Tom Allen only spent one season in Happy Valley as Penn State’s defensive coordinator, but he, Abdul Carter, and the rest of the coaching staff made a decision that not only drastically altered Carter’s career but the foundation of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Heading into his junior season, Carter was a likely 2025 first-round pick as a linebacker, but once he made the move to defensive end and began to dominate the Big Ten, he shot up draft boards. Now, as the NFL Draft Combine approaches, he appears to be the most coveted player available this spring, not just at edge rusher, but at any position.
Carter is in the mix for the Tennessee Titans, who hold the No. 1 overall pick and is unlikely to fall past the Cleveland Browns at No. 2, who could trade away former No. 1 overall pick Myles Garrett this offseason. But how does the rest of the edge rusher market behind Carter look? Will anyone challenge the St1x C1ty legend for the top spot throughout the draft process? And how big is the gap between Carter are the rest of the position group in the 2025 NFL Draft?
Last year the first defensive player didn’t come off the board until No. 15, but in a class loaded with defense talent and high-quality pass rushers, defensive stars could fill the top of the draft and Carter is the cream of the crop.
Heading into combine season, here are my top five pass rushers in the 2025 NFL Draft, who should all be in consideration in the first round.
He’s only spent one season at defensive end, so Carter is understandably raw at the position, but his physical gifts are next level. Carter’s get-off is remarkable, but even with his slight frame, he doesn’t just win with speed. As a junior at Penn State, he racked up a remarkable 23.5 tackles for loss and 12 sacks with 66 pressures and a pass-rush win rate of 22.8%.
Carter's most impressive game of the season came in the Orange Bowl against Notre Dame when he was severely limited by a shoulder injury he suffered in the Fiesta Bowl win over Boise State. Despite playing with one arm and rushing from the opposite side of the line to protect his injury, Carter posted eight pressures, one sack, and was so obviously the most dominant player on the field.
Unlike Micah Parsons, who made his switch from linebacker to edge rusher in the pros, Carter will be a disruptive force along the defensive line from Day 1. He’s the type of player that opposing offenses will have to gameplan around and that’s rare as a rookie.
Shemar Stewart left the Senior Bowl early after impressing scouts with his rare combination of size and athleticism. It’s no surprise that he was dominant in that venue and has shot up draft boards as a result.
Unlike Carter, who was a highly productive player last season, Stewart recorded just 5.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and amassed only 39 pressures. I’m typically partial to players who have the production to match the measurables, but despite his underwhelming statistical profile, Stewart just jumps off the screen anytime you watch Texas A&M. He’s a physical run defense on the edge with long arms to keep blockers off his body, has the strength to bull-rush offensive tackles right into the lap of the quarterback and while he’s not an elite tactician has a variety of counters off the bull-rush to keep tackles guessing.
Stewart has legitimate positional versatility that may tempt some teams to slide him inside to three-technique, but he’ll likely stay on the edge because there are very few human beings on earth that can do this at 280-something pounds:
Watch the get-off and burst from Shemar Stewart to capture the corner and flatten to the QB.
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) January 29, 2025
The man in 280 pounds.
To quote him after the play: "Don't f-ing play with me! I'm like that!" pic.twitter.com/NxIaGxEowd
Mykel Williams has a fairly similar profile to Travon Walker when Jacksonville fell in love with him in the 2022 draft and he shot up to the No. 1 overall pick. The physical traits outweigh the production, but they’re so enticing that it’s impossible to keep Williams out of the first round. He was limited at times this season by an ankle injury, but once he got healthy he was a problem for opposing offenses and posted a career-high six pressures against Texas in the SEC Championship Game.
His physical traits give him a high ceiling as a pass-rusher, but heading into the league Williams is more impactful against the run. He uses his long arms to stack blockers, control their leverage, and effectively shed them to fill the run lane. He has the size to move inside for pass-rush downs as a three-tech in a NASCAR package, but he’ll be a reliable every-down edge who could turn into a star if he develops as a pass-rusher.
In terms of getting after the quarterback, I’m actually partial to Georgia linebacker Jalon Walker, who some have listed as an edge, but others as an off-ball backer in this class. Walker would be my No. 2 edge, but I’ve left him off this list because he may not have the size to play along the defensive line consistently in the NFL.
There aren’t very many questions about Pearce’s ability to get after the quarterback. The Tennessee junior racked up 55 quarterback pressures, the 12th most in the country with a 23% pass-rush win rate, which was third-best behind Michigan edge rushers Josaiah Stewart and Derrick Moore, and just ahead of Carter.
Pearce uses his rare combination of length and speed to get offensive tackles off-balance, regularly winning with speed to the outside shoulder or working back inside with a euro-step move. He’ll be able to win as a pass rusher in the NFL which will land him in the first round, but there are questions about if he’ll play first down at the next level.
At just over 240 pounds, Pearce can get pushed around in the run game and there are reasonable concerns about his ability to set the edge with power. I’m banking on Pearce’s athleticism and pass-rush repertoire to win out in the end, but he’s a spot behind Williams because I’m certain that the Georgia edge can stay on the field for all three downs, even if I worry about him hitting his ceiling as a pass rusher.
The ACC Defensive Player of the Year is only 6-foot-2 247 pounds and without great length, he can get engulfed by bigger offensive tackles and at times struggles in the run game. Against Missouri, Ezeiraku was unable to consistently set a hard edge, so he gambled, looking to penetrate aggressively on stretch runs, which at times led to big runs if he guessed wrong.
However, if a player like Ezeiraku trusts the talent around him more at the next level, those attempts at splash plays could easily be cleaned up which would leave you with a physical, high-effort edge rusher, with active and heavy hands who had elite production at the college level.
The Boston College star finished sixth in the country in pressures and racked up 16.5 sacks with over 20 tackles for loss. The measurables may not jump off the page, but he’s just a very good football player who will find a way to succeed in the NFL.