Comparing Cleveland Browns Myles Garrett to 2017 EDGE draft class

Average Ranking

"TJ Watt: 1.125 Myles Garrett: 2.25 Haason Reddick: 3.875 Derek Barnett: 4.75 Samson Ebukam: 5.25 Takkarist McKinley: 6.75 Carl Lawson: 6.875 Deatrich Wise: 7 Trey Hendrickson: 8.25 Dawuane Smoot: 8.75"

To reiterate, this is not the order in how I would rank them in terms of talent. This is just the order in which they rank in terms of production so far in their career. I expect over the next few years that the gap will surely close between T.J. Watt and Myles Garrett, along with Carl Lawson and Trey Hendrickson to shoot up the list, especially after the breakout seasons they had.

It was surprising to see Takkarist McKinley finish about Carl Lawson and Trey Hendrickson in this comparison, as those two are regarded as better defenders than Takkarist McKinley across the league. If all works out in Cleveland, McKinley could also see his ranking on this list rise a spot or two, and maybe he can finally start getting the respect for his production that he deserves.

My overall thoughts on this draft class going into this comparison were that it was a pretty weak EDGE defender class outside of the top two.

My opinion has changed, as you see guys like Trey Hendrickson, Carl Lawson, Samson Ebukam, Deatrich Wise, and Dawuane Smoot have had pretty solid NFL careers, despite not being selected in the first two rounds.

This next season will prove pivotal for most of these players’ legacies, as many will be playing for a new team for the first time in their careers. Next offseason we will take a look to see how these rankings have changed if they have changed at all.