To celebrate Shark Week on Discovery, we took a deep dive into a few NFL rosters and came away with four "apex predators" from the NFC East.
Jayden Daniels (QB) Washington Commanders
By definition, apex predators exist at the very top of food chains and play critical roles in their ecosystem. Daniels thrashed the FBS by throwing for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns in 2023 with another 1,134 yards and 10 scores on the ground.
As the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and No. 2 pick in this year’s draft, Daniels’ performance will be critical to the Commanders' success as they look to rebuild in 2024.
Micah Parsons (LB) Dallas Cowboys
Ask anyone who saw the movie "Jaws" during its theatrical release, and they’ll probably tell you they still look for sharks before going into the ocean. Ask an offensive coordinator who they fear on the Cowboys defense, and they’ll definitely say it’s Parsons.
Parsons has averaged 13.5 sacks per year since joining the team as the 12th overall pick in 2021. His 40.5 sacks earned him two All-Pro nods at a cost of 324 yards to opposing offenses.
Still just 25 years old, Parsons shows no signs of slowing down. After going belly-to-belly with a sumo wrestler in 2023, the Cowboys linebacker has been working with boxing instructor Tony Mack this offseason.
Brian Burns (LB) New York Giants
Contrary to popular opinion, most sharks hunt individually rather than in packs. Burns certainly had no problem leaving a 2-15 Panthers team in an offseason trade with the Giants, but a new five-year, $141M deal certainly helped.
Burns helped himself to 151 solo tackles, 46 sacks and eight forced fumbles in five seasons with Carolina. He and Giants linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux each had 50 tackles last year (though Thibodeaux finished 2023 with 3.5 more sacks). Don’t take the bait. With $76M in guaranteed money (second-most on the team), Burns is clearly the big fish in Gotham City’s pond.
Bryce Huff (LB) Philadelphia Eagles
Although sharks have been around for 450 million years, much about them remains a mystery. The same can be said about the Eagles’ enigmatic edge-rusher. Huff had just 7.5 sacks in his first three seasons as a Jet, but he led the team with 10 last season. He did so playing just 42% of the team’s defensive snaps, 32% fewer than his predecessor Haason Reddick, who logged 862 snaps and 11.5 sacks before an offseason trade with the Jets.
Huff certainly knows how to attack a quarterback, but will his numbers dip in a more prominent role with Philadelphia? With their regular season set to begin on Sept. 6, Eagles fans should know in a matter of months, as opposed to hundreds of millions of years.
