- Josaiah Stewart made his case along Michigan’s stacked defensive line: He led the draft class in PFF pass-rush grade and pass-rush win rate on true pass sets in 2024.
- First-round prospects litter the top 10: Abdul Carter and Mike Green, among others, played well on true pass sets this past season.
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Draft Position Rankings
With the 2025 NFL Draft just over a week away, time is dwindling to evaluate the class’ top players.
We already examined the best offensive tackles by run-blocking scheme, and now we turn to the other side of the ball, diving into the best edge defenders on true pass sets by PFF grade.
True pass sets exclude high-noise plays, such as those with three or fewer rushers, play action, screens, short dropbacks or throws released in less than 2 seconds. Those plays can potentially mask offensive line deficiencies or limit elite rushers’ productivity. As such, a true pass set provides a better idea of which edge rushers really are the best at getting to the quarterback. For these rankings, we will focus solely on players listed on PFF’s big board.
Top 2025 NFL Draft Edge Defenders on True Pass Sets in 2024
Josaiah Stewart is a favorite sleeper candidate among draft analysts for good reason. His name tends to get lost in the shuffle among a dominant Michigan defensive line, but he more than proved he belonged alongside Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant. His 41.2% pass-rush win rate on true pass sets in 2024 led all draft-eligible edge defenders, while his 19.4 pass-rush productivity score ranked fourth. His seven sacks tied for the sixth most, too.
It may come as a surprise to many that Penn State’s Abdul Carter didn’t top this list, but second place isn’t too shabby, considering he played significantly more true pass sets than Stewart (175 to 107). Carter still recorded the most pressures on true pass sets (44) while posting top-10 marks in pass-rush win rate (35.1%) and pass-rush productivity score (18.2) in 2024.
Donovan Ezeiruaku was one of the most productive edge rushers in college football on true pass sets. His 196 such plays were the most by any edge defender in this year’s draft and, as a result, he led the class with 12 sacks. The only other edge defender in double figures was Carter, with 10. Ezeiruaku’s nine quarterback hits also tied Jack Sawyer for the most in the class. He finished with 35 pressures on true pass sets. If you’re doing the math at home, 21 of his 35 resulted in the quarterback hitting the ground.
Ohio State had a pair of edge defenders who dominated on true pass sets. While his 83.2 PFF pass-rush grade wasn’t enough to qualify for this list, JT Tuimoloau’s nine sacks on such plays still tied him with Mike Green for the third most. Sawyer did qualify for this list with a 90.7 PFF pass-rush grade and tallied eight sacks on true pass sets this past season. His 43 pressures were one off from Carter’s lead, with Sawyer’s total coming on 10 fewer snaps.
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