Myles Garrett

In a world where pass rushers serve as arguably the most important position on a defense, Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons reign supreme.

The Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys star defensive ends leads all EDGE players in Madden 25 ratings, coming in at a 98 overall.

Here is how the top 10 played out:

1. Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns (98 OVR)
2. Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys (98 OVR)
3. T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers (97 OVR)
4. Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders (97 OVR)
5. Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers (96 OVR)
6. Josh Hines-Allen, Jacksonville Jaguars (91 OVR)
7. DeMarcus Lawrence, Dallas Cowboys (91 OVR)
8. Khalil Mack, Los Angeles Chargers (90 OVR)
9. Alex Highsmith, Pittsburgh Steelers (89 OVR)
10. Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati Bengals (89 OVR)

Garrett took home his first Defensive Player of the Year award in 2023. He racked up 42 tackles and 14 sacks, his sixth straight season with double-digit sacks, while acting as the fulcrum of the Browns defense. The 28-year-old has made five All-Pro teams.

Bosa, the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year, put together a third straight productive and healthy season in San Francisco. He set a career high with 53 tackles and made 10.5 sacks while forcing two fumbles as the 49ers reached the Super Bowl.

Watt, healthy after a down 2022, led the NFL with 19 sacks last season and nearly won his second DPOY. It was Watt's third time leading the NFL in sacks.

Unlike his contemporaries, Parsons has not landed his long-term megadeal with the Cowboys. That said, he remains one of the most productive all-around defensive players in football. The Penn State product has been a Pro Bowler in each of his first three NFL seasons and set a career high with 14 sacks in 2023.

Ahead of the annual release of the NFL Top 100, the league has revealed some of the anonymous ballots cast by players for the top stars going into the 2024 season.

Of the four ballots posted by NFL Films, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is ranked at No. 1 on two of them. Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill and Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett received the other first-place votes.

There are a lot of interesting choices on all four ballots shown. One of them has three Chiefs players—Mahomes, Chris Jones and Travis Kelce—in the top five and four members of the San Francisco 49ers ranked between No. 11 and 16.

That is also one of two ballots that has Aaron Donald, who retired in March, ranked in the top 20.

To be fair to the duo who listed Donald, the NFL has explained that all 32 teams receive ballots to give their players around Thanksgiving. It's possible they filled out the ballot before Donald announced his decision to walk away from the NFL.

Of course, another explanation is players barely pay attention to this process, if they do at all. The NFL told Pro Football Talk in 2013 that 481 players (28.3 percent of the league) returned a ballot.

Other non-Mahomes quarterbacks who were listed on the ballots include reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson (all four ballots), Josh Allen (three), C.J. Stroud (two), Jalen Hurts (two), Jared Goff (one), Jordan Love (one), Joe Burrow (one), Brock Purdy (one) and Baker Mayfield (one).

Hill is the highest-ranked non-quarterback on two ballots, including the top spot on one. Garrett and Chris Jones are highest-ranked non-quarterbacks on the other two ballots.

The 49ers have the most players of any individual team on the four ballots with seven, followed by the Detroit Lions with four. Interestingly, though, not one of the Cowboys' selections is Dak Prescott.

Dallas' third player after the obvious choices of Micah Parsons and CeeDee Lamb was DaRon Bland. The 25-year-old did have a terrific 2023 with an NFL-high nine interceptions to earn All-Pro first-team honors and finished fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

The full NFL 100 rankings for the 2024 season will be revealed starting on Monday with players No. 100-81. The next 10 players will be revealed on weekdays through July 31 before the top-10 show on Aug. 2 at 8 p.m. ET on NFL Network.

Kansas City Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes was named the ESPY winner for this season's Best NFL player, topping Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey and Cleveland Browns edge-rusher Myles Garrett.

Mahomes said he was grateful to receive the award:

ESPN also announced that Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani won the Best MLB Player award:

Mahomes, 28, didn't have his best statistical season in 2023 (4,183 yards, 27 touchdowns, 14 interceptions), in part because of a wideout group that struggled to catch the ball. But he was brilliant yet again in the playoffs, leading the Chiefs to four straight wins and a third title in the past five years while throwing for 1,051 yards, six touchdowns and just one pick.

He has entered the Tom Brady and Joe Montana pantheon of "Guys you want with the ball in your hands with the game on the line."

That playoff performance likely pushed him over the top of Jackson, who was the NFL's MVP last season. All he did was throw for 3,678 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions while rushing for 821 yards and another five scores.

But Jackson's Ravens lost to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game, another postseason disappointment for the star quarterback.

McCaffrey was also a victim to Mahomes and the Chiefs, albeit in the Super Bowl. The star running back put up epic numbers in 2023, however, with 1,459 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground and 67 catches for 564 yards and another seven scores through the air.

Running backs don't tend to win major awards over quarterbacks, however.

Neither do defensive lineman. Garrett was fearsome last season nonetheless, registering 14 sacks, 17 tackles for loss, 30 quarterback hits, four forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. It was his sixth straight season with double-digit sacks.

But it wasn't enough to best Mahomes at the ESPYs.

NFL coaches, executives and scouts ranked Cleveland Browns pass-rusher Myles Garrett as the league's top EDGE player ahead of the 2024 season.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler conducted an annual poll to determine the 10 best players at each position, and the results for EDGE were as follows:

1. Myles Garrett (Cleveland Browns)
2. T.J. Watt (Pittsburgh Steelers)
3. Micah Parsons (Dallas Cowboys)
4. Nick Bosa (San Francisco 49ers)
5. Maxx Crosby (Las Vegas Raiders)
6. Aidan Hutchinson (Detroit Lions)
7. Danielle Hunter (Houston Texans)
8. Josh Hines-Allen (Jacksonville Jaguars)
9. Trey Hendrickson (Cincinnati Bengals)
10. Brian Burns (New York Giants)

The top three spots in the EDGE voting come as little surprise since Garrett, Watt and Parsons finished 1-2-3 in the Defensive Player of the Year voting last season.

Garrett, who was ranked No. 2 on last year's EDGE list, moved to the top of the heap thanks to one of the best seasons of his career, as he registered 42 tackles, 14 sacks, 17 tackles for loss and four forced fumbles in 2023.

As good as Garrett's numbers were, his DPOY win was somewhat controversial since Watt had the better statistical season.

In addition to leading the NFL with 19 sacks, Watt had a career-high 68 tackles, plus 19 tackles for loss and four forced fumbles.

Both Garrett and Watt helped their respective teams reach the playoffs, but voters may have given Garrett a slight edge since the Browns led the league in total defense. Garrett finished with 23 first-place votes in the DPOY voting, compared to Watt's 19.

Parsons is only 25 years of age, but he has finished third or better in the DPOY voting in each of his three NFL seasons.

The 2021 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year enjoyed another dominant campaign for the Cowboys in 2023, finishing with a career-high 14 sacks, plus 64 tackles and 18 tackles for loss.

Parsons took to X to chime in on the list. While he didn't argue with his placement, he did express his belief that he faced more than 167 double-teams in 2023:

Bosa and Crosby round out the top five despite the fact that they are coming off very different seasons.

Bosa had just 10.5 sacks last season, which was a huge drop-off from his league-leading 18.5 in 2022, which garnered him the top spot in the EDGE rankings entering 2023.

Meanwhile, Crosby had a career-high 14.5 sacks and 90 tackles last season, plus he racked up 23 tackles for loss, which was tops in the league for a second consecutive season.

Although he played for a non-playoff team, Crosby came in fourth place in the Defensive Player of the Year voting.

One more notable inclusion is Hutchinson in sixth place after finishing as an honorable mention last year.

The 2022 No. 2 overall draft pick built upon a strong rookie year by recording 11.5 sacks last season and helping the Lions go all the way to the NFC Championship Game.

Tom Brady, America's Team and two of the best pass-rushers in football.

It's all on the menu for Fox in Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season.

The NFL revealed the Dallas Cowboys will take on the Cleveland Browns in Week 1 of the upcoming campaign, while Michael Strahan helped announce that the game will be Brady's first assignment in his analyst role for Fox Sports:

"Obviously, having the Cowboys on is a huge draw as America's Team," Brady said. "That's going to get a little hard for me to say that all the time. They were the competition for a long time. In this new role, I know the Cowboys and how important they are to this network.

"They've got great storylines. Dak Prescott, let's see if he can finally break through."

The Prescott comment drew a reaction from the crowd, prompting Brady to ask, "did that just slip out?"

There may be some jabs here and there from Brady as he adjusts to his analyst role and calling games against quarterbacks who he went up against for so long. If the Prescott quip was an indication of what is to come, he will be appointment viewing.

But this game stands out for more than just the announcer, as Micah Parsons and Myles Garrett will each share the same field and make life particularly difficult for Prescott and Deshaun Watson.

Garrett took home the Defensive Player of the Year last season with 42 tackles, 14 sacks, four forced fumbles, three passes defended and one fumble recovery, while Parsons finished third in the voting with 64 tackles, 14 sacks, two passes defended, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

Dallas is coming off its third straight playoff appearance and second NFC East crown in three years, while Cleveland made the playoffs last season for just the second time since the 2002 campaign.

Both teams figure to be among the playoff contenders in their respective conferences in 2024, and picking up a high-profile win in Week 1 of the season would be an ideal way to start.

Lando Norris was the biggest star during Sunday's Miami Grand Prix, but he was far from the only one at the Miami International Autodrome.

Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Kevin Durant, Jimmy Butler, Joe Burrow and Myles Garrett were among those who watched the McLaren driver become a Formula One race winner for the first time in his career:

The NFL and NBA stars were treated to a shocking result, which is how any race won by someone outside of Red Bull's Max Verstappen can be described in today's Formula One.

While Verstappen won four of the season's first five races and started Sunday's contest in pole position, Norris moved ahead of him thanks in part to a mid-race safety car and never looked back. The Red Bull driver finished in second place, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc rounded out the podium.

It was a long-awaited result for Norris.

Nate Saunders of ESPN noted he held the record for the most podium finishes without a win with 15 prior to Sunday's result. But that all changed during the first of three Grand Prix events in the United States this season.

And it all changed in front of some of the biggest stars of American sports.