This 12 months’s class of move rushers may be very deep, and the 2025 NFL Draft may see a file variety of defensive ends and dashing exterior linebackers come off the board.
Usually we’d rank the highest 10, however which may not even make it to the tip of Spherical 2 this 12 months, so we expanded to incorporate the highest 14 gamers on the EDGE place — all of the gamers who acquired votes within the prime 10 from our assortment of draft consultants from our 32 NFL staff websites.
We should always notice that we’re grouping collectively move rushers as EDGE rushers, which implies you would possibly discover some gamers labeled as defensive finish and a few labeled as exterior linebacker.
The highest EDGE rushers within the 2025 NFL Draft
14. Josaiah Stewart, Michigan
The Massachusetts native initially started his school soccer profession at Coastal Carolina, the place his teammate Isaiah Seemingly — now with the Baltimore Ravens — additionally joined the staff. After incomes back-to-back All-Solar Belt honors, he transferred to Michigan in 2023. At simply 6’1” and 249 kilos with 32” arms, he was by no means in a position to recapture the magic of his 12.5-sack freshman season on the Massive Ten degree, however he’s an fascinating, although undersized, pass-rushing prospect. He by no means labored out on the mix because of a hamstring challenge and didn’t run at Michigan’s professional day in March, so we would by no means get a solution on how athletic he actually is — a possible pink flag.
13. Kyle Kennard, South Carolina
Kyle Kennard type of got here out of nowhere final season. After recording 12.5 sacks over 4 years with Georgia Tech, Kennard posted 11.5 sacks in his lone 12 months with South Carolina. For that effort, he was rewarded with consensus All-American, SEC Defensive Participant of the Yr and Bronko Nagurski Trophy honors. Whereas Kennard was a high-level pass-rusher on the school degree final season, there are questions on whether or not his high-effort model of play will translate to the following degree. At simply 254 kilos, he solely ran a 4.73-second 40-yard sprint and doesn’t seem like a lot of an edge bender on movie.
12. JT Tuimoloau, Ohio State
A former five-star recruit who had energy convention affords to play basketball, JT Tuimoloau has been on NFL radars for years. In every of his final three seasons, he was named a first-team All-Massive Ten participant. He’s extra bursty than flexible as an athlete, which helps him extra in opposition to the run than the move. Nonetheless, he lastly had a breakout pass-rushing season in 2024, when he shattered his earlier file of 5 sacks in a season to put up 12.5. He additionally does an awesome job of moving into quarterbacks’ passing lanes at 6’4” with 34” arms. Tuimoloau doesn’t have any elite traits, however he’s a stable all-around defensive finish.
11. Landon Jackson, Arkansas
Initially a defensive sort out for LSU, Landon Jackson transferred to Arkansas after taking part in simply 5 video games as a real freshman in 2021. The Texarkana product dropped all the way down to 264 kilos by the scouting mix, which allowed him to place up an unimaginable 40.5” vertical and a greater than respectable 4.68-second 40-yard sprint. The 6’6” defensive finish has loads of Lukas Van Ness in his recreation, which makes you marvel why he’s not thought of a first-round choose on this class. Positive, this edge class is deep, however often, gamers along with his dimension and athleticism don’t final to Day 2 of a draft, irrespective of what number of defensive ends are anticipated to go within the first spherical. He by no means posted greater than 6.5 sacks in a single season at Arkansas, however he did earn first-team All-SEC honors in 2023 and second-team honors in 2024, partly because of his run recreation prowess. In the end, he’s a younger and lengthy high quality run defender who has the athletic upside to develop as a move rusher.
10. Jack Sawyer, Ohio State
Jack Sawyer goes to be a participant that groups with a 3-4 scheme worth greater than 4-3 groups, just because he’s a extra all-around participant than a real edge bender. The truth that Sawyer can set an honest edge and might really drop into protection at 6’4” and 260 kilos will make him a tier extra beneficial for groups that need to use him in a Preston Smith-like function in a 3-4 scheme. Sawyer was a former five-star recruit who was in a position to earn back-to-back second-team All-Massive Ten honors over the past two seasons. Whereas he by no means hit double-digit sacks in school, he may have a task on the subsequent degree.
9. Princely Umanmielen, Mississippi
After spending 4 years at Florida, Princely Umanmielen transferred to Ole Miss in 2024, the place he earned All-SEC honors for the second time in his school profession. He’s the second of three school defensive linemen amongst his brothers, with Pricewill, a Nebraska switch, following Princely’s footsteps with the Rebels for the 2025 season. Princely is a top quality pass-rushing possibility after the wave of first-rounders come off the board. Whereas he received’t wow you with elite athleticism, on the relative scale of NFL starters, he constantly finds methods to get after the quarterback. That’s one motive why he was in a position to rack up 17.5 sacks over the past two years, largely in opposition to SEC play, regardless of working a 7.33-second three-cone in the course of the pre-draft course of.
8. Donovan Ezeiruaku, Boston Faculty
Essentially the most distinctive move rusher on this class is Boston Faculty’s Donovan Ezeiruaku, who type of performs like a sawed-off Chandler Jones. As an alternative of being the 6’5” with 35” arms that Jones was, although, Ezeiruaku is 6’2” with 34” arms. He’s extra of a slow-burn move rusher than you’d count on for somebody underneath 250 kilos, as he doesn’t have an awesome first step. That’s often a game-ender for smaller ends, however he’s such a complicated and artful pass-rusher that he was in a position to put up 16.5 sacks in 2024, incomes him All-American honors. The 21-year-old is a little bit of a bet, solely as a result of we’ve by no means seen a prolonged Euro-step pass-rusher are available a 6’2”, 248-pound bundle earlier than, however his technical talent may help him overcome his weight and first-step knocks.
7. Nic Scourton, Texas A&M
Coming into 2024, there have been excessive expectations for Nic Scourton, who was one of many largest transfers within the portal. At Purdue, Scourton was named an All-Massive Ten participant after he led the convention with 10 sacks in 2023. At A&M, he solely posted 5 sacks, which was extremely disappointing relative to his preseason hype. He was listed by the Aggies at 285 kilos, which is the burden he appeared to hold on movie, however he minimize all the way down to 257 kilos for the mix. In fact, he in all probability carried an excessive amount of “dangerous weight” to play a run-first function in Texas A&M’s scheme final 12 months. In the event you actually need a really feel for the bull rusher, it’s a must to dig again into his 2023 tape at Purdue, as NFL groups will virtually actually need him to play nearer to his mix weight on the subsequent degree.
6. James Pearce Jr., Tennessee
Whereas nearly all of the highest edge defenders have been performed out of place on the school degree, one participant who benefitted from being put in the suitable place on a down-to-down foundation was James Pearce Jr. of Tennessee. Tennessee went out of their strategy to guarantee that Pearce was the “open” finish — taking part in one-on-one in opposition to tackles moderately than to the facet of the tight finish — to an excessive extent. When tight ends motioned throughout the formation, the Volunteers would steadily flip their complete defensive field in order that Pearce may get one-on-one alternatives. Pearce was additionally allowed to play in a wide-9 approach, making him an every-down pass-rusher greater than a real defensive finish. At solely 245 kilos, he would possibly simply find yourself settling into a chosen pass-rusher function on the NFL degree, the place his 4.47-second velocity may present extra worth to groups. He’s extra of a clean-up participant — a great one due to his velocity — than somebody who creates stress rapidly in passing downs.
5. Mike Inexperienced, Marshall
Initially recruited as a pass-catcher at Virginia, Mike Inexperienced ended up main the FBS in sacks in 2024 with 17 for Marshall. As a pure designated pass-rusher, Inexperienced might be the second-best participant on this class behind solely Penn State’s Abdul Carter. For a 6’3”, 251-pound finish from a Group of 5 program, he’s a greater run defender than you’d count on, partly as a result of he performs like his hair is on hearth each down. On the mix, Inexperienced addressed two sexual assault allegations, courting again to his time in highschool and Virginia. Inexperienced claims he’s by no means been questioned by regulation enforcement and that he did “nothing improper.”
4. Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M
One of many gamers with the widest vary of outcomes on this draft is Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart, who has all of the traits you’d ask for out of a defensive finish however not one of the manufacturing. In three years, the previous five-star recruit posted simply 4.5 sacks. Whereas he improved as a run defender yearly at A&M, the protection primarily centered on stopping the run moderately than getting after the quarterback, which regularly confirmed on play-action and RPO reps — a great quantity of the passes that the Aggies confronted within the SEC. With that being mentioned, Stewart’s first step is the very best within the class at 6’5” and 267 kilos. He posted a 4.59-second 40-yard sprint and 40” vertical soar on the mix, each unimaginable numbers for a participant his dimension.
3. Mykel Williams, Georgia
As soon as Travon Walker was drafted first total, the Georgia Bulldogs basically plugged in five-star recruit Mykel Williams into their 4i function within the Bulldogs’ protection instantly. Williams usually performed on the defensive inside for Georgia, simply because of the construction of their protection, however isn’t anticipated to play there a lot at 6’5” and 260 kilos on the NFL degree. The 20-year outdated is an athletic participant who was twice named an All-SEC participant off of the power of his run protection. He has a toolbox of counter pass-rushing strikes however doesn’t have a calling card for beating tackles across the edge. The hope is that he can develop a go-to exterior transfer on the subsequent degree.
2. Jalon Walker, Georgia
One of many hardest projections within the draft is whether or not or not Jalon Walker will probably be performed on the sting full-time. At 6’1” and 243 kilos, he doesn’t have the body on paper or the power on movie to constantly maintain the sting on the NFL degree. With that being mentioned, he was named a first-team All-American and second-team All-SEC participant in 2024, taking part in a hybrid pass-rushing linebacker function. In fact, his greatest function is perhaps an off-ball linebacker on run downs who can play the “spinner” function, lining up over the middle as a rise up participant in pass-rushing conditions. He has pass-rushing juice, however the query is just whether or not or not he’s an each down defensive finish, one thing that would restrict what number of pass-rushing alternatives he’s going to have in his NFL profession.
1. Abdul Carter, Penn State
The consensus prime pass-rusher on this class and certain top-five choice is Penn State’s Abdul Carter, who only one 12 months in the past was an off-ball linebacker for the Nittany Lions. In his first 12 months on the sting, he was in a position to earn 12 sacks and an FBS-leading 24 tackles for loss on the way in which to All-American and Massive Ten Defensive Participant of the Yr honors. Carter isn’t anticipated to be a premier edge setter at simply 6’3” and 250 kilos, however his athleticism makes him a chief pass-rushing candidate. 3-4 groups ought to fall in love with the prospect, as he additionally was a Freshman All-American and First-Group All-Massive Ten participant as a real linebacker, giving him worth as a dropper in base protection appears.
