Julius Peppers Excluded from Top-10 All-Time Pass Rushers List

Carolina Panthers legend Julius Peppers somehow gets overlooked.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

From the moment he stepped foot into the league in 2002 to the time he exited in 2018, Julius Peppers was one of the most-feared pass rushers in the NFL. Very few players his size (6'7", 295 lbs) have the ability to move like he could. The insane combination of strength and speed that he possessed made it feel like he was built in a lab. He did things guys of his stature shouldn't be able to do.

Over his 17-year career, Peppers racked up 159.5 sacks which ranks fourth on the all-time list behind only Bruce Smith, Reggie White, and Kevin Greene. In addition to averaging nearly 10 sacks per season, he registered 175 tackles for loss, forced 52 fumbles, recovered 21 fumbles, and intercepted 11 passes in his career.

With that type of production, you would think he'd be considered one of the game's most prolific pass rushers, right? According to Ian Valentino of The 33rd Team, he doesn't even crack the top 10. Valentino ranked Reggie White, Lawrence Taylor, Bruce Smith, Deacon Jones, Aaron Donald, Kevin Greene, Alan Page, J.J. Watt, Derrick Thomas, and Jack Youngblood ahead of Peppers, the first ballot Hall of Famer.

While every single one of these players had terrific careers and are worthy of being considered, I struggle to see how a few of them check in ahead of Peppers.

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