- Josaiah Stewart‘s lack of size may lead to some NFL team getting a steal: Stewart finished this past season with a 93.7 PFF pass-rush grade against true pass sets, which ranked No. 1 in the nation with Penn State’s Abdul Carter at No. 2. Stewart’s 41.2% win percentage against true pass sets was the second-highest mark in the last seven draft classes
- Bradyn Swinson overlooked despite production: In 2024, Swinson earned nine sacks, eight QB hits and 43 hurries on his 313 pass-rushing snaps. Swinson’s pass-rush production really stands out in the 2025 draft class, as he is in the group of top players in nearly every pass-rushing statistic we track at PFF.
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Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
The 2025 NFL Draft is particularly deep with talented defensive edge players. Six of the top 30 players on the PFF big board are edge defenders. This article highlights some players who had high levels of college production but still currently find themselves outside the top 40 prospects on the PFF big board.
Typically speaking, when a college pass-rusher is highly productive but is not drafted in the first round, it is due to NFL teams' concerns about the player's frame (height, weight, arm length) or athleticism.
That was the case with Maxx Crosby coming out of Eastern Michigan. Crosby was a very productive pass-rusher while at Eastern Michigan, earning a combined 18 sacks in his last two seasons. He stood just shy of 6-foot-5 at the combine and weighed 255 pounds, but his weight when he played at Eastern Michigan was in the high 240s. While his height is ideal for an NFL edge rusher, NFL teams thought he was a little on the skinny side, so he fell to the fourth round, enabling the Las Vegas Raiders to land a gem.
The following three players could also end up being successful NFL pass-rushers drafted outside the first round.
Josaiah Stewart, Michigan
Gather around everyone, it’s about time we had the Josaiah Stewart conversation. Stewart isn’t a consensus first-round player on big boards or mock drafts because of his 6-foot and 248-pound frame, but his pass-rush numbers are incredible even from historic perspectives. Stewart is athletic and quick off the snap, which he uses effectively to generate pressures with his outside speed rush or to run inside an over-setting offensive tackle. Stewart’s pass-rush wins are largely due to his speed, but he can also capably convert his speed to power.
Stewart started his college career at Coastal Carolina as a freshman, where he instantly became one of the nation's best pass-rushers. Stewart had 15 sacks and 41 total pressures on his way to making it on the PFF All-True Freshman team. Stewart had a 91.9 PFF pass-rush grade against true pass sets, which ranked No. 4 in the nation, and Stewart’s 26.2 pass-rushing productivity against true pass sets was No. 1 in the nation, just staggering production from a true freshman. After two seasons at Coastal Carolina Stewart transferred to Michigan.
In 2024, Stewart had another incredibly productive pass-rushing season highlighted by his game against USC, which was one of the more dominant pass-rushing games in recent memory. Stewart finished the game with two sacks and five QB hits and a 93.6 pass-rush grade. Stewart also had a very impressive snap where he beat the right tackle and the running back before hitting the quarterback and forcing a fumble.
ED Josaiah Stewart ripping past the RT and RB and knocking the ball loose pic.twitter.com/NYiJVoxq5u
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) February 22, 2025
Stewart finished the season with a 93.7 PFF pass-rush grade against true pass sets, which ranked No. 1 in the nation with Penn State’s Abdul Carter at No. 2. Stewart’s 41.2% win percentage against true pass sets was the second-highest mark in the last seven draft classes, just behind Chase Young and slightly better than Nick Bosa.
David Walker, Central Arkansas
Walker has a different body type than Josaiah Stewart and wins in different ways, but his lack of height is also why he is finding himself outside of the first-round conversation. While the two players are of similar height, Walker’s 6 feet and 267-pound frame is almost 20 pounds heavier than Stewart, and he has more power elements to his game. Walker is built like a wrecking ball, and he uses his lack of height and heavier frame to his advantage to get underneath taller blockers and push them back into the pocket. Walker does win outside with athleticism but often, his wins as a pass-rusher are due to his natural leverage advantage and powerful bull rush.
Walker was a pass-rushing force at the FCS level during his career at Central Arkansas. Walker has posted elite pass-rushing grades — 91.5 in 2022, 90.3 in 2023 and 94.0 in 2024. Over the past three seasons, Walker collected 37 sacks, 17 QB hits and 97 hurries. In 2024, Walker had 12 sacks, six QB hits and 37 hurries, and Walker’s 93.6 PFF pass-rushing grade against true pass sets led all of FCS and ranked No. 2 in the 2025 NFL draft class after the aforementioned Josaiah Stewart.
Walker’s outstanding career production at Central Arkansas garnered him an invite to the Senior Bowl, where he showed he could win consistently against some of the best offensive tackles in the country even without the desired height and length of an NFL edge rusher. During pass rush one-on-ones in Senior Bowl practices, Walker had six dominant wins in just eight reps. Walker followed that up with a sack, a QB hit and four hurries during the Senior Bowl game. While Walker won’t likely be drafted in the first round, he should be able to become a productive NFL edge rusher.
Bradyn Swinson, LSU
Swinson is listed at 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds, and while he could add some more weight to his frame, he is largely getting pushed down draft boards due to how deep this draft class is at the defensive edge position and because his pass-rushing production in college came mostly just in his senior year. Swinson played his first three seasons at Oregon before transferring to LSU.
Swinson was a stand-up edge rusher in college and has the length and athleticism to win multiple ways as a pass-rusher. His quick get-off and long arms are the foundations of his pass-rush wins. In 2024, Swinson earned nine sacks, eight QB hits and 43 hurries on his 313 pass-rushing snaps. Swinson’s pass-rush production really stands out in the 2025 draft class, as he is in the group of top players in nearly every pass-rushing statistic we track at PFF. Swinson’s 41 total pressures against true pass sets ranked No. 1 in the draft class and his 91.7 PFF pass-rush grade against true pass sets ties him at No. 4 in the class. Swinson’s 35.8% pass-rush win percentage against true pass sets ranks him No. 5 in the draft class, and his 19.6 pass-rush productivity rating against true pass sets ranks No. 6.
Swinson was invited to the Senior Bowl, but he didn’t attend. Swinson will no doubt set about putting weight onto his frame after his athletic testing at the combine. If Swinson can add a few pounds and continue building on his productive pass-rushing senior season, he could easily outperform his draft slot in the NFL.
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