{"id":879327,"date":"2026-09-01T10:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T10:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/879327\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T10:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T10:06:13","slug":"where-aaron-donald-and-myles-garrett-rank-among-2026-nfl-seasons-best-defensive-duos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/879327\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Aaron Donald and Myles Garrett Rank Among 2026 NFL Season&#8217;s Best Defensive Duos"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">The Houston Texans feature the league&#8217;s best defense. The reason why is simple: The unit fields playmakers at all three levels, though everything starts up front with ends Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">To be fair, Derek Stingley Jr. could have easily been added as the second part of a tandem that featured either of the Texans&#8217; edge-rushers. He is an outstanding cover corner and ranked as the second-best at the position, according to the B\/R Scouting Department. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">In this case, Anderson and Hunter get the nod because they work so well in tandem. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">Anderson is the ascending superstar. He&#8217;s 24 years old. He&#8217;s already been the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, a first-team All-Pro and a two-time Pro Bowler. He worked with Myles Garrett this offseason after setting a new career high with 12 sacks last season. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">Last year, Anderson led all defenders in overall grade, pass-rush win rate and pressure rate, according to <a class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-inherit MuiLink-root MuiLink-underlineAlways MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__ui__link__medium_strong mui-mlpnpn\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PFF\/status\/2025299552442745249\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Pro Football Focus<\/a>. The 2023 third overall pick could very well be the league&#8217;s best defensive player in a few years time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">Conversely, Hunter is the veteran hand, who can still do everything at a high level. The 31-year-old defensive end has registered 12 or more sacks in three straight seasons. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">&#8220;If an underrated elite pass-rusher exists, since it&#8217;s considered a premium position, Danielle Hunter fits the mold,&#8221; B\/R scout <a class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-inherit MuiLink-root MuiLink-underlineAlways MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__ui__link__medium_strong mui-mlpnpn\" href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/25460002-br-nfl-1000-ranking-top-1000-players-2026-season\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Matt Holder wrote<\/a>. &#8220;He may not be discussed in the same category as Garrett, but Hunter is easily one of the league&#8217;s best at getting to the quarterback. He wins every way imaginable, whether it&#8217;s going through an offensive tackle&#8217;s chest, around the edge with speed or across the tackle&#8217;s face. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">&#8220;Against the run, the 10-year veteran&#8217;s strength at the point of attack really shines. He can set the edge and shed blocks against offensive linemen to make tackles near the line of scrimmage.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">Anderson and Hunter are the league&#8217;s best pair of edge-defenders. However, they won&#8217;t be the league&#8217;s best set of defenders this fall. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Houston Texans feature the league&#8217;s best defense. The reason why is simple: The unit fields playmakers at&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":879328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":["post-879327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=879327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/879328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=879327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=879327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=879327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}