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About the Author: Jon Ledyard

Avatar Of Jon Ledyard
Jon Ledyard is PewterReport.com's newest Bucs beat writer and has experience covering the Pittsburgh Steelers as a beat writer and analyzing the NFL Draft for several draft websites, including The Draft Network. Follow Ledyard on Twitter at @LedyardNFLDraft

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Every week until the season begins, I’ll be going through each position group in the NFC South, ranking them by team from fourth to first. Today we look at starting edge defenders across the division, where a handful of the league’s best pass rushers reside. The Panthers boast a rising star on their defense, while the Saints are led by a fading star on their unit. Will Tampa Bay’s balance take the top spot again?

NFC South Rankings

Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
Tight Ends
Offensive Lines

Edge Defender Rankings: Is Cam Jordan Still No. 1?


4. Atlanta Falcons

Dante Fowler
Jacob Tuioti-Mariner
Steven Means
Barkevious Mingo
Ade Ogundeji

There’s no question the Falcons have one of the worst edge defender groups in the NFL. What’s shocking is how little they’ve done to fix a unit that has been an eyesore for years now. Big free agent signing Dante Fowler was miserable in 2020, yet the team did basically nothing to complement him in the offseason. Fowler must be better, but he’s never going to be a true No. 1 edge defender.

The ceiling for the rest of Atlanta’s edge pass rushing group is even lower. Tuioti-Mariner is a heavy defensive end who hasn’t impressed much heading into year three. Means is a career journeyman who is 31 years old with five career sacks. Mingo is somehow still hanging on despite disappointing with six different franchises. The Falcons will be his seventh stop in the NFL – if he makes the roster.

If Fowler continues to fail to disprove the many analysts who consider his 11.5-sack 2019 season a fluke, Atlanta might field the worst group of edge rushers in the league this season.

3. New Orleans Saints

Cam Jordan
Marcus Davenport
Payton Turner
Carl Granderson
Tanoh Kpassagnon
Noah Spence

Ranking New Orleans was tough. Their range of outcomes as an edge defender group is pretty vast, even after losing Trey Hendrickson. Jordan is clearly still a good player, but are his days of being an elite pass rusher over? He’s 32 years old and wasn’t as effective off the edge in 2020.

Davenport has always flashed, but he’s never even been on the field for more than 540 snaps in a season. Despite playing in 11 games last year, Davenport started only one and didn’t even reach 400 reps on the year. Three years into his career, that’s extremely disappointing. He’ll get ample opportunity to start again with Hendrickson in Cincinnati, but the Saints drafting Turner in Round 1 shows how much faith they have in Davenport.

I’m a big Turner fan, but he is still developing and expectations should be tempered for a rookie. Granderson is a good situational contributor, and a big reason why the Saints felt like they could replace Hendrickson’s production with a committee. Kpassagnon never developed in Kansas City, and Spence has been a bust.

If New Orleans can get Jordan to stave off decline for another year and keep Davenport on the field, they could be one of the better rush units in the NFL. Or Jordan could continue to slow down, Davenport could struggle with injuries and consistency yet again, and the Saints could be turning the page on a couple big names after the season. Good luck moving Jordan’s contract though.

2. Carolina Panthers

Brian Burns
Yetur Gross-Matos
Haason Reddick
Morgan Fox
Jermaine Carter
Christian Miller
Austin Larkin
Marquis Haynes

Cam Jordan has been the best edge rusher in the division for a decade, but Burns may be set to change that. Few edge defenders in the entire NFL can match Burns’ burst, bend and overall athleticism. He’s a freak who has only become more polished and refined in his skill set. After 16.5 sacks in his first 31 NFL games, Burns is going to be a double-digit guy the rest of his career.

The question is, will Gross-Matos join him? The second-year edge rusher was ok in 377 snaps as a rookie, but there is a lot left to prove. Will he ever have the explosiveness needed to produce at a dominant level in the NFL? If comparing the Saints and the Panthers starts with Burns vs Jordan, it continues with Gross-Matos vs Davenport.

The addition of Haason Reddick and Morgan Fox will help Gross-Matos’ transition to the NFL, as the Panthers put together a formidable 4-man rush group. Reddick is coming off his long-awaited breakout season, but might be best as a situational pass rusher only. That’s just fine for Carolina, as they envision Gross-Matos and Burns as the long-term starting tandem. Reddick and Fox, one of the more underrated defensive linemen in the NFL, are a great complementary tandem. Even Marquis Haynes had four sacks as a situational pass rusher in 2020.

Carolina’s edge rusher room doesn’t have as many names as the Saints’ group, but there is more upside here. If Burns takes the leap I think he will and the depth continues to play well, even a solid output from Gross-Matos will make this a pretty formidable edge defender unit.

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Shaq Barrett
Jason Pierre-Paul
Joe Tryon
Anthony Nelson
Cam Gill
Quinton Bell

The Bucs are the only team in the division with two clear-cut studs as starting edge defenders, which is a big reason why they take the top spot. Barrett is contending with Burns to bypass Jordan as the best edge defender in the division, while Pierre-Paul is overwhelmingly better than any other team’s No. 2 edge rusher in the NFC South.

Add in the promise of first round edge rusher Joe Tryon, and it’s clear Tampa Bay could have one of the more impactful top three edge defenders in the NFL. Of course, there is plenty of unknown with Tryon, as the rookie hasn’t played in a real game since 2019. He’ll have a learning curve, but he’s a clear cut backup, which will take a lot of pressure off of him. Tryon will be able to focus on contributing primarily as a pass rusher in 2021.

Nelson is a good point-of-attack run defender who simply lacks pass rush upside. As a No. 4 he’s a solid contributor, but it was the undrafted Gill who flashed more often a year ago. Either way, the Bucs depth seems considerably better than it looked entering the 2020 season.

Bucs Lg Ali Marpet - Photo By: Cliff Welch/PrPR's All-Time Greatest Bucs: 25-27
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