2025 Defensive Line Prospects

 

Abdul Carter, EDGE, Penn State

Carter is the premier pass rusher in this class, and only a lack of elite size keeps him from the upper echelon of past prospects. He is lightning quick in space, one of those players who just moves differently from everyone else on the field, and it is almost impossible for a tackle to even get hands on him, much less sustain that contact to block him. Carter has the speed and bend to explode off the ball and tear around the edge, and the quickness to dart back inside and slash towards the quarterback’s face. He will almost certainly be a regular double-digit sack producer in the NFL, and he is well worth a top five selection.

The most intriguing thing about Carter is that, as good as he is, he’s still somewhat unrefined as a pass rusher. He spent his first couple years at Penn State playing more as an off-ball linebacker, and those skills still exist, in his ability to play in space and drop back into coverage as needed. As a pass rusher, he has a variety of moves to dodge around a blocker, but his usage of his hands is inconsistent, flashing high-level skill on some plays and looking like he isn’t aware he has arms at all on others. He’s strong enough to play through contact to cut down angles, but he doesn’t have any sort of power rush, even when he gets into good position square in a blocker’s chest. His slightly small frame could make this last part hard to ever fully achieve, but if he can become even better at using his hands to keep himself clean, he can develop into one of the best pass rushers in the NFL.

I have some concerns about Carter in the running game, but I think they mostly boil down to discipline. Occasionally he can be knocked backwards off the ball, but he also shows moments of being able to plant his feet and anchor against contact, and the skill to shed and make a play when the ball comes near him. The bigger problem is that far too often he doesn’t even try, preferring to try to duck around a blocker instead. This can lead to some big plays in the backfield, but more often it ends with him leaving behind a big hole for a back to run through. With more practice doing the dirty work of playing on the line of scrimmage, I think he can grow into an above average player in this phase of the game as well.

 

James Pearce, EDGE, Tennessee

Pearce is a long, lanky athlete who is at his best screaming off the edge. He’s a slightly odd-looking edge rusher, standing over 6-5 but weighing only 245 pounds, looking like he might break every time a massive lineman squares up to hit him. But Pearce is very good at not being where the lineman tries to hit him, with explosive lateral quickness that makes getting square contact on him a difficult gamble. He put up some insane numbers in his testing, 4.47 in the forty and 10-3 in the broad jump (though he did weirdly terrible in the vertical), and he looks it on the field, an explosive athlete who is most comfortable playing in space.

When things get messy and congested, Pearce can have some problems. He’s stouter than you’d expect given his frame, as he plays with good leverage and can use his length to establish position in a blocker’s chest. He has some semblance of a bull rush he can use to compress the pocket, though he struggles to disengage from contact once it’s made. He has moments of high-level hand usage, but most of the time he just kind of flails aimlessly trying and failing to disengage.

The weird thing about Pearce is that as good as he is at getting to the quarterback, he’s equally as terrible at actually getting him on the ground. He regularly scorches into the backfield with a sack dead in his sights, then goes flailing past without laying more than a hand on the quarterback. He can get low and bend when rounding the corner on a speed rush, but when trying to adjust and turn in the middle of the play he shows some lack of flexibility, particularly when he’s trying to play through contact. Here his length seems to cause him problems, as he plays high and can lose leverage preventing him from being able to finish plays.

I don’t think Pearce will have quite as much bad luck on sacks as he did in his final year at Tennessee, where he was one of the best in the nation at generating pressure but still finished with only 7.5 sacks. I do think he will always be somewhat limited in his ability to put up big sack totals, and I think in the NFL teams will do a better job punishing his slight frame by running straight at him (he was part of a deep rotation at Tennessee that protected him from the worst of this). I think his ceiling is somewhat limited to keep him from ever being one of the true elite edge defenders in the league, but his skills are enough that I’d still feel fine spending a top ten pick on him.

 

Walter Nolen, DT, Ole Miss

Nolen is on the small size for an interior defender, weighing in at just under 300 pounds at the combine. At times he can look it on the field, with some struggles to hold ground as a point-of-attack run defender. Against a single blocker he can usually stand firm, provided he doesn’t stray too far trying to shoot through a gap and allowing himself to get washed down. But he’s not the sort who is going to absorb double-teams without being moved backwards.

His struggles in rush defense are matched only by his wild potential as a pass rusher. When he is loosed to attack, Nolen has stretches where he can look unstoppable. He is explosive off the ball, shooting through a gap and getting the edge on a blocker often before he’s even out of his stance. From there he has the power and the flexibility to play through contact to get to the quarterback, even with two linemen trying to squeeze him from each side. He doesn’t do a lot with his hands, but he often doesn’t need to, closing the space between him and the blocker before hands can even come into the picture. When he needs to, he shows off the ability to create space and drive with a bull-rush, though that likely won’t ever be the strongest point of his game.

It's harder to know what to do with a defensive tackle who thrives against the pass but struggles against the run than it is with an edge player. I think some of Nolen’s issues are technical—he plays too high, and gets too aggressive trying to shoot through gaps in running situations—but some of it is also his lack of size, something that will be hard to fix without diminishing his burst. I think he can grow into a quality three-down player, but it will take some work. He’s a project, but the sort of high-upside project I like to take on, even if I might prefer to wait until outside of the top ten.

 

Mason Graham, DT, Michigan

Graham is the premier technician on the interior line in this class. He is a master at using his hands to keep himself clean, swatting and punching and swimming his way away from blockers. Whether he’s attacking into the backfield or shedding contact to make a play against the run, it’s very hard to sustain a block against Graham.

Graham needs to be a master technician, because physically he isn’t very impressive. Less than 300 pounds and with only 32 inch arms, on the occasions when he isn’t able to win with technique he can be overwhelmed by the linemen across from him. He gets blown backwards off the ball, and if he can’t keep a blocker’s hands away from his chest, he has no recourse against powerful grasps that can move and contain him. He isn’t the sort who wins with lightning quickness either. He moves well in tight spaces, but he doesn’t explode off the ball to wreck blocking angles. Most of the time when he wins it’s in the secondary moments after initial engagement, not the sort of quick flashes that elite rushers are capable of.

The strongest physical trait Graham has is flexibility. He’s able to bend and contort his body for quick changes of direction that can give him the angle on a blocker, and from there his hands are able to take over to get him clean and into the backfield. This can take away some of the advantages of running straight at him, as even if he gets blown backwards off the line of scrimmage, he can usually find a way to swim around a blocker to still make a play on the ball.

Winning with this style will be harder in the NFL. More of the linemen will have counters to the moves he throws at them, and more of them will have the ability to simply power through and beat him based on pure strength alone. As good and disruptive as he was in college, I don’t think he has the ceiling to be that same game-wrecking force in the NFL. Certain matchups will always give him problems, and when he has problems he will become the sort of player that is a real liability for a defense. Put a strong cast around him to cover for his shortcomings and he can be a disruptive presence in the middle of the defense. But I’d rather wait until somewhere in the middle of the first round to take someone with his limitations.

 

Derrick Harmon, DT, Oregon

Harmon is another one of those players whose ceiling is somewhat limited because he isn’t great at anything, even while he feels like a safe selection because he’s good at a lot of things. He has enough quickness in tight spaces to get an edge on linemen trying to stay in front of him, but isn’t quick enough to explode untouched into the backfield the way Nolen can. He doesn’t get blown off the ball as a run defender, but he can be shifted back a yard or two from the line of scrimmage. He's a pretty good athlete with a well-rounded game that should make him a long-term starter in the NFL, even if I don’t think there’s a lot of room for growth to become the sort of high-impact player I look for in the top half of the first round.

If there’s one thing that Harmon has that is close to an elite trait, it’s his hand usage, particularly as a pass rusher. He alternates between using them to shield himself from contact and using them as weapons to knock a blocker back from the ball, though in the latter case he doesn’t often do much after establishing a strong position. He doesn’t have the power to deploy a full bull rush, and he’s better working laterally to try to go around his man while using his hands to keep himself clean so he can cut the corner short. He’s another who isn’t great at finishing when he gets to the quarterback, but this concerns  me less for an interior rusher,  where pressure on its own can be more disruptive for a quarterback than when it comes off the edge.

Harmon’s greatest attribute is his versatility. He’ll fit well in any scheme playing anywhere between the tackles. He might have some struggles if asked to play as a full-time nose tackle taking on double teams, but he’s stout enough to handle one-on-one blocks, and his quick hands let him slide away from contact to make a play on the ball when it comes near him, even if he doesn’t have the range to make big plays outside of that. And he’s effective as a pass rusher with a varied game that will force linemen to stay on their toes the entire game, even if he doesn’t strike fear into their hearts with his physical abilities.

 

Kenneth Grant, DT, Michigan

There are very few people alive that can match Grant’s physical gifts. People who are 331 pounds simply shouldn’t be able to move like he does. His best plays are the sort that conjure nightmares for opposing linemen. Quick initial steps to slide around a guard in front of him. Power to drive opposing linemen deep into the backfield. Strong hands to throw aside blockers to make a play on the ball. He’s the rare sort of defensive tackle who can do everything you could ask from him, whether it’s absorbing double-teams without losing ground or knifing through a gap to make a play deep in the backfield.

The catch with Grant is that these plays only show up two or three times a game. He’s far too anonymous for as talented as he is, and anyone taking him is making a huge bet on him growing past the player he has shown to be on tape. And while I think he can grow into that player, he has farther to go than most of the other prospects I looked at, which is why I’d prefer waiting to draft him until the end of the first round.

The biggest problem I see with Grant is that he never seems to adjust what he’s doing as the play evolves in front of him. Where his teammate Graham is a master at engaging a blocker and then twisting his way free as the situation evolves, Grant seems to come up with a plan before the play and stick to it no matter what. If that plan is to plant his feet and hold his ground, he can absorb as many blockers as the opposing offense decides to throw at him. But if instead the quarterback drops back to pass, he can’t transition into a pass rushing threat. When he sets his mind to it he has the power to launch a lineman into the quarterback’s lap, but most of the time as a pass rusher he just kind of hovers in the middle, dancing and waiting throw his hands up into a passing lane (which he is very good at).

This is an even bigger concern for me in run defense. Because as good as he is at swallowing blockers, he doesn’t always play with great discipline. Too often he will slant hard trying to shoot into the backfield, and if the play turns out to be a run straight at him, he doesn’t have the ability to twist and anchor again. Offensive linemen can wash him out of his gap, leaving a gaping hole in what is supposed to be the strongest point of the defense.

Part of me wonders if he might not be as impressive an athlete as his best moments on the field suggest. His testing numbers weren’t as freakish as I expected, though at 331 pounds it becomes difficult to know what’s an extraordinary number versus a pretty good one. But I think there is a scenario where he has to adjust his game to simply being a space-eating presence in the middle, tamping down his more aggressive plays to simply focus on power. This is still a useful player for a defense, but the sort that would probably be considered a disappointment for a first round selection.

 

Shemar Stewart, EDGE, Texas A&M

When it comes to the pass rusher position I love nothing more than taking a freakish athlete and trusting them to figure things out, and they don’t come more freakish than Stewart. At 6-5 and 267 pounds he ran a 4.59 forty and had a 40 inch vertical leap at the combine. And on the field he is another of those players who just moves differently than you’re used to seeing, in his ability to change direction in an instant and accelerate to close ground faster than anyone that size should move.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure I’ve ever studied anyone as far from being a finished product as Stewart is. His movement skills flash all over the field, but most of the time there is no real purpose in his movements. He dances side to side but never actually figures out an angle to attack the blocker in front of him. He accelerates in a hurry but doesn’t explode from his stance to win off the snap of the ball. He dips low and bends around the edge but doesn’t do anything with his hands to separate from the blocker.

On plays when Stewart puts everything together the result is absolutely terrifying, but this happens infrequently enough that when it does it feels more like an accident than anything else. So any attempt to project what he’ll look like in the NFL is just guesswork and fantasy. Maybe he can learn to use his hands to blast linemen back into the quarterback’s lap. Maybe he can refine his technique off the ball and become a terror around the edge. Maybe his quickness can be harnessed into a truly lethal array of pass rushing attacks. All of these are possible, none of them are likely, and Stewart has bust written all over him. But still, the athletic potential and upside is difficult to ignore, and it would be hard to let someone this talented fall out of the first round.

 

Mykel Williams, EDGE, Georgia

Just looking at Williams it’s hard not to be intrigued by the possibilities. He is a long and powerful athlete, 6-5 and 260 pounds with 34 inch arms that he uses to full effectiveness, able to slam into a blocker’s chest and bend him backwards at the point of contact. Williams is a pure power rusher, able to collapse pockets with bull rushes and immovable in the running game.

The problem is that there isn’t much more to his game than that. Williams excels at getting into great position with his hands, in full control of a blocker and in position to make a play on the ball. And then he doesn’t do anything. He doesn’t shed contact, he doesn’t twist and yank his way forward to get into the backfield. If the quarterback breaks from the pocket and runs towards him, he can fall to the side and make the tackle. But he rarely turns his advantageous position into genuine pressure.

This is mostly technical ability that Williams can develop, and I think he can become a quality power rusher in the NFL. The problem is that this will still leave him fairly one-dimensional. He’s a good athlete but a fairly linear one, and he doesn’t have the quickness to dart around opposing tackles. His burst off the ball isn’t special either, and he doesn’t have great bend around the corner, though he can occasionally win around the edge simply by forcing opposing tackles to be more cautious with their drops out of fear of his bull rush. This isn’t enough to make him a real danger that offenses have to concern themselves with, and I think ultimately he’ll settle in as a simple starter-level player. A high-level run defender who picks up six or seven sacks a year, the sort I’d rather wait until the second round to add.

 

Jalon Walker, LB/EDGE, Georgia

I’m not sure what position Walker plays in the NFL. At Georgia he filled a role that pretty much only exists on defenses loaded with overwhelming talent, where they can count on 10 of their guys to match up against the opposing 11 and leave one player free to operate purely on athleticism and instinct. Walker was that player for Georgia, the latest in a line that includes past first round picks like Isaiah Simmons from Clemson and Jabrill Peppers from Michigan. Players whose job was to float around the field, read the play in front of them, and then flash across the screen to make a big play when the opportunity presented itself.

As you can probably guess from those names I mentioned (and his position on this list), I’m not a big fan of Walker. He thrived at Georgia operating off of pure athletic ability, but I don’t think he’s a special enough athlete to do that in the NFL. If he moves to a full-time edge rusher position like many people expect him to, he will be undersized at only 6-1 and 243 pounds with 32 inch arms, and lacking any technique to make up for it. He is quick in space and can cover a lot of ground coming downhill, but he doesn’t have great burst off the ball or bend, and doesn’t really use his hands for anything. If your plan is to move him to edge rusher, you’ll largely be starting from scratch with someone whose physical profile doesn’t offer that much upside.

I think the plan for Walker should be to keep him as more of an off-ball linebacker, which significantly decreases his value. He has more upside in this role, where his straight-line speed and ability to read and react will be more valuable, but there is still work to be done here. Against the run he’s solid but unspectacular, playing most things slow and stacking blockers a couple yards downfield rather than meeting them at the line or trying to dart past them. And he has very little experience playing in coverage, as most of the time at Georgia he was left to float in the middle as a spy on the quarterback rather than bothering with the receivers. He has decent upside if he can harness his athleticism in coverage, but also a lot of work to do, and I wouldn’t draft him before the third round.