- The Buccaneers’ defensive line carried the defense in a 3-point victory over the Arizona Cardinals: Logan Hall paced the unit with a 90.5 run-defense grade, forcing a fumble and recording a run stop, while Vita Vea delivered his best game of the season (79.5 overall grade, 82.5 pass-rushing grade).
- The Browns remain the gold standard: Myles Garrett has been phenomenal as usual in 2025, but injuries to his two best running mates may begin to chip away at the lead this unit has built through the first 13 weeks of the season.
- Get PFF+ for 30% off: Use promo code HOLIDAY30 to unlock the PFF Player Prop Tool, Premium Stats, fantasy dashboards, the PFF Mock Draft Simulator, industry-leading fantasy rankings and much more — everything you need to win your season.
The defensive line is the heart of any successful defense, tasked with both disrupting the opposing quarterback with a pass rush and shutting down rushing attacks at the line of scrimmage.
Elite defensive lines can change the course of a game by applying pressure, forcing hurried throws and creating turnovers while also stifling run plays to control the tempo.
This season, we will closely monitor NFL defensive line play. Unlike our offensive line rankings, which in some cases consider previous-season rankings, these rankings will be based purely on 2025 play.
Here are the highlights for the top defensive lines after Week 13 of the 2025 season.
| Rank | Last Wk | Team | PFF WAR | PFF Grade | Top-graded Player | Move |
| 1 | 1 | Cleveland Browns | 0.989 | 90.2 | Myles Garrett | 0 |
| 2 | 3 | Houston Texans | 0.757 | 82.8 | Will Anderson Jr. | 1 |
| 3 | 2 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 0.724 | 79.2 | Cameron Heyward | -1 |
| 4 | 5 | Los Angeles Rams | 0.594 | 84.1 | Poona Ford | 1 |
| 5 | 4 | Green Bay Packers | 0.553 | 73.2 | Micah Parsons | -1 |
| 6 | 11 | Dallas Cowboys | 0.509 | 72.2 | Donovan Ezeiruaku | 5 |
| 7 | 6 | Denver Broncos | 0.503 | 64.9 | Nik Bonitto | -1 |
| 8 | 8 | Seattle Seahawks | 0.497 | 74.9 | Leonard Williams | 0 |
| 9 | 9 | Detroit Lions | 0.487 | 78.5 | Aidan Hutchinson | 0 |
| 10 | 7 | Philadelphia Eagles | 0.478 | 70.4 | Joshua Uche | -3 |
| 11 | 10 | New York Giants | 0.445 | 64.9 | Dexter Lawrence | -1 |
| 12 | 12 | Minnesota Vikings | 0.441 | 66.1 | Jalen Redmond | 0 |
| 13 | 14 | Buffalo Bills | 0.378 | 67.4 | Greg Rousseau | 1 |
| 14 | 13 | New England Patriots | 0.376 | 64.1 | Cory Durden | -1 |
| 15 | 17 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 0.375 | 63.0 | Vita Vea | 2 |
| 16 | 15 | Atlanta Falcons | 0.359 | 65.1 | Jalon Walker | -1 |
| 17 | 16 | Indianapolis Colts | 0.308 | 64.4 | Laiatu Latu | -1 |
| 18 | 19 | Tennessee Titans | 0.298 | 67.8 | Jeffery Simmons | 1 |
| 19 | 18 | Las Vegas Raiders | 0.292 | 57.7 | Maxx Crosby | -1 |
| 20 | 20 | Washington Commanders | 0.234 | 59.5 | Dorance Armstrong | 0 |
| 21 | 22 | Kansas City Chiefs | 0.230 | 58.9 | George Karlaftis | 1 |
| 22 | 21 | Arizona Cardinals | 0.223 | 57.6 | Josh Sweat | -1 |
| 23 | 28 | Los Angeles Chargers | 0.211 | 63.6 | Teair Tart | 5 |
| 24 | 23 | Carolina Panthers | 0.188 | 58.2 | Derrick Brown | -1 |
| 25 | 26 | New York Jets | 0.187 | 63.5 | Jowon Briggs | 1 |
| 26 | 27 | New Orleans Saints | 0.184 | 57.7 | Chase Young | 1 |
| 27 | 25 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 0.170 | 62.0 | Josh Hines-Allen | -2 |
| 28 | 24 | San Francisco 49ers | 0.147 | 53.8 | Bryce Huff | -4 |
| 29 | 29 | Chicago Bears | 0.085 | 50.2 | Montez Sweat | 0 |
| 30 | 31 | Cincinnati Bengals | 0.078 | 56.8 | Trey Hendrickson | 1 |
| 31 | 30 | Baltimore Ravens | 0.040 | 57.4 | Travis Jones | -1 |
| 32 | 32 | Miami Dolphins | 0.010 | 50.1 | Zach Sieler | 0 |
Week 12 Highlights
Best defensive line overall & best pass-rush unit: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers’ defensive line carried the defense in a 3-point victory over the Arizona Cardinals, led by Logan Hall’s 89.9 overall grade. Hall paced the unit with a 90.5 run-defense grade, forcing a fumble and recording a run stop, while Vita Vea delivered his best game of the season (79.5 overall grade, 82.5 pass-rushing grade).
As a unit, the Bucs piled up 24 pressures and added 15 more pass-rush wins. Hall and Vea produced six pressures each, while Elijah Roberts and Haason Reddick added three apiece. Five players earned pass-rush win rates of 20% or better, as the Cardinals’ offensive line posted the third-worst grade of the week under the havoc Hall and company created for QB Jacoby Brissett.
Best run-defense unit: Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens’ defensive line has struggled for much of the season, but delivered its best run-stopping performance of the year on Thanksgiving. Led by Travis Jones and his dominant 93.1 run-defense grade, the unit produced 10 run stops, including three tackles for loss or no gain. Jones forced a fumble and accounted for four of the run stops, while three players avoided a single downgrade in the run game. Kyle Van Noy and John Jenkins each added two run stops.
Risers and fallers
Season Highlights
Best defensive line, best run-defense unit & best pass-rush unit: Cleveland Browns
What more can be said about the Browns’ defensive line that hasn’t already been said? Myles Garrett is chasing the sack record and remains on track to earn his second Defensive Player of the Year award.
The biggest development outside of Garrett’s pursuit is the loss of Maliek Collins. Collins was in the midst of a career year, with his 75.8 overall grade marking a personal best and his 87.2 pass-rushing grade also the highest of his career. That 87.2 pass-rushing grade ranked second among interior defenders — behind Titans Jeffery Simmons and ahead of Chris Jones — underscoring the level of play he had reached.
Edge Alex Wright has missed the past three games, but was also in the middle of the best season of his career with an 88.8 grade.
Garrett has been phenomenal as usual in 2025, but injuries to his two best running mates may begin to chip away at the lead this unit has built through the first 13 weeks of the season.