NFL: Building the best 2021 roster from NFC North teams

Ultimate 2021 NFC North Edge Rushers: Khalil Mack (CHI), Za’Darius Smith (GB)

Figuring out who was the first pass rusher on this roster was quite easy. Khalil Mack was drafted out of Buffalo by the then-Oakland Raiders. The day that Mack stepped onto an NFL field, it was clear to see that he was a different breed. In Mack’s rookie year, he didn’t rack up the sack numbers you would like to see as he only had 4.0. However, he still put quarterbacks under pressure weekly.

After spending four years in Oakland, Mack was eventually traded to Chicago where he’s continued his dominance to this day. While Mack is the best pass rusher in the NFC North and maybe the best pass rusher in the NFL, he is also a great run-stopper, making him one of the best defensive players in the NFL today.

Figuring out the second EDGE to take wasn’t quite as easy. The two pass rushers I was debating between were Za’Darius Smith and Danielle Hunter. Both Hunter and Smith are top-tier pass rushers, but I chose Smith over Hunter because of the high-end play we saw from him in 2019

Before Smith joined the Packers, he spent most of his career with Baltimore. While with Baltimore, Smith was nothing more than a solid pass rusher. After spending four years there, he joined the Packers and turned into one of the best pass rushers in the NFL as he rarely had a bad game with Green Bay in all of 2019. Though his 2020 campaign wasn’t nearly as great as 2019, Smith showed that his first season in Green Bay was no fluke.