The hero of the Ohio State Buckeyes’ national championship run, edge rusher Jack Sawyer is riding high heading into the 2025 NFL Draft.
Though he was viewed as a Day 2 prospect in the 2024 class, Sawyer decided to stay in school for another year. After finishing as an All-Big Ten defender and a key part of their championship victory in the 2024 season, it’s clear he made the right choice.
Jack Sawyer’s Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’5″
- Weight: 260 pounds
- Position: Edge Rusher
- School: Ohio State
- Current Year: Senior
Sawyer’s Scouting Report
Born in Columbus, Ohio and raised in Pickerington, Sawyer attended Pickerington High School and starred as a five-star recruit on the football team. He dominated along the defensive line, though he also played quarterback his junior year. He ultimately decided to stay in-state to play college football, committing to Ohio State.
As an early enrollee at Ohio State, Sawyer entered the defensive line rotation as a true freshman in 2021. He finished the year with three sacks, three tackles for a loss, 13 total tackles and a forced fumble.
Sawyer stepped into a bigger role for Ohio State in 2022, as his snap count jumped from 173 the previous year up to 329. His production increased as a result, as he ended up with 4.5 sacks, seven tackles for a loss and 24 total tackles. He played a role in the Buckeyes’ strong defensive line performance, though he got ejected from the Rose Bowl at the end of the season.
With Zach Harrison entering the NFL, Sawyer’s snap count increased as Ohio State had an opening in the starting lineup. He ended the year as a second-team All-Big Ten nominee, increasing his production to 6.5 sacks and 10 tackles for a loss. His pass-rushing pressure count also jumped from 22 the year before to 37.
Though Sawyer had placed himself firmly on NFL Draft radars by the end of the 2023 season, he decided to go back to Ohio State for his senior year. His production continued to get better from year to year, as he ended up with nine sacks, 59 total tackles, seven pass deflections and three forced fumbles. He also recovered three fumbles, returning two of them back for touchdowns.
The biggest moment of Sawyer’s collegiate career came in the 2025 Cotton Bowl, when Ohio State played Texas in a postseason semifinals matchup. With the Longhorns knocking on the door of the end zone to tie the game up in the fourth quarter, Sawyer strip-sacked Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, the two of whom having been roommates at Ohio State in 2021. Sawyer recovered the ball and returned the fumble back 83 yards for a touchdown.
Strengths
- Improved every single year that he was at Ohio State.
- Productive edge rusher at a blue-blood program who’s battle-tested against NFL-caliber competition.
- Well-built defender with a strong, dense frame that aids him at the point of attack.
- Offers good short-area burst and times his jumps well off the line of scrimmage.
- Demonstrates good footwork working across an offensive tackle’s chest on inside rushes.
- Does a good job of keeping his pads low and maximizing his raw power with good weight distribution.
- Strong edge rusher with ideal grip strength setting the edge.
- Has the anchor strength needed to stand his ground at the line of scrimmage and plug up gaps in the run game.
- Showcases impressive instincts against the run, as he has the wherewithal to know when and how to free up his hands to disengage and make the tackle.
- Hand usage continually got better over the course of his career.
- Plays with quick and active hands and isn’t shy to knock an offensive lineman back with a powerful jab.
- Demonstrates a deep arsenal of pass-rushing moves like swims, rips, stabs and cross-chops.
- High-motored player who maximizes his physical attributes by playing to the whistle consistently.
- Keeps his head up as he rushes, looking for opportunities to deflect passes at the line of scrimmage if the situation calls for it.
Weaknesses
- Athleticism isn’t bad, but it’s not particularly elite.
- Closing speed as a defender out in space isn’t tremendous, thus limiting his range in run support in the open field.
- Doesn’t take the most precise angles in pursuit on outside speed rushes.
- Bend is pedestrian for an edge rusher prospect, which could make a projection as a stand-up outside linebacker in a base 3-4 system difficult.
- Doesn’t seem to have particularly elite long arms, which can make it tougher for him to lock out offensive tackles from the inside of his chest upon contact.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
As far as edge rusher evaluations go in the 2025 NFL Draft, there aren’t too many as safe as Jack Sawyer.
Granted, no prospects are a sure-thing to be productive once they jump from the collegiate level to the NFL. That said, Sawyer has the technical know-how, the football instincts, the physicality and the level of effort needed to project as a quality starting edge rusher in the league.
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There are players in this draft class with higher athletic ceilings than Sawyer, which could prevent him from getting selected in the first round. His speed and bend could limit him a bit in the pros, as it did at times in college.
Given his level of production at a Big Ten school and his refined skillset, it would be surprising to see Sawyer fall out of the first two rounds. Teams who draft for upside may look elsewhere, but as far as Day 1-ready contributors go, Sawyer would be a tremendous get in Round 2 of the 2025 NFL Draft.
