When it comes to the best EDGE duo in the NFL, there really shouldn’t be much debate. That title resides in Pittsburgh with T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith wreaking havoc off the edge against opposing offenses weekly.
Yet once again, Pro Football Focus tried to find a way to discredit the duo. In a piece highlighting the best duos at each NFL position, PFF’s Gordon McGuinness named the Dallas EDGE duo of Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence as the NFL’s best at the position, surpassing Watt and Highsmith and even Cleveland’s Myles Garrett and Za’Darius Smith.
“Competition is fierce here. One could make a strong case for either Myles Garrett and Za’Darius Smith of the Cleveland Browns, or T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith of the Pittsburgh Steelers to be in the top spot,” McGuinness writes regarding the EDGE position. “Parsons earned a 93.7 PFF pass-rushing grade in 2023, racking up 106 quarterback pressures from 532 pass-[rushing] snaps. Opposite him, Lawrence posted a 79.3 PFF pass-rushing grade and was a phenomenal run defender, trailing only Maxx Crosby in PFF run-defense grade (92.2).”
There is no denying just how good Parsons is. He’s a game-wrecker, just like Watt, one who gets after opposing quarterbacks with jaw-dropping consistency. PFF credited him with 103 pressures in the 2023 regular season, adding 14.0 sacks on the year.
The 103 pressures from Parsons led the NFL, and he had the second-best pass-rush grade at 93.7, behind only Garrett (94.8). Again, Parsons was incredible. He was a Defensive Player of the Year finalist to boot.
But choosing him and DeMarcus Lawrence over Watt and Highsmith seems rather absurd.
Watt had 86 pressures, led the NFL in sacks for the third time in his career with 19.0 and had at least one sack in 13 of 17 games, being a consistent force throughout the season. He graded out at a 91.9 overall from PFF, including a 91.7 as a pass rusher.
Highsmith on the opposite side finished top 15 in EDGE grade on the year, too, with a 90.3 overall grade, including an 86.5 rushing the passer and a sterling 86.5 in coverage, picking off two passes with one going for a pick-six. Highsmith also generated 69 pressures and finished the season with 7.0 sacks.
He was also an outstanding run defender for the Steelers, setting the edge consistently.
Lawrence’s numbers don’t even come close.
Yes, Lawrence was an elite run defender, finishing with a grade of 91.3 overall from PFF, including a 92.4 as a run defender, but he had just an 80.3 pass rush grade, generating only 48 pressures and 4.0 sacks.
PFF leaned really hard into Lawrence’s run defense grade for the reasoning behind choosing Parsons/Lawrence as the top EDGE duo, rather than looking at the entire body of work.
Watt and Highsmith, and even Garrett and Smith are better duos. The Steelers’ duo showed it last season, and they’ll have to show it once again in 2024.
