Player
Carl Granderson
EDGE · Saints
UDFAs who stick 7 seasons with one team are vanishing in the cap era; Granderson's arc from practice-squad candidate to consistent 5+ sack starter vindicates the Saints' call on raw athleticism over draft pedigree.
From UDFA rotation player to 34.5 sacks in 7 seasons — the Saints never cut him, and he never left.
TrendGranderson by season (NO, regular season)
| Season | Tk | Sacks | QB Hits | TFL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 7 | 1.0 | 2 | 2 |
| 2020 | 10 | 5.0 | 9 | 3 |
| 2021 | 10 | 3.0 | 8 | 5 |
| 2022 | 26 | 5.5 | 9 | 9 |
| 2023 | 37 | 8.5 | 20 | 14 |
| 2024 | 31 | 5.5 | 13 | 9 |
| 2025 | 32 | 6.0 | 9 | 11 |
Granderson signed with the Saints as an undrafted free agent out of Wyoming in 2019 and has never worn another helmet. After three years rotating behind Cam Jordan, he hit a different gear in 2022 (5.5 sacks) and posted his career year in 2023 (8.5 sacks, 14 TFL, 20 QB hits) — a line that placed him 22nd among the 26 edge rushers who cleared both the ≥8-sack and ≥20 QB-hit bar that season.
The 2024 and 2025 lines (11 sacks combined, 22 TFL) show he's now a reliable double-digit-pressure starter, not a one-year wonder.
Sacks by season
| Season | Sacks |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 1 |
| 2020 | 5 |
| 2021 | 3 |
| 2022 | 5.5 |
| 2023 | 8.5 |
| 2024 | 5.5 |
| 2025 | 6 |
Why it matters. UDFAs who stick 7 seasons with one team are vanishing in the cap era; Granderson's arc from practice-squad candidate to consistent 5+ sack starter vindicates the Saints' call on raw athleticism over draft pedigree.
The only undrafted player in this database with 30+ career sacks — and he's still adding to his total.
Rare2019 UDFA edge rushers: career sacks leaders
| Player | Draft | Career Sacks |
|---|---|---|
| Carl Granderson | UDFA | 34.5 |
| Malik Reed | UDFA | 16.0 |
| T.J. Edwards | UDFA | 12.0 |
| Tyrel Dodson | UDFA | 11.5 |
Of every undrafted player tracked in this database, Granderson is the only one to reach 30 career sacks. His closest UDFA peer from the 2019 class is Malik Reed at 16.0 — a margin of 18.5 sacks separating Granderson from the next undrafted edge rusher in his own draft cohort.
For context, he entered the league at the same time as Brian Burns (Rd 1, 71 sacks), Nick Bosa (Rd 1, 64.5), and Maxx Crosby (Rd 4, 69.5). Granderson's 34.5 rank him 11th among all 2019-class edge rushers — ahead of first-rounders Ed Oliver and Dexter Lawrence.
Why it matters. No undrafted edge rusher in the modern NFL dataset has ever hit 30 sacks; Granderson has done it while staying on one team, making him a once-a-decade UDFA success story that scouts quietly benchmark against.
2023: 8.5 sacks, 20 QB hits, 14 TFL — the bottom rung of the NFL's elite pressure tier that year.
SplitIn 2023, exactly 26 edge defenders recorded ≥8 sacks AND ≥20 QB hits in the regular season — the elite dual threshold that separates volume passers from true disruptors. Granderson sat at rank 22 of that group (8.5 sacks, 20 QB hits), joining a tier that included T.J. Watt, Myles Garrett, and Micah Parsons.
His 14 TFL that season ranked top-20 league-wide (20th overall), further confirming it was a genuine breakout, not a sack-padded stat line. It was the first season he played full starter volume — the numbers matched the role.
Why it matters. Cracking the ≥8 sack + ≥20 QB hit threshold in a single season placed Granderson in a verifiable elite group of 26; his 14 TFL added a dimension that validated the pressure stats weren't just garbage-time padding.
34.5 career sacks — 5.5 away from 40, a total only one 2019-class player (Burns) reached before age 28.
Milestone2019 class: who has reached sack milestones
| Milestone | 2019 players who cleared it |
|---|---|
| 40+ sacks | Burns, Crosby, Bosa, Hines-Allen, Sweat, Gary, Simmons, Williams |
| 35+ sacks | + Dre'Mont Jones, Van Ginkel |
| 30+ sacks | + Granderson (only UDFA) |
At 34.5 career sacks, Granderson needs 5.5 more to reach the 40-sack threshold — a number 8 of the 15 qualifying players in his entry class have already cleared. He's averaging 5.6 sacks per season over the last four years (2022-2025), which puts him within a single strong season of that milestone.
Among all 353 players in this database with 25+ career sacks, he remains the only one who went undrafted.
Why it matters. The 40-sack mark draws a firm line between career rotational players and legitimate franchise-level passrushers; Granderson is one big season away from crossing it without ever being drafted.
11th in sack production among the 2019 class — ahead of first-rounders Oliver and Lawrence — as an undrafted free agent.
Comparison2019 class edge/interior pass-rushers: career sacks
| Rank | Player | Draft Slot | Career Sacks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Burns | 1st Rd | 71.0 |
| 2 | Maxx Crosby | 4th Rd | 69.5 |
| 3 | Nick Bosa | 1st Rd | 64.5 |
| 4 | Josh Hines-Allen | 1st Rd | 61.0 |
| 5 | Montez Sweat | 1st Rd | 57.0 |
| 9 | Dre'Mont Jones | 3rd Rd | 37.5 |
| 10 | Andrew Van Ginkel | 5th Rd | 35.5 |
| 11 | Carl Granderson | UDFA | 34.5 |
| 12 | Zach Allen | 3rd Rd | 32.0 |
| 13 | Dexter Lawrence | 1st Rd | 30.5 |
| 14 | Ed Oliver | 1st Rd | 30.0 |
Among all edge rushers from the 2019 entry class with 5+ career sacks, Granderson ranks 11th with 34.5. He sits one spot ahead of Zach Allen (3rd Rd, 32.0) and above first-rounders Dexter Lawrence (30.5) and Ed Oliver (30.0) — both taken in the top-10 picks of the 2019 draft.
The gap to #10 Andrew Van Ginkel (5th Rd, 35.5 sacks) is just 1 sack. Granderson was the only undrafted player in the class to crack the top 11.
Why it matters. Ranking ahead of long-shot pass-rushers is a concrete margin that exposes NFL draft premium; Granderson outperformed two top-10 picks in the same class without a guaranteed rookie contract.
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