Nic Scourton is one of the most fascinating prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Purdue-turned-Texas A&M pass rusher entered the season as a potential EDGE1 candidate and left as arguably the second-best outside pass rusher on his own team. What does he offer on his scouting report, and how soon should he hear his name called in April?
Nic Scourton’s Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’4″
- Weight: 280 pounds
- Position: EDGE
- School: Texas A&M
- Current Year: Junior
Scourton’s Scouting Report
Strengths
- Built like a refrigerator
- Dense, proportioned build with an outstanding center of gravity
- Legitimate bend at 280
- Will be even more impressive when unencumbered by shedding 15 pounds of unnecessary body fat
- Active hands and a plethora of pre-planned rush moves in the repertoire
- Floating chop-rip to win outside
- Incredibly impressive inside spin
- Converts speed to power well
- Fluidity and violence to cross face and rip through on inside rushes
- Flashes Eurostep to out-leverage offensive tackles and win outside track
- Simply outrageous explosiveness, suddenness, and fluidity for his size
- Willingness to gain unnecessary weight for team preference
- Youth (only 20 on draft night)
- Smooth to transition weight in pursuit
- Flashes dominant inside long arm to set the edge
Weaknesses
- Hand timing and accuracy could use fine-tuning
- Must improve plan versus tackles who can combat his natural reach
- Powerful but could stand to use power elements more often
- Heavy lean leads to easy snatch-and-trap situations
- Carried unnecessary excess weight for Mike Elko in 2024
- Lost explosiveness displayed in 2023
- Average reactive explosiveness to close distance to runners
- Inconsistent run processor who is too easily washed out when over his skis
Summary and Draft Projection
Scourton might be the most aesthetically pleasing pass rusher in the class. He’s wise beyond his years regarding his arsenal of rush moves, and his well-developed frame is NFL-ready despite only being 20. Unfortunately, playing for Elko and gaining unnecessary weight for the 2024 season likely hurt his NFL Draft stock.
The good news is he almost certainly won’t be 280 pounds by the time the NFL Scouting Combine rolls around, and he shouldn’t play anywhere near that weight at the NFL level. At a more “natural” weight of around 265 pounds, Scourton would still offer a steady base as an edge setter while slightly improving his initial get-off and bend.
That bend at his density is a thing to behold. It doesn’t come with the same burst as James Pearce Jr. or Abdul Carter, but his ankles allow him to run under the table, and his hips hinge smoothly to soften rush angles while his hands dissect blocks through an offensive tackle’s outside shoulder.
If he becomes more consistent as a run defender, Scourton could be one of the league’s best dual-threat defensive end/outside linebackers in the league. His fluidity and manipulative nature as he closes the gap on blockers makes him a weapon on interior rushes as well, making him a prime candidate to move about the formation on obvious passing downs to find matchups to exploit.
His bend also makes him a prime candidate for being the assault element in defensive line games. He can easily slide behind a crashing interior defender and threaten a guard’s inside shoulder on a direct path to the quarterback.
The only real question becomes whether or not Scourton has the natural explosive potential to be one of the league’s best pure pass rushers or if he’ll be destined for a DeMarcus Lawrence-level career as a rusher. That’s certainly nothing to scoff at, but is it worth top-15 draft capital?
