2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Tennessee EDGE Joshua Josephs
All my scouting notes on the strengths, concerns, usage/role, skill set summary, NFL comparison and grade/projection for Tennessee EDGE Joshua Josephs
Tennessee EDGE Joshua Josephs
Height: 6-3
Weight: 242
Arm Length: 34 1/4 inches
Hand Size: 10
Wingspan: 82 inches
Birthdate: 12/08/03 (22 year old rookie)
Jersey No.: #19
Production: 48 games, 1,170 snaps, 22 TFL, 9.5 sacks, 0 INTs, 9 PBUs, 6 FFs
Games Watched: Syracuse, Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama
Scouting Notes
No edge prospect in the class has as big a discrepancy between his highs and his lows as Josephs does. He struggled mightily to find consistency and avoid excruciating mental and execution errors at Tennessee, but also boasted some of the craziest displays of on-field traits you’ll ever see at this position.
First, the off-the-ball explosiveness is other-worldly. Josephs is so unbelievably twitched up, and somehow loses no speed on his second and third steps either. Watching him take off from any stance is as impressive as any edge in the class, even David Bailey. He’s a rocket ship up the arc, to the point that you almost forget about checking to see if he’s any good at truly cornering through contact (left edge).
Unfortunately…he isn’t. Try as he might, Josephs struggles to work around the arc without being pushed up the field. He has some high side cornering reps when the quarterback pushes deep, but he rarely tries to drop his pads and get under punches. He has some reps where he is so fast (like the one above) you don’t always notice the issue because he just wins with pure speed. But when he faces a quality pass set, Josephs struggles to corner become apparent.
He also has some…interesting rush plans? I’m not always sure what his process is. There is a little bit of “hitting every button on the controller” for Josephs as a pass rusher. When it’s right, whew buddy. But his tape is filled with wasted rushes and inefficient attacks, like this mini-leap mid rush into some sort of a failed cornering attempt and then a half-hearted spin (left edge). Sometimes it’s just a mess!
To counter this issue, the 22 year-old established a go to push-pull move. He really rips some guys with it in college, showing his torque and strength. The tricky thing with a push-pull is that it can take some time to hit, and when you do pull it off, you’re often too far upfield to corner unless the quarterback is deep. On this play, he was (right edge)!
The best one he hit was on projected first rounder Monroe Freeling, snatching that outside arm to slip around the corner for a sack. The snatch is like the most efficient version of a push-pull, so I liked seeing him pull this off after getting initially stoned on the bull rush.
