Bud Dupree

11 seasons, 62.5 career sacks — the post-Steelers years have been the journey, not the peak.

Drafted 22nd overall in 2015 by Pittsburgh, Dupree's career is split clean down the middle: 6 years as a Steeler, 5 years as a journeyman. The 2019 line (11.5 sacks, 17 QB hits, 16 TFL) was the contract-year explosion that earned him the franchise tag.

Then the 2020 ACL tear changed everything. He's still productive — 6.5 sacks for Atlanta in 2023, 6 sacks for the Chargers in 2024 — but the explosive double-digit-sack ceiling never returned.

Steelers Bud vs Everyone-Else Bud: 40 sacks in PIT vs 22.5 sacks in 5 years since.

The Steelers got the prime years (6.7 sacks per season, 40 total). After the franchise tag and the ACL, Dupree settled into the 4-to-6 sack range at every stop, which is exactly the floor of a useful rotational rusher — the league has paid for that production every year since.

62.5 career sacks puts him in elite company for the 2015 draft class.

From the 2015 draft class, only a small group of edge rushers has cleared 60+ career sacks: Vic Beasley (early, faded), Danielle Hunter (still going), and Bud Dupree. Hunter is the clear #1 from that class — but Dupree at 62.5 career sacks, 106 QB hits, 81 TFL is the next-best edge-defender career from the round.

The 2019 Steelers season (11.5/17 hits) is the one All-Pro-adjacent year — but the longevity and floor are the story.

13 career forced fumbles — disruption that goes beyond the sack line.

Edge rushers strip QBs and ball-carriers; the great ones turn pressure into turnovers. Dupree has 13 career forced fumbles to go with 62.5 sacks — roughly 1 FF per ~5 sacks, which is a solid edge-rusher ratio.

Most of those came in the Pittsburgh prime years (8 of 13), when he was the speed-rush counterpart to T.J. Watt. The combined-pressure look those Steelers fronts generated produced strip opportunities he was always there to finish.

4th NFL franchise: Pittsburgh → Tennessee → Atlanta → L.A. — the league keeps paying for the floor.

Most first-round edge rushers either bust early or stay on one or two teams. Dupree's four-franchise journey is its own milestone — every offseason since 2021 has produced a contract somewhere. The Chargers re-signed him after the 2024 season (6 sacks) and got 2 more sacks in a reduced 2025 role.

At 32 years old in 2025, the trajectory is now backup-rusher and special-teams contributor — but 11 years of pro football and 62.5 sacks is a top-end career for a first-round edge.