EDGE RUSHER
James Pierce Jr. ER Tennesse
James has the potential to be the next Browns Myles Garett. That being said some people are suggesting that he could be the next former Rams Leonard Little. What I see on film is a player who is very smart and very frustrated and that frustration is affecting his play on the field. James has the athletic talent to play on the line, or off the line at a number, of different positions. What I think is that James just wants to be an Edge Rusher in a 4/3 defense and collect sacks so he can get the big payday. I don’t think he wants to play off the line or drop off the line into coverage despite the fact, that he is excellent in coverage. James has the burst, size, length, and foot speed to dominate as an Edge Rusher. He has those long arms that allow him to shed blocks and make tackles against the run and is solid at setting the edge. He might wind up being the best Edge Rusher from this group of Edge rushers in this draft. Yes, he has to get a little stronger and needs to answer some questions about off-field issues but I’m going to guess that he will answer those questions with sufficient maturity to make teams realize that sometimes issues do get overblown. All of that being said, what I see in his play on film, is the potential to be the next Myles Garrett, if he can stay healthy and bulk up. At least that's what I see.
Talent Grade: 1.44
Donovan Ezeiruaku ER Boston College
Donovan has the athletic talent, strength, and long arms to become as impactful a pass rusher as Bills/Rams/Broncos Von Miller. He is stout against the run and has a variety of pass-rushing moves. He has the quickness and strength to bull rush along with the lateral agility to bend around the corner to make a sack. Because of his lack of length, Donovan comes off the line of scrimmage with the natural pad level that gives him the immediate leverage advantage against those tall offensive linemen. The biggest advantage Donovan has that many Defensive linemen lack is very strong hands that give him the advantage along with his body strength to control his opponent against the run. There will be teams that will downgrade Donovan because of his lack of length. Of course, we all know that size only means something in the draft before a player is selected, but not on the field. Turn on the film and you will be watching an impact defensive player making plays and leading his team despite his lack of size. Donovan has a high football IQ. He sets up the offensive lineman and understands situational football. If you're looking for an Edge Rusher who can finish I suggest your team not overlook this kid for very long. My guess is, you're going to have to move up to select him because I suspect he will be drafted early. Talent Grade: 1.47
Abdul Carter ER/DE Penn St
Abdul is a natural pass rusher with the athletic attributes to become a franchise DE for the team that selects him. He has those long arms and explosiveness off the line that gives him the advantage and forces offensive linemen be off balance at the snap of the ball. He is a lean, mean, rocket firing off the line of scrimmage with very little effort allowing him to surprise offense linemen before they can get set. Although Abdul has been an impact Defensive End for his team, he is just learning the position and right now all of his impact is directly related to his athletic ability. He must learn to get off blocks, hand fight better, develop a second move, and do a better job holding the edge. He must also learn offensive line schemes better and anticipate who will block him on sweeps and screens. That being said, considering this is his first year playing this position he has been remarkable and has improved from game to game this year. Abdul is tough, smart, and learns quickly. He has the strength, size, and athletic talent to play as a DE in a 4/3 front or in a 3/4 defense. If Abdul has the same work ethic that former Cowboys Demarcus Ware had, Abdul can have similar impact as DeMarcus had, for the team that selects him. Talent Grade: 1.64
Jack Sawyer ER Ohio St
Jack has as much talent and potential to impact as Joey Bosa did when he came out in the 2016 draft. Joey had marginal workout numbers and is a little bit bigger, but not really. I expect Jack to maybe have better workout numbers but not by much. Jack is a football player. He uses power and quickness as an edge rusher and very little finesse. He is very smart and a team player and is the best Edge Rusher in this draft at setting the edge and getting off blocks to make tackles. Jack despite his size, stats, and lack of arm length, is a big play, in big games football player. If your team needs a sack in the 4th quarter of a game, Jack will get the sack or scare the living crap out of the quarterback into thinking Jack will get the sack. He is one of the best at handling double teams at him, against the run. His footwork is excellent but if he doesn’t get a jump on the offensive tackle off the snap, he does struggle to get by him to make sacks. Nevertheless, I have never seen him give up on a play before the whilst and he makes a lot of plays on effort alone. Jack has marginal, change of direction agility but makes up for it with an excellent burst once he turns his hips. Jack’s career college stats are equal to Joey’s. Jacks has 23 sacks, 68 solo tackles, and 6 forced fumbles to Joey’s 26 sacks, 51 solo tackles, and 5 forced fumbles. The big difference between these two players is, in 2016 there were no DE/ER to pick from and this draft has a ton on them likely to be selected early with excellent workout numbers but less production. Joey was the third pick of the 2016 draft, and Jack might not make the first round but Jack will be as productive a player as Joey, a leader, and a fan favorite for sure. Talent Grade: 1.83
JT Tuimoloau ER Ohio St
JT reminds me a lot of Chiefs ER George Karlaftis. They are both big game players with solid athletic abilities for their positions. JT is always in the backfield on every snap disrupting, sacking, and tackling running backs, just like George. JT will need to strengthen his hands to better secure tackles but because of his strong lower body, he doesn’t get pushed out of his gap against running plays right at him. JT shows good solid quickness off the line of scrimmage when pass-rushing, and if he anticipates the snap, he also shows the physicality to beat double teams. He works well with his teammates. Although he is stiff in his lower body, making him slow to change directions, his lower body strength and high football IQ make it easy for him to take advantage of offensive linemen when they make the slightest mistake or are slow to react against him. JT will give you everything he has, on every snap for the whole game, and in the fourth quarter, like George, he will come through with a game-impact play almost every time. Talent Grade: 1.94
Oluwafemi Oladejo ER UCLA
Oluwafemi is a remarkably talented football player. Remember Drew’s rules and how I always say it takes more than talent to play in the NFL? Femi has more than talent. Femi has more than talent to go around to his teammates, too. Femi has more than talent to go to his coaches, the fans, and the media. What he doesn’t have right now is the technical talent to play his position because he has only played Edge Rusher for about 10 games just this year. Femi’s athletic talent overall is excellent for his new position. His effort is excellent, and his ability to shut down the run and penetrate the backfield to make tackles is excellent. As a pass rusher at times, he looks like Tubey –the wacky wavy inflatable man you see as you dive past a store, trying to get you to notice they have a sale on. That being said, right now, Femi’s effort, hand strength, and passion for making a sack are undeniable. His ability to affect the play of his teammates around him positively is undeniable. Femi is the type of player Bill Belichick would draft. In fact, he reminds me a lot of Tedy Bruschi. He might have more athletic talent than Tedy did and be better suited to play more on the line of scrimmage as a pure pass rusher, but their demeanor on the field is the same, and the way they go about their craft is the same. Femi has to get stronger in his lower body to improve his ability to pass rush from all angles. He also will have to learn some secondary moves and other technical skills, but believe me, he is smart and is like a sponge, learning quickly. He could sneak into the 1st round, but as far as I’m concerned, whatever round he might be selected in, he will be a steal. Talent Grade: 1.94
Mykel Williams ER/DL Georgia
Mykel has the size, length, and wing span to be an impact Defensive End for the team that selects him. He shows on film, a solid football IQ and can be used inside depending on down and distance to rush the quarterback. He does a good job against the run and has the footspeed to run down quarterbacks when a play breaks down, and they leave the pocket. Mykel is used a lot on stunts to pressure the pocket and when he is one-on-one with a tackle to rush the passer, he gives the effort needed to be considered a potential impact Edge Rusher. Nevertheless, his lack of production over his college career and lack of overall body strength, suggest it might take some time for him to develop. Mykel shows the needed work ethic and effort on the field to develop, but he needs to get stronger, build more bulk and strength, and learn better pass-rushing techniques. He also has to become more explosive off the line with a better pad level to be a consistent pass rusher. When he does, there will be no limit to his ability to impact. Talent grade: 2.36
Landon Jackson ER/DL Arkansas
Landon has the potential to be a dominant, defensive lineman for the team that selects him. He is one of the best run stuffers I have seen since J. J. Watt came out in his draft. He is excellent against double teams because of his length and long arms. As a pass rusher, he struggles off the edge to finish because of his pad level and size, but is very disruptive. Landon’s medicals will be the issue for most teams to think about before selecting him early in this draft. As a child, his immune system was compromised. As he got older, playing football, Landon also had other medical issues that teams are going to have to be satisfied with before they rate him on their boards. That being said, I believe Landon can be something special at the next level. Landon came into the Senior Bowl at 273 Lb’s and the combine at 264 Lb’s, but I think letting him bulk up to 280 to 290 Lb’s is the smart thing to do, and moving him inside to rush the Quarterback on passing downs would also be the smart thing to do. When Landon has a direct line to the quarterback, he is at times, unstoppable and will demand double teams to stop him. As I said before, against the run, Landon is one of the best now, at 264 Lb’s. Can you imagine the havoc he will do at 280 Lb’s. Talent Grade: 2.67
Shemar Stewart ER Texas A&M
Shemar is an athletic specimen. He came into the Senior Bowl weighing 281 lbs and 3½ weeks later at the combine, weighed in at 267 lbs. That’s almost 5 lbs a week. Shemar then ran a 4.59 in his 40, 1.58, 10-yard split, 40 Vertical, and 10’11” broad jump. Shemar could not finish the rest of the drills because of a tweaked hamstring after running his 40. Now you would think that with all of those athletic talents, Shemar would be considered as a top-ten pick in this draft. Here is the big problem, Shemar’s college three-year, career stats are; 2022, 11 solo tackles-1.5 sacks, 2023, 5 solo tackles and 1.5 sacks, 2024, 14 solo tackles and you guessed it...1.5 sacks. So, let's add this up, he loses 14 lbs in 3 weeks, tweaks his hamstring, and has a total of, 30 solo tackles and 3.5 sacks...in 3 years of college football. Picture yourself as a scout or GM of a team, and tell me that you have the biggest set of balls to suggest that this Child should be selected in the 1st round of this draft. I watched Shemar on film and he has poor footwork. I watched his one-on-ones at the Senior Bowl and saw improvement in his footwork with better coaching and also saw his speed-to-power explosiveness, and thought to myself, where was that for the last three years? I’m not suggesting that I don’t think that Shemar can be an outstanding Edge Rusher for the team that selects him. What I am saying is that I don’t believe that I could stand on a table and insist a team select him early in this draft. There are too many questions for me about a lack of production and how he lost 14 lbs in three weeks and kept the strength and stamina to jump 40”... then again, I do not have the information teams have on these players and I do not interview them either. Maybe there are logical answers to my logical questions. Talent Grade: 3.00
Jordan Burch ER Oregon
Jordan’s size, length, footspeed, quickness, and change of direction agility, is exactly what teams are looking for athletically, in a Defensive End. He has the athletic talent to be a dominant Defensive Lineman at multiple positions on the defensive line for the team that selects him. That being said, Jordan’s play has not lived up, or been dominant after playing for five years at the college level until his last year at Oregon. At South Carolina, he had to deal with Covid issues, and in 2022 finally broke out with 32 solo tackles but only 3.5 sacks. At Oregon in 2024 he showed improvement in sacks with 8.5 but only 13 solo tackles. So, what’s the deal? Is it a lack of passion for football in general? Maybe it’s difficulty in understanding his assignments or a learning issue like I have. Is it a case of a player trying to do too much and not accomplishing enough? Maybe it’s a situation where a player tried to play through injuries. Or maybe he got double team all the time or teams ran to the other side to stay away from him. Truth is, I don’t know why, with his talent, Jordan struggled to be consistent. All I can tell you is, after looking at his film, I see his potential to dominate but it seems he doesn’t. In the later rounds, Jordan could be a steal. Selecting him in the first three rounds he could be a disappointment or...a steal. I gave Jordan a 3rd round talent grade but you never know what round a player could be selected in. If Jordan’s interviews are good, he might be selected earlier. There are always excuses for a player not playing up to their potential. Maybe in this case those excuses are valid.
Talent Grade: 3.14
Mike Green ER Marshall
Mike has been very productive at the college level. Although he has been an excellent pass rusher, I think his talent to stop the run has been overlooked. Mike has good size, coming into the Senior Bowl at 6’3, 251 lbs. This season he had 17 sacks but also had 38 solo tackles and 3 forced fumbles and those stats along with watching his film show me his ability to get off blocks quickly against the run. That being said what I also saw on film was a lot of poor techniques in his footwork off the line of scrimmage and a lack of speed and explosiveness to finish that will be magnified at the next level until he can correct his footwork. Mike struggles to make secondary moves when pass-rushing. He also struggles running down players away from him and when quarterbacks break the pocket. At the Senior Bowl practices, he was inconsistent and left early. I don’t see Mike being as productive at the next level as he was for the one season, at Marshall’s college competition level. He needs to go to the combine and compete in all areas to show better athleticism than he shows on the field. At least that’s what I see and will be expecting from at this combine.
Talent Grade: 3.67