The Chargers enter 2026 with high expectations for their EDGE rushing trio of Khalil Mack, Tuli Tuipulotu, and first-round pick Akheem Mesidor. With new DC Chris O'Leary calling the shots, racking up pressures and sacks might be even more important than it was under Jesse Minter. At 35 years old, Mack looks to replicate the level of production we saw in his first four Chargers seasons. Tuipulotu is in the midst of a contract negotiation with the Chargers and is coming off a career 2025 season.
But neither is necessarily generating buzz from personnel in the league. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler recently released his Top 10 EDGE rankings entering 2026. Fowler's annual list is based on NFL personnel (executives, coaches, and scouts) submitting their top 10 at each position. In a mildly surprising outcome, neither Tuipulotu nor Mack cracked Fowler's top 10 EDGE rushers or honorable mentions.
Chargers EDGEs Khalil Mack and Tuli Tuipulotu could probably argue that they were snubbed from Jeremy Fowler's annual rankings.
From 1-10, Fowler's list included Myles Garrett, Micah Parsons, Will Anderson Jr., Maxx Crosby, Aidan Hutchinson, Danielle Hunter, T.J. Watt, Nick Bosa, Brian Burns, and Nik Bonitto. Honorable mentions on the list who didn't make the cut were Jared Verse, Trey Hendrickson, and Josh Hines-Allen. In the receiving votes section of the article, Fowler listed Travon Walker, Jaelan Phillips, Montez Sweat, Laiatu Latu, Nick Herbig, and Alex Highsmith.
As far as the top-10 group itself is concerned, it's not necessarily a surprise that Mack or Tuipulotu didn't make that group. Tuipulotu needs to repeat his 2025 production to get into that conversation while there is probably some skepticism on Mack being able to have another great season in his mid 30s. Mack made the receiving votes section of the 2025 Fowler rankings.
But both Mack and Tuipulotu do have comparable and/or better production than at least a few of the names listed in the honorable mentions/receiving votes sections. It's a surprise to see that league personnel effectively doesn't even see them as Top 20 realm EDGE players considering the amount of names listed after Fowler's top 10.
Tuipulotu will look to replicate the production from his 13 sack and 75 pressure 2025 season. If Mack is aging out of the list, the USC product is likely the Chargers' best shot at earning a nomination in the 2027 version of Fowler's rankings.
Hopefully, the snub from league personnel serves as a bit of motivation for both Mack and Tuipulotu.
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