Entering the 2024 college football regular season, these are the updated rankings for the edge rusher prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft. There was an abundance of talent in the 2024 class, but the group in 2025 has a chance to achieve superior volume and top-end value.
Way-Too-Early Top 10 EDGE Prospects in 2025 NFL Draft
The 2024 NFL Draft EDGE class should go on to have its fair share of success. Laiatu Latu is poised to produce with the Indianapolis Colts, as is Jared Verse with the Los Angeles Rams. Dallas Turner brings unmatched upside to Minnesota, and Chop Robinson brings similar potential to Miami.
In the NFL, you can’t survive without premier EDGE talent. The 2024 draft offered an opportunity to find that for certain teams. But the 2025 NFL Draft EDGE class could be even deeper and stronger at the top with its blue-chip talent.
10) Ashton Gillotte, Louisville
Quietly, Ashton Gillotte has been one of the top producers off the edge for three college football seasons and counting. He’s amassed 22 sacks and 30.5 tackles for loss since 2021 and is coming off a 2023 campaign in which he accrued 11 sacks and 14.5 TFLs.
At around 6’3″, 270 pounds, Gillotte is an extremely unique edge rusher. He has the compact mass and natural leverage to supplement power, but he’s also explosive and flexible when rushing the arc. Gillotte’s hot motor also ties together his game.
9) Landon Jackson, Arkansas
Landon Jackson had early-round hype from some evaluators in the 2024 NFL Draft cycle, but he chose to return to school for 2025 instead. Consistency is an area where Jackson stands to improve — 3.5 of his 6.5 sacks on the year came in one game last year, albeit against Alabama.
Still, Jackson’s upside is incredibly exciting. At 6’7″, 282 pounds, he has impressive length and lean mass, and he’s unnaturally proficient at bending around the apex for his size. The high-end pass-rushing flashes are inspiring. We just need to see it more often.
8) Jalon Walker, Georgia
Jalon Walker started his career as an inside linebacker, but he could have a more fruitful career as an outside rush LB. Playing more off the edge in 2023, Walker flashed immense promise, and the modern NFL is trending more toward that kind of player.
At 6’2″, 245 pounds, Walker is expectedly undersized, but he carries his weight very well and has a compact speed-to-power element. But what makes him a true mismatch for tackles is his bristling explosiveness and agility and his deadly swim moves inside.
7) Patrick Payton, Florida State
Few 2025 EDGE prospects had the sheer disruptive footprint that Patrick Payton boasted in 2023. Payton logged seven sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss — that was with Verse and Braden Fiske. Payton was also second on the team with 10 pass breakups.
As the pass breakups imply, Payton is absurdly long, with a 6’5″ frame that can channel power and occlude passing lanes. At that size, he’s uncommonly explosive and flexible. He’s now listed at 254 pounds heading into 2024, and that mass could help him take the next step.
6) Dani Dennis-Sutton, Penn State
In the 2024 NFL Draft, the Penn State Nittany Lions had two edge rushers — Robinson (who went in Round 1 to the Miami Dolphins) and Adisa Isaac — go within the top 100 picks. Already, Penn State may have another duo on deck in 2025.
Playing behind Robinson and Isaac in the rotation, Dani Dennis-Sutton flashed in 2023, putting up 3.5 sacks and six TFLs. Now, the 6’5″, 270-pound edge rusher will have a chance to unleash his explosive athleticism, bend, and power in a full-time role.
5) Princely Umanmielen, Ole Miss
Four years at Florida eventually yielded a productive seven-sack, 11.5-TFL campaign for Princely Umanmielen in 2023. Now, the former Gators standout has transferred to Ole Miss, where he’ll attempt to build on his success and potentially break into Round 1.
At around 6’5″, 255 pounds, Umanmielen has impressive size and length, which he pairs with rare initial explosiveness and bend capacity, searing under the arc for sacks. If that’s not enough, he’s also an impressive run defender with his motor and flexibility.
4) James Pearce Jr., Tennessee
Every year, new young talent emerges on the path to the NFL Draft. Ahead of the 2025 cycle, Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr. is the latest EDGE prospect to field Round 1 buzz. After a 10-sack, 14.5-TFL 2023 campaign, he’s firmly on the radar and might only keep rising.
At 6’5″, 242 pounds, Pearce is a bit underweight, and it shows on tape. He has room to keep adding mass to his frame, but Pearce’s first step is truly hyper-elite and not only allows him to channel power with his length but also stress angles immediately off the snap.
3) Nic Scourton, Texas A&M
A low four-star recruit in 2022, Nic Scourton joined the Boilermakers and immediately made an impact on the defensive side of the ball. In 2023, he emerged as an elite pass-rushing threat, amassing 10 sacks and 15 TFLs.
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Scourton will be just 20 years old on draft day if he declares for the 2025 NFL Draft, and he’s already a 6’4″, 280-pound powerhouse with strength, agility, and a working counter arsenal. A year at Texas A&M could take him to even greater heights.
2) Mykel Williams, Georgia
A former five-star recruit, Mykel Williams could be the next Georgia edge rusher to follow in the footsteps of Travon Walker. At 6’5″, 265 pounds, Williams hasn’t yet become an elite producer, but his imprint is always visible on the film.
Williams has the athleticism to rush off the edge from 7-tech and wide-9, but he can also line up inside at 4i with his power and stunt across gaps with searing lateral burst and size-defying torso flexibility. If he can put it together, Williams’ upside is near-unmatched.
1) Abdul Carter, Penn State
For two years, Abdul Carter has been a dominant defensive playmaker at Penn State. Playing as an inside linebacker through 2022 and 2023, he’s amassed 104 total tackles, 16 TFLs, 11 sacks, a pick, nine pass breakups, and three forced fumbles. Now, he’s switching to EDGE.
Micah Parsons comparisons will automatically be drawn across the public, just by virtue of the aesthetic similarities. Carter has a long way to go before he reaches that point — but he at least has the frame, power, and hyper-elite athleticism to potentially follow that arc.
Honorable Mentions
- JT Tuimoloau, Ohio State
- Fadil Diggs, Syracuse
- Gabe Jacas, Illinois
- Tyler Baron, Miami (FL)
- Trey Moore, Texas
- RJ Oben, Notre Dame
- Jordan Burch, Oregon
- Shemar Turner, Texas A&M
- Kaimon Rucker, North Carolina
- Derrick Moore, Michigan
KEEP READING: Top 100 NFL Prospects To Watch in 2025 NFL Draft
Other 2025 NFL Draft Position Rankings
Check out our other way-too-early position rankings for the 2025 NFL Draft:
- Top 10 QBs in the 2025 NFL Draft
- Top 10 RBs in the 2025 NFL Draft
- Top 10 WRs in the 2025 NFL Draft
- Top 10 TEs in the 2025 NFL Draft
- Top 10 IOL in the 2025 NFL Draft
- Top 10 OTs in the 2025 NFL Draft
- Top 10 DTs in the 2025 NFL Draft
- Top 10 LBs in the 2025 NFL Draft
- Top 10 Safeties in the 2025 NFL Draft
- Top 10 CBs in the 2025 NFL Draft