The NFL’s 11 best interior defensive linemen
The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. That simple truth is important for the purposes of our list of the NFL’s best interior defensive linemen because we’re in a league where quick-game passing concepts are perhaps more prevalent than ever. And with those zero- and one-stop drops, and one- to three-level RPOs, your edge-rushers aren’t always going to get to the quarterback in time.
So, it behooves your NFL franchise to develop as much interior pressure as possible. That’s where the straight line comes in.
In a recent episode of “The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell,” Greg and I got into the traits for every player aligned to every gap along the defensive line, and those big guys getting to the quarterback made up a big part of that.
The attributes required to make our list of the best interior definitive linemen coming into the 2023 season are as follows:
Gap versatility is an absolute must. If you can only win from one or two gaps, especially if those gaps are right next to each other… well, that’s nice, but we’re looking for more.
You must have different ways to get to the ball, and if you’re too reliant on schemes and stunts and those around you, that’s a debit. We need guys who can do it all without help all the time.
When we’re talking about inside guys, the ability to stop the run obviously becomes more important and is more paramount. Defenders with high stop rates will find that paying off on this list.
So, here’s our list of the 11 best interior defensive linemen in the NFL today. You can read the rest of our position lists linked below, leading up to our list of the 101 best players in the NFL today.
The NFL’s top 11 edge defenders
The NFL’s top 11 linebackers
The NFL’s top 11 slot defenders
The NFL’s top 11 cornerbacks
The NFL’s top 11 safeties
(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise indicated).
11. Vita Vea, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
You’re about to see a lot of linemen with absolutely astonishing speed and agility for their size, and we might as well start with Vea. The Buccaneers’ defense was problematic overall in the 2022 season, ranking 13th in DVOA and 25th in Weighted DVOA (which skews to the end of the season), but it was a lot better when Vea was in there. The Bucs had a better pressure rate, sack rate, blown block pressure rate, blown block sack rate, and yards after contact average when Vea was on the field.
The 6-foot-4, 347-pound Vea had eight sacks, seven quarterback hits, 23 quarterback hurries, and 19 stops in just 14 games last season, and one must pay particular attention to the ways in which Vea was able to just demolish double-teams. Yes, size is part of the equation here, but Vea stands above the pack, and requires extra attention, because he brings a fearsome blend of leverage and technique to those double-teams. When you and your buddy on the offensive line are responsible for No. 50, it’s going to be a long day for both of you.
When Vea is on point against your run game, you can execute all the slides you want, and he’ll bull through all of them. In Week 12, he dropped Cleveland’s Nick Chubb for a one-yard loss on just such a play. A fully healthy Vea would be quite the load for every offense the Bucs face in the 2023 season.
10. Christian Wilkins, Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins selected Wilkins out of Clemson with the 13th overall pick in the 2019 draft, and after a couple seasons of decent production, Wilkins started to reward that high pick with some seriously great tape. Last season, he had seven sacks, three quarterback hits, 23 quarterback hurries, and a league-high 48 run stops. 12 of Wilkins’ 16 tackles for loss came in the run game, and that’s where we’ll begin when discussing his excellence.
Wilkins has a great eye for shooting and creating gaps and accelerating into the backfield, whether it’s in a base front or he was working in Miami’s high-rate blitz packages. Here against the Chargers in Week 14, he worked right guard Zion Johnson, the 17th overall pick in the 2022 draft, from outside to inside shoulder at a speed that had the rookie wandering what just happened, and had running back Austin Ekeler losing a yard. This is how you want to exploit the one-on-one matchups you get in five-man fronts.
If you want lateral quickness in your ideal IDL, Wilkins has all of that. On this sack of Cleveland’s Jacoby Brissett in Week 10, Wilkins started out in a 1-tech alignment with center Ethan Pocic, engaged Pocic from left to right, and them jumped all the way around right guard Hjalte Froholdt on the stunt with Jaelan Phillips. When guys this bog (6-foot-4, 310) move this fast, it’s bad news for quarterbacks.
9. Cameron Heyward, Pittsburgh Steelers
Another year, another amazing season for Heyward, who is quietly building himself a Hall of Fame resume. With six Pro Bowl nominations and three All-Pro nods, Heyward has reached a precipitous altitude, and he shows no signs of slowing down at age 34. In 2022, with an injured T.J. Watt and not a ton of juice around him in the interior defensive line (Larry Ogunjobi excepted), Heyward did what he does — he totaled 12 sacks (his most in a season since 2017), 10 quarterback hits, 36 quarterback hurries, and 43 stops.
Gap versatility has always been a staple of Heyward’s brilliance — outside of Aaron Donald, no base interior defensive lineman in his era has been better at wrecking stuff from every possible alignment. On this Week 12 pressure of Colts quarterback Matt Ryan, Heyward started off head over left tackle Bernhard Raimann, and then pulled off a long stunt with the aforementioned Mr. Ogunjobi in which Heyward got to right guard Will Fries’ outside shoulder. Not bad for an older gentleman!
And as a run defender, Heyward is more than adept at creating chaos from the line of scrimmage, and through the pocket. Josh Jacobs of the Raiders, the NFL’s most productive back in 2022, would certainly agree.
8. Javon Hargrave, San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers’ defensive line was already pretty terrifying before the team added Hargrave in free agency with a four-year, $81 million contract including $40 million guaranteed. This followed Hargrave’s fourth season with the Eagles, which was his best to date. The 2016 third-round pick of the Steelers totaled 12 sacks, six quarterback hits, 48 quarterback hurries, and 36 stops for Philly last season, and he should be able to slip into his new line seamlessly.
One of the first things that stands out about the 6-foot-2, 305-pound Hargrave is that he plays like a much bigger man — his ability to get under a blocker’s pads and main leverage through the rep is top-shelf. Texans rookie left guard Kenyon Green, the 15th overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft, got a serious introduction to the league from Mr. Hargrave on this Week 9 sack of Davis Mills.
Hargrave is also a danger to others as a run defender, as he showed on this three-yard loss by Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco in Super Bowl LVII. Here, he walled center Creed Humphrey off, and followed Pacheco all the way outside.
7. Quinnen Williams, New York Jets
Speaking of Qionnen Williams, the Jets’ 2-tech monster has next on our list, and for good reason. Last season, the 2019 third overall pick out of Alabama had by far his most productive season to date, with 13 sacks, 14 quarterback hits, 25 quarterback hurries, and 32 stops.
Not that Williams can only get things done from guard level (he wouldn’t be on this list were that the case), but as he had six sacks, nine quarterback hits, and eight quarterback hurries from those alignments, it’s a good place to begin. On this Week 14 sack of Buffalo’s Josh Allen, Williams engaged left guard Rodger Saffold with a bull-rush, and then swiped him aside as if Saffold was an innocent bystander.
And while Williams’ game is more about pursuit to the depth of the pocket than waiting around to stop the run, he’s quite adept at blasting through blockers to limit enemy ground games. Here against the Vikings in Week 13, Williams started the rep carrying center Garrett Bradbury with his left hand, and finished it tackling running back Alexander Mattison with his right. Williams is all about efficiency.
6. Daron Payne, Washington Commanders
The football franchise in the nation’s capital has long been known for its great defensive line, and there’s certainly enough draft capital thrown at it. The Redskins/Football Team/Commanders currently have FOUR first-round picks on that line between Payne, Jonathan Allen, Montez Sweat, and Chase Young. Payne isn’t the biggest name on that list, but he might very well be the best. And he’s the only one who has made our positional lists this year, so there’s that. Last season, the 13th overall pick in the 2018 draft out of Alabama logged 12 sacks, 10 quarterback hits, 27 quarterback hurries, and 44 stops.
In Payne’s case, it’s the combination of grown-man strength, speed and acceleration to the quarterback, and a full palette of moves that gets him going. On this sack of Kirk Cousins in Week 9, Payne started out on the outside shoulder of right guard Ed Ingram, worked inside with his hands, arm-overed Ingram into oblivion, and closed more quickly to Mr. Cousins than Mr. Cousins had a right to expect. The disrespectful throw of Mr. Cousins to the ground was the denouement.
Payne is a great run-stopper, and you also want to be mindful of throwing anything dinky in his region. Back to that Vikings game, where Nick Mullens tried a quick dump-off to T.J. Hockenson… and Payne dropped the tight end for a three-yard loss.
5. DeForest Buckner, Indianapolis Colts
If it seems odd that Buckner has made just two Pro Bowls (2018, 2021) and just one All-Pro nod in his career, that’s because it is. Among interior defensive linemen since Buckner’s rookie season of 2016, per Pro Football Reference, only Aaron Donald and Fletcher Cox have more total pressures than Buckner’s 161, and only Donald has more sacks than Buckner’s 47. And Buckner’s far from a one-trick pony — last season, he had 33 run stops, third-most among interior defensive linemen, to go along with his nine sacks, 13 quarterback hits, and 34 quarterback hurries.
At 6-foot-7 and 295 pounds, Buckner is somehow ideally built to disrupt from any gap. He got two sacks against the Chargers in Week 16 by first throwing left guard Matt Feller aside on the way to Justin Herbert…
Against the Patriots in Week 9, Buckner spun out of a double-team from a nose shade alignment, and wound up with Mac Jones in his hip pocket.
4. Jeffery Simmons, Tennessee Titans
The Titans took Simmons with the 19th overall pick in the 2019 draft, and that was still considered a steal based on his talent coming out of Mississippi State. He tore his ACL as h was preparing for the draft, which made him wait until the seventh game of his rookie season to get on the field. Ever since then, Simmons has taken it out on every offense the Titans have faced.
The 2022 season was another superlative one for Simmons, who signed a four-year, $94 million contract extension in April, 2023. He racked up eight sacks, seven quarterback hits, 38 quarterback hurries, and 27 stops. He did this despite ankle issues that he worked with through most of the season.
At 6-foot-4 and 305 pounds, Simmons has the “country strength” of a man 20-30 pounds heavier, and as he proved on this sack of the Giants’ Daniel Jones in Week 1, you’d better throw more than a perfunctory double-team at him if you want that to work.
And here, in Week 18, Jaguars running back Travis Etienne experienced the unpleasant feeling of Simmons jumping from center Luke Fortner’s right shoulder to his left with alarming speed, dumping Etienne for no gain. There was a lot of that feeling going around last season.
3. Aaron Donald, Los Angeles Rams
Is Aaron Donald the best defensive player of his era? There’s little doubt about that. Is Aaron Donald the greatest defensive player of all time? From a peak value perspective, he has a pretty strong case. From a career value perspective, we can but wait and see. One of the most consistently dominant disruptors football has ever seen, Donald worked through a 2022 season that was really his first in the NFL limited by injury. He missed the last seven games of the season due to an ankle issue, and while he’s said that there are no plans for retirement, that “R” word has been rearing its head of late in his case.
Still, with just 615 snaps last season — by far the fewest he’s had in a campaign in his NFL career — Donald still put up five sacks, seven quarterback hits, 28 quarterback hits, and 33 stops. Not quite the level of work we’ve come to expect — Donald has four seasons in which he’s totaled over 100 pressures, which is just preposterous for an interior defensive lineman who commands double-teams as the default mechanism — but not in any way a situation where you’re thinking, “Yeah — he was great, but he’s done.” At age 32, Donald has as much left in the tank as most guys could ever hope to sport at their absolute peak.
Donald has every move in the book, but one of his most effective over time is the double-hand jolt, where he’ll just punch the crap out of a poor blocker, and slip right by him for the win. Bills right guard Ryan Bates found that out in Week 1.
Donald is just as on point as a run defender; on this four-yard loss suffered by Saints running back David Johnson in Week 11, he showed that wherever you think you’re going, Donald is already halfway there, moving all the way through your backfield.
Will a fully healthy Donald set the league ablaze as he’s done so often before? Betting against him would be a fool’s errand.
2. Dexter Lawrence, New York Giants
The Giants selected Lawrence with the 17th overall pick in the 2019 draft out of Clemson, and while he was fairly productive in his first three NFL seasons, 2022 saw the fourth-year man go all the way off the hook — to the point where he was rewarded with a four-year, $90 million contract extension in May. It was well-deserved, as Lawrence was as good as any interior defensive lineman in the league last season. He totaled nine sacks, 26 quarterback hits, 35 quarterback hurries, and 42 stops during a breakout season in which his tape overwhelmed his metrics.
One thing we know for sure — nobody was more destructive to opposing quarterbacks last season as a nose tackle. From the 0-tech and 1-tech alignments (head over the center and to the center’s shoulders), Lawrence racked up 47 total pressures. Vita Vea of the Buccaneers ranked second… with 18. Here, against the Commanders in Week 13, Lawrence started off in a 1-tech look, widened his path to right guard Wes Schweitzer, and then shot past center Tyler Larsen, who was late to the party. The sack of Taylor Heinicke was inevitable.
No surprise that Lawrence is also a real problem if you’re trying to run the ball in his area. Against the Vikings in Week 16, he gave center Austin Schlottmann a wicked snatch move, pulling him in, then throwing him aside, and then dropping Dalvin Cook for a two-yard loss.
As amazing as Lawrence was, there was one interior defensive lineman above him in our eyes last season, and it’s a guy who needs more praise as one of the best of his era.
1. Chris Jones, Kansas City Chiefs
Selected with the 37th overall pick in the 2016 draft out of Mississippi State, Jones started to make a real impact in his rookie season with two sacks and 43 total pressures. But he was yet to reveal the full depth and breadth of his talents. He had 16 sacks and 79 total pressures in 2018, which was then the first bright light went off, and in the 2019 season, which ended with the Chiefs’ first Super Bowl win in half a century, Jones amassed nine sacks and 64 total pressures… and he should have been the MVP of that Super Bowl.
Jones has been a force multiplier in Steve Spagnuolo’s defenses ever since, but the 2022 season saw him raise the bar to an even higher degree. Jones bagged his second Super Bowl ring in a season that saw him total 17 sacks, 17 quarterback hits, 63 quarterback hurries, and 35 stops. Nobody in the NFL who was throwing their weight at opposing blockers from the inside was better than Jones last year.
And while Jones was great from every gap, he was specifically amazing when aligned in a 3-tech role, to the guard’s outside shoulder. This is the “rock star” alignment for interior pass-rushers, and you need a combination of speed off the snap, explosiveness through gaps, and fearsome strength to re-direct blockers. Last season, Jones totaled 42 pressures from 3-tech alignments — Tennessee’s Jeffery Simmons ranked second with 30.
In this AFC Championship game sack of Joe Burrow, Jones was aligned to right guard Max Scharping’s outside shoulder. Scharping got the swipe move at the snap so that Jones could get to the pocket, and it was all over from there.
Jones was all about stopping the run last season, as well — he had five tackles for loss in the run game, and on this takedown of Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker in Week 16, he made his way to the backfield past left guard Danien Lewis as Lewis climbed to the second level, and left tackle Charles Cross had Jones. Or maybe be didn’t, as Jones was on his way to blow up the play before Cross could do anything about it.
If you’re not already regarding Jones as one of the best defensive players of his generation, it’s time to update your priors. What we do know is that he’s our best interior defensive lineman coming into the 2023 NFL season.
Honorable mention
Jonathan Allen, Washington Commanders
Fletcher Cox, Philadelphia Eagles
Derrick Brown, Carolina Panthers
Calais Campbell, Atlanta Falcons
Kenny Clark, Green Bay Packers
D.J. Reader, Cincinnati Bengals
Teair Tart, Tennessee Titans
Dalvin Tomlinson, Cleveland Browns
