2020 Pre-Season Rank #15, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #5, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #3, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #2.  PEAK 2017-21

Well, look who’s back!

When we last saw Aaron Donald on this list, it was heading into the 2023 season, which he completed with another Pro Bowl, giving him a perfect ten-for-ten in that accolade.  He then shock-retired, doing so while still having something left.

Let’s see what he still has.

It is easy to see why Donald opted to come back.  The Rams begin the season as the most loaded team in football.  Quarterback Matthew Stafford is the reigning MVP, and they landed the defending Defensive Player of the Year in Myles Garrett.  This team narrowly lost to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game, and now they have a returning Aaron Donald and Myles Garrett?  We haven’t even mentioned the acquisitions of Trent McDuffie and Jaley Watson to the Defensive Back Corps!

A quick reminder of who Donald is.

He is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, and anyone who has ever done that twice has always been enshrined…easily.  From 2015 to 2021, he never finished lower than fifth for the DPOY, he led the NFL in Sacks once, Tackles for Loss twice, and also boasts a Super Bowl ring. 

He could easily add another.

Should he be ahead of the previous #1, Quarterback Aaron Rodgers?  We answer this with this question. 

Who is easier to put on the Mount Rushmore of his position?  Aaron Donald or Aaron Rodgers?

You can see who we narrowly picked!

2025 Pre-Season Rank #9, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #17, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #34, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #53, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #99, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #144.  Peak Period: 2021-25

It feels like nobody deserves a change of scenery more than Myles Garrett.

After nine seasons with the Cleveland Browns, where he won two Defensive Player of the Year Awards, earned five First Team All-Pros, seven Pro Bowls, recorded 125 Sacks and 149 Tackles for Loss, Garrett arrives in Los Angeles, joining the already loaded Rams, where he has his first legitimate chance for a Super Bowl.

Over the past four seasons, Garrett’s numbers have been staggering.  In addition to his two DPOYs, he was fifth in 2022,  third in 2024, and has compiled 67 Sacks and 90 Tackles for Loss…and now he has Aaron Donald on the same line!  Although he is now 30, there is no reason to think that he can not extend his prime in Los Angeles.

Regardless of what happens in SoFi, no player who won two Defensive Player of the Year Awards has failed to make it to Canton. 

2025 Pre-Season Rank #6, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #7, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #4, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #7, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #8, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #10.  Peak Period: 2011-12/2014-16.

A Defensive Rookie of the Year, Super Bowl winner, and Super Bowl MVP for the Denver Broncos, Miller has all the statistical requirements the Hall looks for and the name recognition that fits the word "Fame.”   Over the last four seasons, Miller served as a pass-rushing specialist for the Buffalo Bills and Washington Commanders, and now he begins the season in his home state, wearing the blue star of the Dallas Cowboys.

As for how much Miller has left in the tank, he generated nine sacks last season in his specialized role, moving him to ninth on the official list and three away from tying Michael Strahan for sixth.  Only one Tackle for Loss gives him sole possession of fourth in that all-time list.

The only thing that we think could delay him is if some of the members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame might want him to pay penance for his past suspensions (one for substance abuse and one for domestic violence), though they did generate a lot of press considering his high profile.  Honestly, they might not even discuss it.

2025 Pre-Season Rank #7, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #11: 2023 Pre-Season Rank #15, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #24, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #68, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #102.  Peak Period: 2019-23.

Watching T.J. Watt rocket through this rank reminds us of how his older brother, J.J., did the same thing.

A Pittsburgh Steeler for all of his nine seasons, Watt has been among the game’s top pass-rushers through most of it, winning three Sack Titles (2020, 2021 & 2023), two Tackles For Loss Titles (2020 & 2021), and was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2021.  Watt has been so dominant that he was the runner-up for the DPOY twice (in 2020 & 2023), third in 2019, and fourth in 2024.  He also led the NFL in Forced Fumbles twice (2019 & 2024) and is a member of the 100-sack club.

Watt’s peak may be over, but he is Canton-bound.  The only sad thing is that his bust can’t be beside J.J’s. 

2025 Pre-Season Rank #8, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #12, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #14, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #19, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #26, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #29.  Peak Period: 2015-19.

Oakland.  Chicago.  Los Angeles.

Everywhere Khalil Mack goes, Khalil Mack dominates.

The Outside Linebacker made history last season as the first player to secure three Pro Bowls on three different teams, when he added Pro Bowl number nine in year three with the Chargers.  The celebrated pass-rusher has 113 career Sacks, a Defensive Player of the Year Award (2016 with the Raiders), the longevity, the consistency, and the dominance that the PFHOF would want.

He may not dominate the defensive headlines like he used to, but Mack remains the “Mack.”

2025 Pre-Seasn Rank #14, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #19, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #19, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #26 2021 Pre-Season Rank #28, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #36. Peak Period: 2014-18

Longevity, talent, and class.

40-year-old Calais Campbell remains a solid Defensive End in the National Football League, and in 2026, he joins the Baltimore Ravens for a second time, and will likely provide solid production.

“The Mayor of Sacksonville” went to six Pro Bowls in a seven-year period (2014-20), which includes his last two in his first run in Arizona, all three of his seasons as a Jacksonville Jaguar, and his first in Baltimore.  Campbell, who won the 2019 Walter Payton Man of the Year and the 2023 Alan Page Award, was also honored with a 2010s All-Decade Selection.

Campbell also has a statistical Hall of Fame resume with 110.5 Sacks and 196 Tackles for Loss, making him the active leader in that stat.  The Hall of Fame loves character guys, but they don’t get a pass unless they show what their goods are on the gridiron.  Calais Campbell did just that.

2025 Pre-Season Rank #14, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #21, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #27, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #25, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #36, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #42.  Peak Period: 2017-21

Cameron Jordan is one of the many players on this list whose second half seems to eclipse his first, and isn't that a stunning statement considering that he was a 2010s All-Decade Player?  He had a six-year Pro Bowl streak snapped in 2022, but has eight in total, and a healthy number of career Sacks (132) and Tackles for Loss (175).  His Hall of Fame case is also bolstered by his association with only one team, the New Orleans Saints, where he has been a leader on and off the field for over a decade. 

Jordan begins the 2026 season and announced that this would be his last.  A ninth Pro Bowl is possible, and if he gets that along with significant behind the line of scrimmage stats, his chances for Canton will rise, but despite the solid resume, bigger names in similar roles could overshadow him.  How many times have we seen that before?

2025 Pre-Season Rank #15, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #15, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #58, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #100. Peak Period 2020-24.

When you think of the recent success of the Kansas City Chiefs, you immediately think of Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and the offense, but you have to stop the ball, and in the 2020s, very few can do it at the level of Chris Jones.

Versatile, consistent, and quick like a cat, Jones does it all.  The defensive stud of Kansas City’s five Super Bowl appearances, Jones combines the power of a pass rusher and the speed of a run-blocker to make a perfect defensive beast.  Pundits agree Jones had a three-year streak of First Team All-Pro Selections (2022-24) and is on a seven-year Pro Bowl streak.  The scary thing for opposing offenses is that Jones is still at his peak.

Would KC have won their last three Super Bowls without Jones?  Not a chance.

2025 Pre-Season Rank #19, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #28, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #33, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #38, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #75, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #87.  Peak Period: 2017-21

In the first six seasons of Cameron Heyward's career, there was no mention of him ever sniffing the Hall of Fame. The next six years would change everything, as Heyward’s production increased, and he strung together a six-year Pro Bowl streak (2017-22) that included three First Team All-Pros.  Heyward was not just a consummate disruptor; he was an all-around role model who won the 2023 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

In 2024, at the age of 35, Heyward added his seventh Pro Bowl, but because his role is not purely as a pass-rusher, his 92 Sacks and 142 Tackles for Loss do not jump off the page, though, of course, we suspect the Hall of Fame voters know this.   Astoundingly, closer to 40 than he is 30, Heyward appears to have so much more left to give the game.

2025 Pre-Season Rank #54, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #79, 2023: Pre-Season Rank #102. Peak Period: 2021-25

Here is what we wrote about Micah Parsons last year:

“What he does in 2025 and beyond will skyrocket Parsons up this list and into Hall of Fame territory, and we wager it will be incredible.”

And it was, though not without cost.

After four incredible seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, Parsons was shockingly moved to Green Bay, and he dominated in Lambeau the same way he did in Arlington. Going into Week 15 last year, he was already at 12.5 Sacks, and was disrupting the minds of opposing Offensive Coordinators, but he tore his ACL, which ended his season; though he still was named a First Team All-Pro for the third time and was third in voting for Defensive Player of the Year.   He did skyrocket up this list as predicted, but that won’t happen in 2026.

With the exception of the injury, Parsons’ first five years were about as good as you can get, and there is nobody with less experience ahead of him on this list.  He is not due back until mid-season, and hopefully, for all football fans, he returns to pre-injury form.

2025 Pre-Season Rank #44, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #57, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #87, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #102 2021 Pre-Season Rank #102, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #90.  Peak Period: 2018-19/2023-25

Danielle Hunter may not have been even a Pro Bowl Selection (though he was a Second Team All-Pro), but the current Houston Texan has evolved into one of the most effective and consistent pass rushers in the game.

Hunter broke the 100 Sack mark last year, and on the loaded Texans defense, he is poised to get his fifth double-digit year in that stat.  While he might be on the north side of 30, he still owns that sick blend of finesse and ferocity, and though he is revered in football circles, he often gets left behind in general football conversation.

A monster season puts him in the conversation, as would five more great ones; he is capable of both scenarios despite being 31.  This could be the year that gets him in.

2025 Pre-Season Rank #42, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #52,  2023: Pre-Season Rank #83. Peak Period: 2019-23

The explosive Nick Bosa is one of a handful of players who won the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year (2019) and later the AP Defensive Player of the Year (2022), a combination of trophies that can pave the way to a bronze bust.

The cornerstone of a defense that has been to two Super Bowls, Bosa’s five-year peak is impacted by an injury that held him to two Games in 2020.   When he is healthy, Bosa is among the best pass-rushers in football, though it is a position that needs constant attention for the Hall, as his stature has shrunk over the last 36 months, especially with last season's torn ACL.

This season is critical for his Hall of Fame chances, as depsite the DROY and DPOY, this is a hard Hall to get into.