T.J. Watt has been a terror for opposing quarterbacks and the offensive personnel tasked with blocking him since the Pittsburgh Steelers selected him in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Even though he only played in 10 games last season after sustaining a pectoral injury in the first game of the season, Watt still managed to sack the quarterback 5.5 times. While the injury might have hampered him statistically, Gilberto Manzano of SI.com still has Watt as the sixth-best defensive lineman in the NFL.
Some may balk at Watt being included on such a list since he played as a 3-4 outside linebacker, but for simplicity, Manzano grouped all edge rushers into the defensive linemen category for the purposes of this list.