With the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, Myles Garrett arrived in Cleveland as a consensus All-American and a generational physical talent. Joining a franchise navigating turbulent years, the defensive end immediately stepped into the spotlight as the Browns' unquestioned cornerstone, blossoming into one of the most feared edge rushers in professional football history.

Garrett combined explosive get-off speed with exceptional bend around the edge. With rare functional strength and a wide range of pass-rush moves, he regularly broke through double-teams, chipped tight ends, and disrupted max-protect schemes, collapsing pockets and strip-sacking quarterbacks.

What distinguishes Garrett’s playing style from that of nearly all his contemporaries is his amalgamation of Olympic-level athleticism and a strategic pass-rush arsenal. Immediately following the snap, Garrett demonstrates an explosive initial burst, attaining maximum velocity within the first two steps and compelling offensive linemen to retreat. His signature physical attribute is his remarkable ankle and hip flexibility—permitting him to dip his shoulder almost parallel to the ground to execute a corner turn at full speed without diminishing his momentum.

Defenders could not over-commit to his outside speed track, however, because Garrett possesses brute power. He routinely uses a bull-rush to convert speed into power, driving 310-pound tackles backward into the quarterback’s lap, or uncorks a lightning-fast cross-chop and euro-step spin move to flash back inside. Beyond rushing the passer, his long wingspan and strong hands allow him to set a hard edge against the run, shedding blocks in an instant to blow up plays in the backfield before they develop.

Following his rookie year in 2017, during which he recorded seven sacks across 11 games, Garrett significantly elevated his performance in 2018 with 13.5 sacks, thereby earning his initial Pro Bowl selection. In subsequent seasons, he established himself as a formidable presence on the field, securing consecutive First-Team All-Pro honors and participating in the Pro Bowl in 2020 and 2021 while anchoring Cleveland's defensive line. Garrett set a franchise record with 16.0 sacks in 2021 and matched this total in 2022, leading a predominantly struggling unit with a high-level pressure rate that consistently ranked near the top of the National Football League.

Garrett achieved the highest level of individual recognition in 2023 by receiving his inaugural AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award. He led Cleveland's top-ranked defense into the postseason, recording 14.0 sacks, 30 quarterback hits, and four forced fumbles, while also leading the entire NFL with an Approximate Value of 20. During a subsequent challenging 2024 season, he secured his fourth First-Team All-Pro selection. Garrett maintained an impressive performance with 14.0 sacks, led the NFL with 22 tackles for loss, and ranked third in DPOY voting, continuing a distinguished pattern of multiple double-digit sack seasons.

The 2025 season proved to be a historic individual campaign for a defensive player in modern NFL history. Operating as an unstoppable force, Garrett delivered a single-season performance for the record books, setting a new NFL single-season sack record with 23.0 sacks—breaking the previous record of 22.5, shared by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt.

Garrett’s 2025 campaign was marked by a franchise-record five-sack performance against the New England Patriots in Week 8, as well as a consecutive streak of nine games with at least a half-sack. In addition to his 23.0 sacks, he led the NFL with 33 tackles for loss (the second-highest in a single season since 2000), and recorded 39 quarterback hits, 60 tackles, and three forced fumbles. For his distinguished efforts, Garrett was unanimously honored with the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year award—becoming only the ninth player in league history to receive this accolade multiple times. Moreover, he became the first player in NFL history to achieve at least 12 sacks in six consecutive seasons and is the only player to record eight straight campaigns of 10 or more sacks at the start of a career.

Although Garrett signed a long-term extension during the 2025 offseason, strategic changes and a roster rebuild resulted in a surprising trade in June 2026. The Browns sent Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for two-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Jared Verse, a first-round pick in 2027, a second-round pick in 2028, and a third-round pick in 2029. Garrett appeared in 134 games, ending his career as the franchise’s all-time leader with 125.5 sacks and 149 tackles for loss.

Taylor Lewan was the third Offensive Linemen taken in the 2014 Draft (11^th Overall), and he arguably has been more successful than the two (Greg Robinson and Jake Matthews) selected ahead of him.

Lewan would win the starting job at Left Tackle during his debut season, finishing as an All-Rookie, and he progressively got better, rattling off three consecutive Pro Bowls from 2016 to 2018.  Lewan’ holds a spot as one of the better Offensve Lineman in franchise history, even if his overall profile is not regarded out of Tennessee.

Kevin Byard is one of the most prolific defensive stars from Middle Tennessee State where the All-Conference USA star was a Third Round Pick in the 2016 Draft.

In his rookie season, Byard would win a starting job at Safety, but if there was an award for Sophomore of the Year, Byard could have staked a claim for it.  Byard was a co-leader in Interceptions (6) while going to the Pro Bowl and securing First Team honors that year, and although he did not come close to to that production from 2018 to 2020 in traditional and advanced metrics, he was still a solid starter in the NFL.  

Byard returned to Pro Bowl and First Team All-Pro form in 2021, which coincided with his move from Free Safety to Strong Safety.  He was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles at the 2023 trade deadline, and the Defensive Back left Tennessee with 27 Interceptions.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post-2021 revision of our top 50 Pittsburgh Steelers.

As for all of our top 50 players in football we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Football League. 

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, the Steelers made it to the playoffs on the strength of our defense.  Two of those players saw significant elevations on the list, although there were no new entrants.

As always, we present our top five:

1. Joe Greene

2. Jack Lambert

3. Mike Webster

4. Franco Harris

5. Jack Ham

You can find the entire list here.

Defensive End, Cameron Heyward, who is now on a five-year Pro Bowl streak, jumped from #45 to #28.

The reigning Defensive Player of the Year, T.J. Watt, rocketed from #46 to #33.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.