Look out, Michael Strahan. Arizona's Chandler Jones is coming for your sack record of 22.5. Jones thinks it's within reach. His numbers over the past five seasons make him the best candidate to do it.
Entering Week 17 a year ago, Jones had 19 sacks. He didn't record any that week; in fairness, he didn't have Brett Favre there to take a dive for him (as happened when Strahan set the record in the first place). So he didn't get the record, but he's aiming for it in 2020.
"This could be the year to do it, honestly," Jones said this week. "That's a personal goal of mine."
Since 2015, Jones -- who the Patriots got rid of after the 2015 season for no apparent reason -- has recorded 72.5 sacks in 79 games. That's 9.5 more sacks than any other player over that span; nearly 15 more than anyone but Aaron Donald.
TOTAL SACKS, 2015-2019 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Player | G | Sk | QBH | Tckl |
Chandler Jones | 79 | 72.5 | 116 | 254 |
Aaron Donald | 78 | 63.0 | 160 | 264 |
Cameron Jordan | 80 | 58.0 | 118 | 267 |
Khalil Mack | 78 | 57.5 | 104 | 322 |
Von Miller | 79 | 57.0 | 125 | 264 |
Danielle Hunter | 78 | 54.5 | 80 | 276 |
Ryan Kerrigan | 76 | 52.0 | 87 | 189 |
Carlos Dunlap | 78 | 46.0 | 123 | 260 |
Mario Addison | 75 | 45.0 | 73 | 163 |
Everson Griffen | 72 | 45.0 | 114 | 211 |
Calais Campbell | 80 | 44.5 | 118 | 309 |
Geno Atkins | 80 | 43.5 | 96 | 212 |
Frank Clark | 76 | 43.0 | 86 | 173 |
Melvin Ingram | 77 | 43.0 | 92 | 272 |
Justin Houston | 59 | 41.0 | 69 | 191 |
Joey Bosa | 51 | 40.0 | 82 | 201 |
Michael Bennett | 74 | 39.0 | 118 | 192 |
Cameron Heyward | 70 | 39.0 | 81 | 254 |
DeMarcus Lawrence | 73 | 39.0 | 83 | 233 |
J.J. Watt | 48 | 39.0 | 106 | 184 |
Vic Beasley | 78 | 37.5 | 46 | 156 |
Yannick Ngakoue | 63 | 37.5 | 85 | 122 |
Jason Pierre-Paul | 62 | 37.5 | 72 | 232 |
Cameron Wake | 62 | 37.5 | 86 | 114 |
Preston Smith | 80 | 36.5 | 82 | 224 |
Fletcher Cox | 78 | 35.5 | 95 | 226 |
Dee Ford | 62 | 35.5 | 70 | 143 |
Bruce Irvin | 76 | 35.5 | 80 | 208 |
Robert Quinn | 62 | 35.5 | 62 | 135 |
Ezekiel Ansah | 61 | 35.0 | 81 | 155 |
Numbers taken from pro-football-reference's player index finder at this link. Table also shows quarterback hits and total tackles; six players have more hits than Jones, but none have finished the job more often.
I don't know that Jones is going to break Strahan's record this year (I'm not certain teams are even going to play 16 games). But I'm definitely a fan of Jones in IDP leagues. If any pass rusher can make a run at the former Giant, it's him.
--Andy Richardson