School: Kansas State

Position: EDGE

Year: Junior

The Good: Felix Anudike-Uzomah (FAU) leaves Kansas State early as an uber productive pass rusher (19.5 sacks across 2021-2022, Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year). FAU can basically get to opposing QBs however he wants; he has active hands and a multitude of developed rush moves to get around OTs, and he can knock OTs to the ground too when he charges up. For his thick build. FAU can turn a tight corner and has enough lateral quickness. He’s plenty strong with pop in his hands and a good lower half that allows him to progress towards QBs and ball carriers through heavy blocking. FAU has one of the best motors in this EDGE class and generates pressure as consistently as anyone else too.

The Bad: I mentioned that FAU has a good, thick build – and that’s true – but he is on the smaller side for a down lineman at 6’3”, 255lbs. He has the measurables that better suit a stand-up EDGE who gets after QBs from a wide alignment, but FAU is definitely best as a traditional 4-3 DE. FAU doesn’t hold his ground well enough against the run yet, and he needs improvement as a consistent gap filler. Though he’s quick and bendy enough, FAU doesn’t bring high-end pure speed to the table, and he has a slower get-off too. 

The Bottom Line: So far in this write-up, FAU’s profile sounds similar to that of other EDGE prospects that I’ve already covered: good pass rusher with some flaws and a poor run defender. There’s some truth to that, but I hold a higher opinion of FAU. One, he’s a great pass rusher who’s remarkably refined for a 21 year-old, and I think many within the Draft community are underselling his natural tools. I also loved how competitive and productive FAU remained during his junior season when he faced increased attention from opposing offenses and constant double teams. Two, FAU isn’t much of a run defender yet but I think he can get there with time and more coaching; he has the right stuff to hold his own. Put that all together and you have an extremely young, productive, and high energy EDGE prospect who’s potentially elite against the pass and solid against the run? That sounds like a player 32 of 32 teams would be interested in to me.

Also, one more quick thing: I know the recent history of Big 12 defensive prospects in the NFL Draft is terrible, but that conference has gotten way tougher in recent years and FAU was plenty good enough against Missouri and Tulane in 2022.

Grade: Late First Round / Early Second Round

Pro Comp: Jerry Hughes

Games Watched:

• TCU 2021
• Missouri 2022
• Oklahoma 2022
• Texas Tech 2022
• Oklahoma State 2022

Plays That Matter [LINK]

School: LSU

Position: EDGE

Year: Junior

The Good: BJ Ojulari is a plus athlete at EDGE who’s long and bendy; he looks like he was born to play at OLB in a 3-4 scheme. Like his older brother, Azeez Ojulari of the Giants, BJ is a crafty and unpredictable pass rusher with good burst and first steps off the snap. Ojulari beats blockers with quick hands, which also keep him afloat in run defense. He’s a smart player with consistently strong effort, and Ojulari has enough versatility to hang and win from the interior on clear passing downs. He can even cover a little bit too.

The Bad: The downside to being a pass rusher who’s more crafty than twitchy is that Ojulari’s pursuits of the QB are too often out of control. With the quality of offensive linemen about to spike as Ojulari enters the NFL, he’ll need to play with his hands and body in better unison as he loses an athletic edge up on his competition. There isn’t much leg driven power to Ojulari’s pass rush either; he’ll probably be advised to gain 5-10 pounds upon entering the league. Ojulari isn’t a terrible run defender, but he’s generally weak stacking up against the run. His pad level is inconsistent and he just isn’t as strong as the typical pro EDGE yet. 

The Bottom Line: While BJ isn’t as good of a prospect as Azeez was – who fell to Round 2 of the 2021 Draft with some medical concerns – I like this Ojulari brother too and have some confidence that he won’t flame out in the NFL; he’s talented and dedicated enough to have a career. He’s just really young entering the Draft, both literally as a newly 21 year-old and on the field as a player still in the midst of his development. Ojulari runs hot-and-cold right now with his game performances; he looked dominant against Mississippi State but was a complete non-factor against Alabama. I have a hunch that Ojulari will be a more productive player on his second contract than his rookie contract. But as for now, he’s not a special enough prospect to spend a Round 1 pick and live with the growing pains as he works towards his football ceiling. 

Grade: Late Second Round / Early Third Round

Pro Comp: Uchenna Nwosu

Games Watched:

• Texas A&M 2021
• Mississippi State 2022
• Tennessee 2022
• Alabama 2022

Plays That Matter [LINK]

School: Iowa State

Position: EDGE

Year: Redshirt Senior

The Good: Aside from his relatively slender weight of 240lbs, McDonald looks like he was created in a lab for pass rushers. He somehow has 35” arms despite average height, and his broad jump of 11’ ranks within the Top 10 all-time for EDGE prospects. He’s a total specimen, and his tools translated to on-field production at Iowa State with 34 sacks across his 4+ seasons with the Cyclones. McDonald is explosive off the edge and has great bend around the corner, and he has a strong knack to strip QBs too (10 forced fumbles in his college career). With agile hands and feet, McDonald possesses an advanced set of rush moves for an EDGE just entering the NFL.

The Bad: It’s a good thing that McDonald is such an advanced pass rusher, because he offers next-to-nothing as a run defender. I know that’s harsh, but McDonald just really isn’t cut out for it at the NFL level. ISU didn’t even include him in goal line and heavier personnel packages. His pad level is inconsistent and it looks like he uses everything in his power just to sustain a typical run block on the edge. If he gets locked up in a block, nothing good is coming after that. McDonald needs more consistency as a pass rusher too; a high percentage of his attempts don’t register even close to pressures. You usually like to see high-end speed and power from an EDGE prospect entering the Draft, but McDonald doesn’t really have either.

The Bottom Line: The good news for Will McDonald is that there exists a clear-cut role on NFL rosters that perfectly aligns with his skillset. The bad news is that role is one of a specialist, which alone just about disqualifies McDonald from Round 1 consideration in my book. He’s also going to turn 24 before Week 1 of the next NFL season, and he didn’t exactly dominate as a super senior in the Big 12. (Though McDonald did look dominant at the Senior Bowl.) If McDonald continues to discover and perfect niche rush moves that allow him to win against all types of OTs, then he could have a surprisingly long career. But if this current version of him is the final version of his football development, then it could be a quick NFL stint.

Grade: Late Second Round / Early Third Round

Pro Comp: Bruce Irvin

Games Watched:

• Kansas State 2021
• Clemson 2021
• Baylor 2022
• Texas 2022
• TCU 2022
• Senior Bowl

Plays That Matter [LINK]

School: Georgia

Position: EDGE

Year: Senior

The Good: Nolan Smith is a phenomenal athlete – if his 40-yard dash time of 4.39 seconds at 238lbs didn’t give that away. Smith plays to his athleticism too; you can probably count the amount of prospects on one hand who have put pass rush and coverage reps on tape as good as Smith’s. And the crazy thing is that those aren’t even the strengths of Smith’s game: he’s an incredible run defender. Smith has absurd lower body strength and contact balance – he’d routinely face linemen who outweighed him by nearly 100 pounds and I literally did not see him hit the ground once – and from there he’s masterful at shedding and splitting blocks. Smith always wins the pad level battle and he has very quick and active hands. As a pass rusher, Smith is twitchy with good footwork, and he’ll enter the NFL with some developed rush moves already in his arsenal.

The Bad: Smith is one of the more well-rounded prospects in this Draft, though there is more projection to his pass rush than the other phases of his game. Part of that is because of Georgia’s laughable dominance and depth that would keep Smith out of the rotation on some passing downs, but he does have personal room for improvement too. Despite his speed, Smith’s get-off is often delayed and should be better synced with snap timings. Smith just needs more ferocity as a pass rusher in general too; even if he’s not running through anyone at his size, Smith should be better at finishing than his quantifiable production at Georgia: 12.5 sacks in 63 career games.

The Bottom Line: I’m a massive Nolan Smith fan, and even if it’s his Combine performance that’s rocketing him up Draft boards when his tape warranted that beforehand – so be it. His skillset is unique and dynamic enough to predict 100% snap counts in the NFL, likely best in the old-school mold of a 4-3 OLB but more than fine as a modern-day EDGE as well. It seems like Micah Parsons is going to become one of those impossible-standard names that scouts and analysts say “he’s the next [blank]” about for years to come, and yet, just two years after Parsons’ Draft, Smith is actually a decent candidate. I wouldn’t go that far, mainly because Smith won’t induce fear as a pass rusher in the way that Parsons does, but Smith could have a similar type of all-around impact as the do-it-all tone setter of a good defense. 

Grade: Top 10 Pick

Pro Comp: Joey Porter

Games Watched:

• Clemson 2021
• Kentucky 2021
• Oregon 2022
• South Carolina 2022
• Missouri 2022

Plays That Matter [LINK]

School: Iowa

Position: EDGE

Year: Redshirt Sophomore

The Good: Lukas Van Ness is nicknamed “Hercules” for good reason; he has tremendous size, length, and power. Van Ness’ brute strength is among the tops in this class across all position groups, so naturally his charged-up bull rush is pretty insane. He’s twitchy for his size, which provides Van Ness with immediate flexibility to beat OGs along the interior, and he has a decent set of skills on the EDGE for a defensive end with relatively minimal experience playing there.

The Bad: With a bull rush as commonly dominant as Van Ness’, he is naturally dependent on it and that can make preparation easy for OTs across from him – especially the good ones. Van Ness also isn’t particularly explosive or bendy, so there isn’t much fear of him turning the corner and winning reps that way. Van Ness is also a pretty brutal run defender at this early stage of his football journey. He really struggles to maintain his gaps, gets stuck on blockers, and doesn’t stand his ground well enough for his size. He won’t be playable on early downs in the NFL as a rookie. 

The Bottom Line: Van Ness is a weird evaluation because he’s so damn young and the amount of quality game tape available of him is just far less than most other prospects. Van Ness definitely could have used more seasoning in college, but I don’t fault him for getting the hell out of Iowa after they played him mostly at DT as a redshirt freshman then didn’t even start him as a sophomore. I will say though, as outdated as Kirk Ferentz’ program is, it’s understandable why Van Ness would hit the bench for extended periods at times. His most shining reps also did come from the interior, even if he’s more consistent with a more promising future at EDGE. Van Ness is a great talent, even if he’s not as special as some are making him out to be; don’t ignore his lackluster performances in the jumping drills. Whatever team drafts him better have a ton of patience and enough security to roll the dice.

Grade: Late First Round / Early Second Round

Pro Comp: Solomon Thomas – Carlos Dunlap

I’m cheating a bit with a range for Van Ness’ comparison, partly because he just hasn’t played that much ball yet and partly because I don’t feel great about one specific comp for him. Entering the league, I project Van Ness as a DE/DT tweener who struggles against the run with a power-driven pass rush plan that doesn’t work as effectively in the pros – which sounds like the career of Solomon Thomas. But if Van Ness does develop into a stronger and more well-rounded player, I could see him becoming a long, pocket-collapsing DE along the lines of Carlos Dunlap.

Games Watched:

• Kentucky 2021
• Iowa State 2022
• Michigan 2022
• Ohio State 2022

Plays That Matter [LINK]

School: Clemson

Position: EDGE

Year: Junior

The Good: Even before getting into his tape, Myles Murphy is an impressive prospect on paper. A former five-star recruit, Murphy checks in at 6’5”, 268lbs with nearly 34” arms. And then the tape is pretty sweet too! Murphy has a rare combination of top-flight burst and power, and with good bend too he’s proven that he can either go through or around just about any OT. Murphy has the most developed arsenal of pass rush moves of the EDGE prospects that I’ve evaluated to date, and some of them are truly legit. Murphy has the makings of an elite run defender too. He plays physical and sets an extremely firm edge. Murphy also is a hyper aware and instinctual player with a great motor.

The Bad: Murphy is pretty exclusively a DE in the traditional mold, as he’s not as natural from a stand-up position nor lined up inside in a gap. When Clemson did try to add some versatility to Murphy’s profile by experimenting with him in looks closer to a 3-4 DE, Murphy could give up too much ground at the point of attack. He’s also not particularly slippery, so he’s not the type to sidestep a guard in the half-second following the snap; just about every pass rush from Murphy involves heavy contact before he threatens pressure. Murphy’s pad level isn’t necessarily a concern, but he can stand to get more consistent with it and weed out reps of attacking too high from his game.   

The Bottom Line: Myles Murphy is a really good prospect, and I’m disappointed to see his stock apparently fall as many top insiders around the NFL continue to drop him down in mock drafts; Mel Kiper didn’t even include Murphy in Round 1 in his most recent version. I guess I somewhat get it…Murphy isn’t as flashy as a TJ Watt or as versatile as a JJ Watt. But this is a dude with proven production, no-doubt NFL size and traits, and a birthdate in 2002! Murphy’s Draft process has some similarities to that of George Karlaftis’ from one year ago, who fell to Pick 30 then proceeded to become a regular player on the Chiefs’ Super Bowl winning team. If Murphy isn’t spicy enough and has truly fallen out of favor with many teams around the league, then there’s going to be one lucky team in the back half of Round 1 that lands a Day 1 starter at DE with serious upside. 

Grade: Mid First Round

Pro Comp: Bradley Chubb

Games Watched:

• Georgia 2021
• Boston College 2021
• Wake Forest 2021
• NC State 2022
• Florida State 2022
• Syracuse 2022

Plays That Matter [LINK]

School: Texas Tech

Position: EDGE

Year: Redshirt Senior

The Good: Tyree Wilson, to put it scientifically, is a freakazoid. At 6’6”, 271lbs with 35.625” arms and a Top 5 wingspan on record across all NFL Draft prospects (granted, wingspan measurements only go back a few years), Wilson is the definition of a “get off the bus” prospect. Wilson has proven on tape that he can overwhelm offensive linemen with his incomparable length and sheer size; his forced fumble against Kansas State was one of the most impressive plays of the college football season. Wilson has plenty of raw upper body strength, and he can contort his body to dip and bend well for a player of his stature. When there is nobody between Wilson and his target, he bursts with good closing speed too. 

The Bad: I specify that Wilson has “closing speed” because he doesn’t play with much general speed; I think he’s actually lucking out with his foot injury because he showed up to the Combine to get measured and then opted out of all movement-based testing drills. Wilson isn’t smooth in his change of direction either, and he lacks explosion around the edge. Wilson’s explosiveness altogether is a huge concern; his get-off is really slow from every alignment and from there he plays top heavy without much leg drive. That doesn’t help him out defending the run, where Wilson is more likely to make a splashy run stop than routinely set a hard edge or stand up the blocker in front of him. His DC in the NFL will almost be starting from scratch with Wilson’s hand usage, and he’s not the surest tackler either.  

The Bottom Line: I am…mystified by Tyree Wilson’s apparent Draft stock. Like on face level, this dude is about to turn 23, is nursing a broken foot, and had his breakout season as a fifth-year senior. And then I don’t even really like the tape from that season! From a standpoint of measurables, is Tyree Wilson a unique prospect? Absolutely; I already mentioned the wingspan tidbit. But from the standpoint of production – which is obviously more important – I feel like there are a few of these monstrous DE/DT hybrid types available every year now either by way of the Draft or free agency. And in recent Draft history, they haven’t panned out too well! (Looking at you, Payton Turner.) I don’t even like writing up Tyree Wilson as an EDGE because I barely view him that way anymore, and I think any team that drafts him with hopes of landing the next Chandler Jones will be disappointed. There is certainly value in having a player in your DL rotation who can take some snaps outside on early downs then kick inside to mismatch IOL players on every passing down, but in the Top 10 of the Draft?! Part of me is almost hoping that the chatter of Wilson going as high as Pick 3 to Arizona is a smokescreen; remember when Jermaine Johnson was getting projected to the Jets at Pick 4 as recently as the week of the Draft last year? (He went 26th and the Jets traded up for him.) I think Tyree Wilson can have a nice career, even with some serious development required in his immediate future, but man…the “bust” potential is uncomfortably high for me.

Grade: Second Round

Pro Comp: Charles Omenihu

Games Watched:

• Oklahoma 2021
• Mississippi State 2021
• Houston 2022
• NC State 2022
• Texas 2022
• Kansas State 2022

Plays That Matter [LINK]

School: Alabama

Position: EDGE

Year: Junior

The Good: Anderson is one of the more famous defensive players in recent college football history, and you don’t rack up 34.5 career sacks plus a Top 5 Heisman Trophy finish without a ton of game to back up the fame. Anderson is a hyena on a football field, playing with a relentless motor and violently shedding the blocks of anyone who gets between him and the QB or ballcarrier. Anderson has dynamite closing speed and shows great burst coming off the edge, and he packs plenty of pop in his hands to go along with his explosiveness. Anderson shoots through any glimmer of light that opens up in a gap on the offensive line, and he has the quick feet to sidestep any obstacles in his path. Despite weighing in on the lighter end for EDGE prospects, Anderson is tremendous against the run – particularly as a backside run defender – and he’s far more stout aligned as a traditional DL than his size suggests. Anderson has the contact balance to stand up any lineman, and he’s twitched up enough to destroy any IOL who’s tasked with blocking him on a passing play. As a pass rusher, Anderson’s instincts shine in his ability to quickly attack the weak shoulders of leaning OTs. 

The Bad: Sticking with Anderson’s pass rushing, it currently exists with a relatively shocking lack of refinement given his experience. His pash rush plan is too heavily composed of speed-to-power right now, and when Anderson attempts to add wrinkles into his rushes he’s typically slow to get into them. Once Anderson is locked into OTs, he’ll never stop driving his legs but Anderson doesn’t showcase much in the way of skill-based counters. Anderson is tight-hipped too, so while he can burn around the edge he’s not the type to bend around it. Anderson’s size isn’t an issue per se – as I wrote earlier – but he’s not much of a people-mover and he can get himself into trouble engaging with larger OLs.

The Bottom Line: Will Anderson, still 21 years old, is an extremely productive, skilled, and high-effort prospect at a premium position. There isn’t too much to opine about him; he’s a surefire pick for the top half of Round 1 in any NFL Draft. I will say that Anderson isn’t a perfect prospect per my grading; I actually had a slightly higher grade on Kayvon Thibodeaux last year. But he’s scheme proof with a high floor and high ceiling, and for that reason he reminds me of Aidan Hutchison from a year ago – even if they are stylistically different from one another. Detroit did the right thing taking Hutchinson at Pick 2 last year; we’ll see who makes the same good call on Anderson.

Grade: Top 10 Pick

Pro Comp: Terrell Suggs

Games Watched:

• Georgia 2021
• Cincinnati 2021
• Georgia 2021 (National Championship Game)
• Texas 2022
• Texas A&M 2022
• Tennessee 2022
• LSU 2022

Plays That Matter [LINK]

School: Louisiana (2019-2021), Florida (2022)

Position: OG

Year: Senior

The Good: Torrence is a wide and heavy man at the OG position, and he’s as tough for defensive linemen to get around as his 330lbs weight suggests. He’s an OG only but Torrence has the build of an OT, right down to his nearly 34” arms (96th percentile wingspan) that he utilizes well. The strength of Torrence’s game is his literal strength, especially in his vicegrip hands that are some of the largest ever measured at the Combine. Torrence comes into the Draft battle tested and he’s got a nasty streak in his play style too; there should be minimal concerns about his adaptability to the NFL.

The Bad: Torrence is plainly a mediocre athlete at a position where athleticism transfers far better from college to the NFL than one might think, and it’s particularly apparent in his tape that he lacks both high-end quickness and explosion. His lackluster performances in relevant Combine drills would make Torrence a historical outlier as a high draft pick with his testing results. Torrence is plenty capable in solo protection lined up across from one defender, but he didn’t work as well in tandem with his RTs when defenses would throw combined pass rush looks at the both of them. Torrence naturally is not at his best working in tight spaces either.

The Bottom Line: It’s typically a good thing when prospects hit the NFL Draft with extensive experience already beneath their belts, but it’s a tad concerning in Torrence’s case because he’s an athletically limited player who was more reliable than dominant on tape. Granted I only watched one game of Torrence’s tape from his 2021 junior season with the Ragin’ Cajuns, but I figured he’d be more of a bulldozer against Sun Belt competition. At 23 years old, it’s fair to surmise that Torrence is maxed out. I also wish I felt more optimistic about his scheme versatility at the NFL level, but even his transfer to a better conference didn’t appease concerns considering that Torrence followed Billy Napier and his OL-friendly offense to Florida. Don’t get me wrong: Torrence was legitimately a great lineman at both Louisiana and Florida, but the consensus OG1 in a Draft class is typically a more well-rounded prospect than him. 

Grade: Third Round

Pro Comp: Larry Warford

Games Watched:

• Appalachian State 2021
• Utah 2022
• Georgia 2022
• Senior Bowl

Plays That Matter [LINK]

School: Ohio State

Position: OT

Year: Senior

The Good: Jones is truly as big as it gets. His 6’8”, 374lbs frame is eye-popping on tape, but perhaps more stunning is his arm length of 36.375” – Top 10 for OL going back to at least 2011 – and hand size of 11.625” – Top 3 among OL prospects in the same time frame. Jones maximizes his wingspan and has the grip strength that you’d expect from mitts of his dimensions. Jones isn’t exactly a ballerina in cleats but he’s more nimble for his size than I was ready for, which shows up in pass protection and his capable downfield blocking. Jones is a stronger combo blocker too and is a proven finisher.

The Bad: If Dawand Jones had impressive balance then we might be talking about the second coming of Jonathan Ogden here, but that’s certainly not the case. Jones finds himself on the ground a ton by the end of plays. A lot of the aforementioned positives about Jones can be accompanied with a “yeah, but…” Like, Jones possesses insane length but can be too dependent on it, and he’s more light-footed than expected but is still quite slow and lacks burst off the snap. Jones also doesn’t really play up to his weight, in the sense that he doesn’t redirect guys in the run game nor hold his ground versus powerful pass rushers as well as I would’ve thought. Jones developed into one of the better pass protectors in the Big 10 but the gaps in his repertoire – vulnerability to inside quickness, too much hop in his sets, etc. – will be hit with a magnifying glass at the NFL level.

The Bottom Line: For a dude who tipped the scales and maxed out the tape measures in record fashion, I actually view Dawand Jones as one of the more straightforward prospects in this class. Jones isn’t much alike to Mekhi Becton as a prospect from three years ago, given that Becton dropped jaws with his Combine performance in a way that Jones didn’t even approach; it shouldn’t be overlooked that Jones’ 10-yard split time of 1.92 seconds is REALLY bad. But at the same time, Jones hits the Draft as a more refined OT than even Becton and certainly more than other recent behemoths like Daniel Faalele. (Jones looked dominant in limited action at the Senior Bowl.) His outlier size will naturally come along with plenty of penalties and injury scares, but Jones is Day 1 ready for the NFL at either left or right tackle and it’s a safe projection that he’ll be good-not-great at it. 

Grade: Second Round

Pro Comp: Trent Brown

Games Watched:

• Purdue 2021
• Notre Dame 2022
• Iowa 2022
• Michigan 2022
• Senior Bowl

Plays That Matter [LINK]