AFC West pass rush duos ranked from worst to best in 2023

Where do the Denver Broncos rank among AFC West pass rush duos heading into the 2023 season? Which team has the best duo at getting pressure?

San Francisco 49ers v Las Vegas Raiders
San Francisco 49ers v Las Vegas Raiders | Chris Unger/GettyImages
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Chris Jones & George Karlaftis - Kansas City Chiefs

Admittedly, the Chiefs' duo weighs heavily on Chris Jones, but Jones is simply one of the most dominant pass rushers in the NFL and deserves that level of respect. This is a guy who can absolutely wreck games from multiple alignments and he's in the upper echeleon of superstar defenders in the NFL today.

Last season, Jones helped the Chiefs win the Super Bowl with 29 QB hits, 15.5 sacks, and 46 total pressures. He's getting better with age. Jones is a mammoth on the defensive interior, but he lines up all over the place and is able to collapse the pocket with his tremendous size, speed, quickness, and length. He times the snap well, he's instinctive, and he plays hard all four quarters.

You simply don't get interior defensive linemen coming around like this very often. I know it seems like hyperbole to compare guys to Aaron Donald, or put them in the same category, but Chris Jones is that type of game wrecker.

The Chiefs have a number of other guys who could qualify to be included here, including free agent pickup Charles Omenihu, but I went with 2022 first-round pick George Karlaftis, who had a solid rookie season in Kansas City. Karlaftis finished with a very solid 21 total QB pressures, 11 QB hits, and 7.0 sacks on the season and I think he's only going to get better.

The Chiefs don't have many roster weaknesses and they just reloaded in the pass rush department the last couple of offseasons, not only signing Omenihu in free agency but also using their first-round pick in 2023 on Felix Anudike-Uzomah out of Kansas State.