When it comes to striking fear into an opposing offense, having a great defensive end can be a game changer. A lightning quick defensive end can cause chaos for offense by interrupting a quarterback's rhythm by rushing and hitting him. A great defensive end is double teamed most of the time, allowing for his counterpart to blow up an offense's scheme. A great defensive end isn't measured by stats, though having a lot of sacks certainly doesn't hurt his claim to being one of the greatest of all time.
There are a lot of familiar faces on the list of greatest defensive ends of all time. Famous defensive ends like Reggie White, Michael Strahan and Jack Youngblood are some of the toughest and menacing players in the league. White and Strahan were considered the best defensive ends of their generation. Strahan currently holds the single season record for sacks in a season. Youngblood cemented his status as the toughest player in the NFL when he played in Super Bowl XIV with a broken leg.
Selecting who the greatest defensive end of all time isn't easy, especially since most of these defensive ends either are in or will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But you can vote for who you feel is the best-ever on this Ultimate List.1
2,948865Reggie White
Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers2
2,184816Bruce Smith
Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins3
1,641400Joe Greene
Pittsburgh Steelers, North Texas Mean Green football4
3,0561,197J. J. Watt
Houston Texans, Wisconsin Badgers football5
1,808961Deacon Jones
Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils football, Los Angeles Rams6
1,409631Julius Peppers
North Carolina Tar Heels football, Chicago Bears7
1,257669Howie Long
Oakland Raiders, Villanova Wildcats football8
1,688931Michael Strahan
Texas Southern Tigers football, New York Giants9
986574Jack Youngblood
Los Angeles Rams10
725373Ed Jones
Tennessee State Tigers football, Dallas Cowboys11
764428Richard Dent
Indianapolis Colts, Chicago Bears12
697351Jason Taylor
Washington Redskins, Akron Zips football13
422181Merlin Olsen
Los Angeles Rams, Utah State Aggies football14
815480Charles Haley
San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys15
820482DeMarcus Ware
Troy Trojans football, Dallas Cowboys16
665372Dwight Freeney
Indianapolis Colts, Syracuse Orange football17
501323Carl Eller
Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings18
919636Jared Allen
Idaho State Bengals football, Kansas City Chiefs19
421237Bubba Smith
Baltimore Colts, Houston Oilers20
475317Jim Marshall
Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings21
494333L. C. Greenwood
Pittsburgh Steelers22
416294Gino Marchetti
Dallas Texans, Baltimore Colts23
383246Lyle Alzado
Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders24
545469Lee Roy Selmon
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Oklahoma Sooners football25
390302Chris Doleman
Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons