing yards per game. Last season was the worst cumulative pass-rushing number since 2018.
Hargrave is filling a specific need for the 49ers. Per Pro Football Focus, he ranked fourth among all interior pass rushers last season. Now an already elite defense added another elite part. Hargrave will impact your fantasy fortunes, especially when the 49ers play run-first teams. Also, look for Nick Bosa to be just a little better.
- Za’Darius Smith, Cleveland Browns
Smith was traded from the Minnesota Vikings to the Browns for two fifth-rounders. The Browns acquired Dalvin Tomlinson and replaced defensive coordinator Joe Woods with Jim Schwartz.
The Browns had the sixth-lowest pressure rate in 2022 (23%). They were also 25th in rushing yards per game (135.0) and allowed the second most rushing touchdowns at 52.38%.
Schwartz, Tomlinson, and Smith were acquired to stop the sieve that was happening in the middle. But the biggest impact will come from the pairing of Smith with Myles Garrett in a Schwartz scheme.
Last season Garrett was Pro Football Focus’ top-rated edge defender. Garrett was credited with 18 sacks on 73 pressures while being double-teamed. Per Seth Walder at ESPN, Garrett had the highest pass rush win rate of any edge rusher while facing the most double teams.
https://twitter.com/SethWalder/status/1692914135695061229?s=20
Teams simply did not have to worry about Jadeveon Clowney. Clowney is gone. Now there is Smith. Smith played injured last season. The injury occurred in November, which explains Smith’s splits. He had 8.5 sacks in the first seven weeks and 1.5 sacks the rest of the season.
Smith has over 10 sacks three times. Clowney never had a season over 10 sacks. The impact of Smith, Tomlinson, and Schwartz in Cleveland is what fantasy dreams are made of if you are an IDP player or betting on a defense.
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