Chase Young (7.5) and Montez Sweat (9.0) combined for 16.5 sacks in their first season together in 2020, a strong sign of what's to come from one of the NFL's best new pass rushing tandems.
They'll have their work cut out for them if they intend to reach their goal together in 2021. Young and Sweat hope to combine their efforts to break the NFL sack record for a tandem, which will require an additional 24 sacks from the duo (on top of their output from last season) in order to accomplish.
While a number of tandems have reached the combined threshold of 29 sacks, a combined 30-or-more sacks seems to be the men-from-the-boys delineation, where only a handful of pass rushing tandems have gone before.
Of this group, Chris Doleman (21 sacks) and Keith Millard (18) of the 1989 Vikings appear to stack up above all the rest.
That is, until you get to the 40-sack club, which holds only two members: Joe Klecko (20.5 sacks) and Mark Gastineau (20) of the 1981 Jets.
If Sweat and Young come anywhere close to any of these all-time tandems, one would have to chalk it up as a huge win for Washington's defense, which would likely shatter its sixth-ranked total of 47 sacks from last season in the process.
Especially if defensive tackle Tim Settle hits his own personal stated goal along the way as well.
UPDATE: Starting left tackle Charles Leno Jr. has weighed in.
