Teams can never have too many good pass rushers. Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell know that better than most after the position was decimated by injury this past season.
This year’s NFL Draft is pretty deep with good pass rushers. Teams looking for help in that department should be able to find early contributors well into Day 2.
Top 5 edge rushers to watch at the Combine:
1. Abdul Carter, Penn State, 6-3, 250
Whether or not Carter goes No. 1 is still yet to be determined but he certainly has a chance to be the best player in this class. He’s got speed, power, bend and a good toolbox of pass-rush moves. He recorded 12.0 sacks and 24 tackles for loss this past season for the Nittany Lions.
2. Mykel Williams, Georgia, 6-5, 265
Williams has the kind of size and athletic traits teams love to deploy on the edge. He played through injury this past season and only has 14.0 career sacks. However, he has all the physical traits teams look on the edge for and he’ll impress a lot of teams with his movement skills at the Combine.
3. James Pearce Jr., Tennessee, 6-5, 243
Pearce generated one of the best pass-rush win rates over the last two college football seasons with over 50 pressures in each of the last two years. Tennessee moved him up and down their defensive front, so there’s some position versatility there, and he’s got one of the quickest first steps of any rusher in the class. He had 17.5 sacks and 28 tackles for loss over the last two seasons.
4. Mike Green, Marshall, 6-3, 251
The Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year racked up 17.0 sacks and 23 tackles for loss in 2024. He’s an explosive pass rusher who showed teams at the Senior Bowl he could handle the step up in competition. Some draft analysts thought he was the best player on the field in Mobile. He’s got all the tools to be an immediate impact pass rusher in the NFL.
5. Donovan Ezeiruaku, Boston College, 6-2, 247
Go watch some of his highlights and the way he beats blockers with an array of different pass rush moves – it’s really impressive. He’s a little bit undersized at 6-2 but could find a starter role and be a really good player as a 3-4 outside linebacker or rush SAM linebacker in a 4-3. He notched 16.5 sacks and 21 tackles for loss this past season.
Combine sleeper to watch: Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M, 6-5, 281
Teams will love the size, traits and position versatility with Stewart being able to play on the edge or shift inside in certain rush packages. The thing that stands out to me is the fact that Stewart had just 4.5 sacks in three seasons at A&M. Why so little production with such terrific physical traits?
Lions’ need at the position: High
Detroit gets Aidan Hutchinson back in 2025 after he was lost for the season Week 6 in Dallas due to a broken leg. He was leading the NFL in sacks and pass-rush win rate at the time and was having an MVP-caliber season. That’s a huge addition to Kelvin Sheppard’s defense.
The team also returns veteran Za’Darius Smith, who they got at the trade deadline. He was good down the stretch, and he and Hutchinson should make a formidable one-two punch on the edge.
Marcus Davenport was supposed to be a key figure crashing the pocket from the edge for the Lions this past season but was lost for the year due to injury Week 3. He’s an unrestricted free agent.
Josh Paschal returns for the final season of his rookie contract. He’s strong on the edge and good in the run game but has just 5.0 sacks in 36 career games.
We’ll see if the team brings in veteran help along the edge in free agency, but they can certainly stand to add a young pass rusher in the draft in the first two days. Hutchinson had 7.5 sacks in four and a half games and that ended up leading the team for the season.
In this league it’s always wise to have a good plan and plenty of depth on the edge at one of the most premier positions in football.
Key stat: The Lions had the fourth highest pass-rush win percentage in the NFL last season at 51.6 percent behind only Philadelphia (56.6), Cleveland (53.6) and Pittsburgh (51.9) as their 345 total pressures were second behind only Denver (392).
