Pass Rushers to Hit 2022 Free Agency

The NFL Scouting Combine is behind us, the franchise tag window has closed and free agency is just around the corner.

There are plenty of talented pass rushers slated to test the waters when free agency opens next week, so ESPN’s Seth Walder took a stab at ranking them.

Worth noting is that league pundits have argued that Minnesota needs to add a pass rusher or two to the roster this offseason, but of course there are multiple options to do so, including the upcoming NFL Draft.

Walder topped his list with Haason Reddick, who recorded 11 sacks for the Panthers last season. Walder wrote:

You can understand the skepticism Reddick received on the free-agent scene a year ago. He was coming off a successful 2020 campaign in which he recorded 12.5 sacks, but he had been primarily a pass-rusher for just one season at that point (he rushed the passer on just 31 percent of pass plays in 2019, per NFL Next Gen Stats).

A year later, those doubts have been more or less put to rest. Reddick has put up back-to-back double-digit sack seasons, and he has even done so on two different teams (which is not a factor in the model but, I would think, ought to give us extra confidence in his ability going forward).

Reddick’s underlying numbers also back up the sack production, as his pass rush win rate was eighth among edge rushers this season.

Given his numbers over the past two seasons and that Reddick is just 27, the model sees Reddick as the clear No. 1 free-agent pass-rusher option. For context: Reddick’s projected 9.5 sacks in 2022 is the sixth highest among all players.