2025 NFL Draft Edge Defender Rankings/Tiers
I scouted 20 edge defenders for the 2025 NFL Draft, wrote film notes for a bunch of them and then tiered them according to their value at the next level.
I scouted 20 edge defenders for the 2025 NFL Draft, wrote film notes for a bunch of them and then tiered them according to their value at the next level.
Apologies to these players, who I’m not sure I’ll get to evaluate before the draft:
Central Arkansas EDGE David Walker
Alabama EDGE Que Robinson
Ole Miss EDGE Jared Ivey
Miami EDGE Tyler Baron
Syracuse EDGE Fadil Diggs
Minnesota EDGE Jah Joyner
SMU EDGE Elijah Roberts
Boise State EDGE Ahmad Hassanein
UNC EDGE Kaimon Rucker
Oklahoma State EDGE Collin Oliver
I’m moving away from true round grades, because they are so team relative, and I’m not a specific NFL team. Also, people seem to get really stuck on the idea that a round in the draft would be equivalent to a specific value in a grading system, so hopefully tiering players will work better. For further explanation and evaluation on all of these players, either click their name for a scouting report, and/or listen to Ollie Connolly and I break down each one in these two episodes of The Read Optional Podcast:
The Read Optional Pod: 2025 NFL Draft Edge Defender Tiers - Part 1
Jon & Ollie kick off their 2025 NFL Draft coverage with Part 1 of their detailed look at the edge defender class, including how good Abdul Carter is, Jalon Walker controversy, Mike Green & more
*Keep in mind these pods are from over a month ago, so a few small things may have changed, and some players have been added that I hadn’t scouted yet at the time.
Tier 1 - In conversation as top 10-15 EDGE by year 3
1. Penn State EDGE Abdul Carter
Tier 2 - High quality pass rushers, but may have role limitations/concerns that keep them from being elite
2. Georgia EDGE Jalon Walker
3. Boston College EDGE Donovan Ezeiruaku
4. Marshall EDGE Mike Green
5. LSU EDGE Bradyn Swinson
Tier 3 - Good starters
6. Georgia EDGE Mykel Williams
7. Ole Miss EDGE Princely Umanmielen
8. Texas A&M EDGE Shemar Stewart
9. Ohio State EDGE J.T. Tuimoloau
10. Arkansas EDGE Landon Jackson
Tier 4 - Eventual solid contributors/Valuable role players
11. Tennessee EDGE James Pearce
12. Michigan EDGE Josaiah Stewart
13. Texas A&M EDGE Nic Scourton
14. LSU EDGE Sai’vion Jones
Tier 5 - Developmental/Role/Rotational Players
15. Oregon EDGE Jordan Burch
16. UCLA EDGE Femi Oladejo
17. South Carolina EDGE Kyle Kennard
18. Louisville EDGE Ashton Gillotte
Tier 6 - Backups/STs
19. Texas EDGE Barryn Sorrell
20. Ohio State EDGE Jack Sawyer
Got to hit Walker before the draft