Tag Archives: Edge Defenders

NFL Draft

Top 10 edge defenders of the 2026 NFL Draft:

After breaking down the offensive tackle class earlier in the week, we flip things around and look at the guys that’ll be coming off the edge against them, as part of the positional draft rankings series. This includes guys that I project to primarily line up anywhere from a five- to a nine-technique. Ohio State’s Arvell Reese and Michigan’s Jaishawn Barham already were listed among the (off-ball) linebackers.

With Reese not being part of this group for me, even if he may ultimately be deployed on the edge, we may not have that premier, clean prospect atop the ranks, but number one will be a top-five overall prospect in the class for me. I do see a bit of a drop-off to the next name and then an even bigger one to the handful that come after. However, ultimately I would be fine with the entire top 10 coming off the board within the first 50 picks, and even the two guys that just missed the cut for me, could easily go at the end of the second round. Plus, then there are probably around 30 total guys that I’d deem “draftable”.

This is how the class stacks up for me:

 

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NFL Draft

Top 10 edge defenders of the 2025 NFL Draft:

This marks the mid-point of our positional draft rankings and we’re looking at one of the strongest groups yet – edge defenders, meaning defensive ends in a four-down front and 3-4 outside linebackers, although in today’s NFL we see so many hybrid fronts anyway that the distinction isn’t as relevant.

This class is headlined by a player who would be in consideration for the top non-quarterback in most years, but there are six/seven more names who could easily also go in the first round and about the same amount additionally in the second. What’s crazy to me is how many interesting prospects are available beyond that, as I’ll probably end up at 28-30 names with draftable grades.

Here’s how the top ten (plus) looks like for me:


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NFL Film Breakdowns, What makes him so good

Who’s the NFL’s apex predator on the edge?

The Myles Garrett vs. T.J. Watt debate has long ongoing with passionate supporters on either side of it. Both have consistently been front-runners for Defensive Player of the Year honors and terrorized opposing quarterbacks. But who’s EDGE1 right now?

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NFL Draft

Top 10 edge defenders of the 2024 NFL Draft:

Finishing up week three of your positional draft rankings, we switch back over to the defensive side of the ball, with the guys threatening the edge against the offensive tackles we discussed a few days ago. The NFL has evolved to a point where we can group them together as EDGEs rather than having to use traditional 3-4 outside linebacker and 4-3 defensive end designations, although I will describe which roles I believe these prospects can fit at the end of each paragraph, along with analyzing their strengths and weaknesses, plus in which range I’d personally value them. At this point, I also want to re-iterate that my rankings are based purely on tape evaluation, without information on potential medical or off-field concerns.

This class hasn’t been discussed a whole lot I’d say because we don’t have a headliner like Myles Garrett, one of the Bosa brothers or Chase Young at the top, but there’s still plenty to like. Personally, I believe you can make a case for any of the top three names as EDGE1, depending on which type of player you’re looking for and they’ll all be inside my top-15 overall prospects. I could see about nine or ten additional guys hear their names called on day two, although I don’t see as many intriguing developmental projects in the middle to late rounds as the OT class featured.

I want to note that typically, I have used two or three paragraphs – depending on position – to describe the positives for each position. In this case, I simply used “run defense” and “pass-rush” and added a short line about them dropping into coverage, if I thought it was fitting, since none of these guys were asked to do that 100+ in any season, as far I’m aware.

Here’s the list:


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NFL Draft

Top 10 edge defenders of the 2023 NFL Draft:

This officially marks the halfway point of our positional draft rankings. We’ve already broken down the top running backs, linebackers, wide receivers, cornerbacks and most recently offensive tackles. So now it’s time to look at this massive group of edge defenders, which is a much better way to classify these prospects, rather than calling them 4-3 defensive ends or 3-4 outside linebackers. Due to how hybrid NFL fronts are these days anyway, I like to lump those together, although I will mention their best schematic fit a few times and talk about how versatile coaches can be in how they deploy these guys.

We have a consensus top-three overall prospect headlining this group, but I don’t believe EDGE2 is too far behind him, especially when you look at what the NFL typically values. After that, I kind of look at the class having three tiers, where the first one consists of four names, who I all have first-round grades on, then the three guys in the next group I think deserve top-50 consideration and after that, there’s at least another four I consider day-two prospect. However, even beyond that point, there are several intriguing players, who I think can have legitimate roles at the next level, with varying degrees of physical upside compared to pro-readiness.

Just to clarify – Northwestern’s Adetomiwa Adebawore, Auburn’s Colby Wooden and Michigan’s Mike Morris I have all labelled as “IDL”. That list will come out next week.

For now, let’s get into this edge class:


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NFL Draft

Top 10 edge defenders in the 2022 NFL Draft:

Completing our third week of positional draft rankings, we go from offensive tackles to the guys trying beat them around the edge. With how much more hybrid NFL defenses continue to become, the distinction between 3-4 outside linebackers and defensive ends in even fronts isn’t as important, but if there’s specific scheme fits that I believe make sense, I will mention them here.

This has been a heavily discussed group, because of how strong the top of the class is, with different rankings in the top-six in particular. Yet, while I have the same names as a lot of other analysts, my order looks slightly different I would say and past that point, I think I have very different opinions to a lot of the general media outlets/big boards.

Similar to the OTs earlier in the week, there are some players, who are often listed as defensive ends, but to me qualify as interior D-linemen. Those include DeMarvin Leal (Texas A&M), Logan Hall (Houston), Zachary Carter (Florida) and Isaiah Thomas (Oklahoma), among others.

Once again, this evaluation does not account for injuries or off-the-field stuff, simply because I don’t have all the information and it’s hard to measure those things anyway. So on this list, that is prevalent, because we obviously saw David Ojabo tear his Achilles at Michigan’s pro day recently.


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