Garrett Unanimous No. 1, Parsons Right Behind Him — The 2026 Edge Rush Poll Is Brutal

The ballots landed this week and left little room for debate.

Myles Garrett swept every first-place vote from more than 70 scouts, executives and coaches in Jeremy Fowler’s annual ESPN survey. Micah Parsons of the Green Bay Packers finished second. He never fell lower than fifth on a single ballot.

That result lands with extra weight. Parsons turned 27 in May. He just completed his fifth NFL season. He already sits with 65 career sacks in 77 games. Only a short list of all-time greats reached that mark that fast.

The Packers acquired him last August in a deal that sent Kenny Clark and two first-round picks to Dallas. Parsons paid it back immediately. He posted 12.5 sacks in 14 games, earned first-team All-Pro honors, and still led the league in total pressures and quarterback pressure rate when his season ended.

An ACL tear in December against the Broncos cut the year short. Voters looked straight past the missed games.

The Quote That Captured Everything

One coordinator summed it up without hesitation.

“There are two guys that never really get blocked in the NFL, and it’s those two guys — Myles and Micah,” he told Fowler. “You do what you can with movements and quick game, and it’s not enough.”

That line traveled through league circles fast. It explains the double-digit double-team rate Parsons saw last season — the highest in the NFL — and why he still posted the second-best pass-rush win rate behind only Garrett.

Coaches game-planned around him every week. They slid protections, added chips, moved the pocket. Parsons kept winning anyway.

Parsons’ 2025 by the Numbers

• 12.5 sacks in 14 games (first season in Green Bay)
• Led NFL in total pressures and QB pressure percentage at time of injury
• Highest double-team rate in football
• Second in pass-rush win rate
• First-team All-Pro
• 315 pressures since 2021 — most in the NFL over that span

He also became one of five players in league history with at least 65 sacks through his first five seasons. No one else has posted 12-plus sacks in each of their first five years.

The production came after the Packers swung big in the trade market. Green Bay gave up significant future capital and a proven interior lineman. Parsons turned that investment into instant elite production.

The Depth Behind the Top Two

Several players collected second-place votes besides Parsons. The list tells you everything about how loaded this position has become:

• Will Anderson Jr., Houston Texans
• Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders
• Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit Lions
• Danielle Hunter, Houston Texans (now with the team)

Before the 2025 season, Rashan Gary received top-10 support in similar polling. After the Parsons trade sent him to Dallas, Gary received zero votes in the latest round. The margin for error at the position is razor thin.

Why Parsons Stays Elite

Defensive coaches keep returning to the same traits.

Elite burst off the snap. Closing speed that turns quarterbacks’ knees to water. The most versatile rush package in the group — he wins from wide alignments, tight alignments, and even shaded inside looks. One veteran coach called it the “most rush versatility of the edge rusher group.”

That package is exactly what the Packers paid for. It is also why the ACL injury did not tank his standing. Voters saw the tape from the first 14 weeks and the consistent pressure numbers that no scheme could fully erase.

Parsons is currently working through the later stages of his rehab. Early 2026 remains unlikely, but the respect around the league already treats him as a high-impact player the moment he steps back on the field.

What the Poll Means Heading Into 2026

Garrett remains the clear standard. The Rams added him in a June blockbuster and immediately became Super Bowl favorites in many circles. He posted 23 sacks last season and continues to play at a level that makes coordinators invent new ways to slow him down.

Parsons sits right behind him. The gap between those two and the rest of the position is noticeable on the ballots. The gap between Parsons and everyone else chasing him is also clear.

The Packers invested heavily to bring that kind of disruption to Green Bay. One season and one injury later, the league still sees him as the second-most impactful edge rusher in football.

That kind of consensus does not come from reputation alone. It comes from the tape, the pressures, the win rate against heavy attention, and the traits that refuse to show up on a simple box score.

Parsons has all of it. The 2026 season will tell us how quickly he gets back to showing it every Sunday.