[1] At Louisville, Rankins was mostly a backup during his freshman and sophomore years, recording 22 tackles and four sacks.
In a Week 8 win against the Minnesota Vikings in 2018, for the first time in his NFL career, Rankins made 2 sacks in a single game on quarterback Kirk Cousins.
[10] For that game, he shared the top spot for sacks on the team with teammate LB Marcus Davenport.
Throughout the 2018 season, Rankins started all 16 games, recording 40 tackles and eight sacks (second-best on the team behind Cameron Jordan.)
In the divisional round of the playoffs against the Philadelphia Eagles, Rankins suffered a torn Achilles and was placed on injured reserve on January 15, 2019.
[15] In the Wild Card round against the Chicago Bears, he sacked quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.
He ended the season starting in 15 games, with 3 sacks, 43 combined tackles, 7 quarterback hits and 1 forced fumble.
[25] During the Week 17 victory over the Tennessee Titans, Rankins recovered a fumble by Will Levis and returned it 13 yards for his first NFL touchdown.