Top 10 NFL all-time sack leaders

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Sep 15, 2016; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills former player Bruce Smith speaks as his number is retired in a ceremony during halftime against the New York Jets at New Era Field. The Jets beat the Bills 37-31. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Who are the top 10 NFL all-time sack leaders? There’s certainly some ambiguity here. The league did not officially make sacks a stat until 1982.

However, many have started to use the unofficial tally beginning all the way back in 1960. It’s only fair to Pro Football Hall of Famers who dominated before this important stat was taken into account. That’s what we plan on doing here.

Who is the all-time sack leader in the NFL? Let’s take a look at the 10 with the most QB take downs dating back to 1960.

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10. Michael Strahan

A mere second-round pick of the Giants out of Texas Southern back in 1994, Strahan struggled to an extent out of the gate. From 1993-1996, he didn’t record more than 7.5 sacks in a single season. That changed during the 1997 campaign when Strahan recorded 14 sacks en route to earning his first trip to the Pro Bowl.

This also began a stretch of nine seasons in which Strahan recorded 111.5 sacks to go with 18 forced fumbles. Strahan is also atop the NFL all-time sack leaders (official list) with a single season best of 22.5 back in 2001. It netted him his first and only NFL Defensive Player of the Year award.

9. Lawrence Taylor

LT is widely considered one of the greatest defensive players in league history. The No. 2 overall pick out of North Carolina back in 1981 opened his career by winning two consecutive NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards. It’s an accomplishment that is singular to Taylor, as no other player in league history has done this.

During a decade span from 1981-1990, Taylor racked up a resounding 124 sacks. He topped the official list for NFL all-time sack leaders in a single season with 20.5 in 1986, becoming a rare defensive player to win the NFL MVP award. Dominance was the name of the game for Taylor throughout the vast majority of his career.

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8. Alan Page

An original member of the Vikings’ “Purple People Eaters” defense, Page is one of the primary reasons Minnesota earned four trips to the Super Bowl during his illustrious career in the Twin Cities. As a first-round pick out of Notre Dame back in 1967, Page always seemed destined for stardom.

This came to fruition out of the gate with the defensive tackle registering 48 sacks over the course of his first five seasons, culminating in winning the NFL MVP award back in 1971. During his career, Page racked up double-digit sacks seven times. He also earned nine Pro Bowl appearances and five All-Pro honors in what ended up being a first ballot Hall of Fame career.

7. Chris Doleman

Despite being the fourth overall pick of Minnesota in the 1985 NFL Draft, Doleman struggled out of the gate. The Pitt product registered a mere 3.5 sacks in 22 games over the first two seasons of his career. People weren’t ready to call him a bust just yet, but he needed to prove himself to then-head coach Jerry Burns heading into 1987.

As you likely already know, the rest is pretty much history. Doleman recorded 11 sacks with a league-leading six forced fumbles that season. This initiated a stretch in which he averaged 11 sacks over the final 13 years of his career. Talk about being a consistent force. Outside of his dominant stretch in Minnesota, Doleman also recorded an eye-opening 38 sacks during a three-year stretch late in his career with the 49ers.

6. Jack Youngblood

After being selected in the first round of the 1971 NFL Draft out of Florida, Youngblood found himself as a center piece on one of the greatest defensive lines in football. That included the likes of Fred Dryer and Merlin Olsen. Interestingly enough, his first season in Los Angeles was also fellow all-time great Deacon Jones’ final season with the Rams. He was, in fact, brought in to eventually replace Jones.

Fast forward north of a half-century, and Youngblood is right in the middle of the list of NFL all-time sack leaders. From 1973 to his final season in 1984, Youngblood recorded 142.5 sacks. He led the league in sacks twice, with 15.0 in 1974 and a personal best 18.0 in 1979. Dominance over an extended period defined this all-time great career.

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5. Julius Peppers

A freak athlete dating back to his days with North Carolina, Peppers played multiple positions in college. That included some run at safety. It led to him going No. 2 overall to Carolina in the 2002 NFL Draft. The talent was there. But would he succeed as a traditional pass rusher in the pros?

Peppers answered that question out of the gate by recording 12 sacks en route to winning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. From 2002-2017, Peppers recorded at least seven sacks each season. That included double-digit take downs a whopping 10 times. While Peppers never led the league in sacks, his consistency has him among the top five in NFL all-time sack leaders.

4. Kevin Greene

Coming out of Auburn in 1985, Greene was not bandied about too much. He found himself as a fifth-round pick in the same draft that saw the likes of better-known pass rushers such as Bruce Smith and Chris Doleman go early.

Fast forward nearly four decades, and Greene finds himself on the same list as those two all-time greats. From 1988 to his final season in 1999, Greene averaged a whopping 12 sacks per season. He led the league in sacks twice, with 14 as a member of the Steelers in 1994 and 14.5 with the Carolina Panthers two years later.

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3. Deacon Jones

Even on Rams defenses that included Merlin Olsen, Rosey Grier, Lamar Lundy and Roger Brown, Jones stood above the rest. Over the course of a six-year span from 1964-1969, Jones led the league in sacks five times. That span saw him record 115.5 sacks while getting to the quarterback for at least 21 three different times.

If the unofficial list of NFL all-time sack leaders in a single season were recognized by the league, Jones would own two of the top-five spots. That’s just how dominant he was. What makes Jones’ Hall of Fame career even more eye-opening is the fact that he was a 14th-round pick of the Rams in the 1961 NFL Draft.

2. Reggie White

Selected No. 4 overall by Philadelphia in the 1984 Supplemental Draft, White had played the previous two seasons in the USFL for the Memphis Showboats. The Tennessee product wanted to play close to home after a dominant career with the Volunteers.

But it’s in the NFL where the Minister of Defense made his name known big time. White’s first four seasons with the Eagles saw him record a resounding 70 sacks. That included 21 quarterback take downs during a 1987 season in which White won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award. All said, White put up at least 13 sacks nine times in his career.

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1. Bruce Smith (NFL all-time sack leader)

The “triplets” of Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed get most of the credit for Buffalo’s record run of four consecutive Super Bowl appearances. But this team would not have gotten that far if it did not select Smith No. 1 overall in the 1985 NFL Draft.

During his 15-year run in Western New York, Smith put up 171 sacks. In a five-year span from 1986-1990, he tallied a whopping 70 sacks. Smith also put up at least 10 sacks 13 times throughout his career, showing a level of consistency that has him topping the NFL all-time sack leaders list.

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