There was a recent report floating around from ESPN’s Matt Miller saying people around the league believe the most likely scenario for the Tennessee Titans at No. 11 overall in the 2023 NFL draft is for the team to target an edge rusher.
Despite the obvious needs on offense, it’s pretty clear at that Tennessee’s best chance to compete in 2023 is to field a dominant defense that can prevent these high-powered offenses from running up the score.
Should the Titans decide to go this route, they’re in luck because this is one of the deepest groups of edge rushers in quite some time.
Similarly to the cornerbacks, the consensus currently has 15 edge rushers ranked within the top 100 (tied for most). I also have a matching 15 pass rushers who graded within the top 100 in my personal rankings, although my list definitely differed from the overall consensus at several different spots.
Nonetheless, before we go into all that, it’s time to provide some background information on how everything works for those who need a reminder.
Over the last couple of months, I have evaluated over 150 players in total. This process includes me grading a minimum of three games for each prospect before coming up with my opinions/grades.
More often than not, I would watch at least five or six contests for each prospect before doing an evaluation. Unfortunately, there were some cases where I had trouble getting certain all-22 tapes, so I had to make do.
The way this works is I would evaluate each game I watched individually, and then I averaged those grades into one final film grade worth a total of 20 points.
Example: blue-chip prospects (90 percent or higher) received anywhere from 18-20 points in all likelihood.
Game tape is the only criterion that is worth 20 points on my grading scale, while other areas, such as analytics, athletic score, ceiling/floor, etc., are worth a maximum of 10 points.
Now that all that has been covered, let’s see which edge rushers from this talented class are the true cream of the crop.
1. Will Anderson, Alabama
Quick analysis: Hard not to see him becoming a future All-Pro at some point in the near future.
Overall grade: 95.8 (blue chip)
Consensus rank: No. 1
Relative Athletic Score: N/A
Ceiling projection: Top-five pick
Floor projection: Top-10 pick
2. Tyree Wilson, Texas Tech
Quick analysis: Possesses a rare blend of fluid movement skills, elite physical traits, and an alpha mentality that the entire defense feeds off.
Overall grade: 92.5 (blue chip)
Consensus rank: No. 2
Relative Athletic Score: N/A
Ceiling projection: Top-five pick
Floor projection: Top-10 pick
3. Lukas Van Ness, Iowa
Quick analysis: Versatile, athletic, and long defender who wreaks havoc against the run and pass. Van Ness is a true bull-rushing savant.
Overall grade: 84.9 (first round)
Consensus rank: No. 4
Relative Athletic Score: 9.39
Ceiling projection: Top-10 pick
Floor projection: Late first round
4. Nolan Smith, Georgia
Quick analysis: Incredible athlete who explodes off the snap. Smith is an excellent run defender who possesses tons of untapped potential as a pass rusher.
Overall grade: 82.7 (first round)
Consensus rank: No. 5
Relative Athletic Score: 9.23
Ceiling projection: Top-10 pick
Floor projection: Late first round
5. Myles Murphy, Clemson
Quick analysis: High-ceiling prospect who has tons of work to do from a consistency and technical standpoint but is capable of producing eye-popping splash plays.
Overall grade: 80.2 (first round)
Consensus rank: No. 3
Relative Athletic Score: 9.71
Ceiling projection: Mid-first round
Floor projection: Early second round
6. Will McDonald IV, Iowa State
Quick analysis: Explosive and versatile defender who found a way to impact the game from a variety of different/confusing alignments.
Overall grade: 77.7 (second round)
Consensus rank: No. 6
Relative Athletic Score: 9.67
Ceiling projection: Late first round
Floor projection: Late second round
7. BJ Ojulari, LSU
Quick analysis: Has an ideal build for his position and he combines it with an arsenal of pass-rush moves that is well advanced for someone his age.
Overall grade: 75.4 (second round)
Consensus rank: No. 9
Relative Athletic Score: 4.91*
Ceiling projection: Early second round
Floor projection: Mid-third round
*Note: Ojulari is recovering from a hamstring injury and decided to work out anyway, which likely impacted his RAS.
8. Adetomiwa Adebawore, Northwestern
Quick analysis: Impressive athlete who raised his stock at the combine after confirming everything you saw on tape. Very high ceiling if you can get him to be more instinctive.
Overall grade: 74.9 (second round)
Consensus rank: No. 8
Relative Athletic Score: 9.72
Ceiling projection: Mid-first round
Floor projection: Late second round
9. Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Kansas State
Quick analysis: Capable of playing with a lethal blend of bend and burst that can be difficult to stop whenever he’s on his game.
Overall grade: 69.2 (third round)
Consensus rank: No. 7
Relative Athletic Score: 9.88
Ceiling projection: Mid-second round
Floor projection: Late third round
10. Derick Hall, Auburn
Quick analysis: His tools need some polishing, but Hall has a lot to work with once he learns how to read and react. There are far too many times where he gets caught thinking on his feet, which forces him to play slower than you would prefer.
Overall grade: 68.5 (third round)
Consensus rank: No. 12
Relative Athletic Score: 9.40
Ceiling projection: Late second round
Floor projection: Early fourth round
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