The 2027 NFL Draft EDGE class still has one more season left to play, and already, the group appears as though it might be an upgrade over the 2026 crop.
The 2026 EDGE class wasn’t without its highlights, of course. Rueben Bain Jr. was a hero of the College Football Playoff in 2025 and an eventual first-round pick along with his teammate Akheem Mesidor. David Bailey went second overall to the New York Jets, Keldric Faulk filled out the first, and seven more names earned Day 2 capital.
But there was also a clear drop-off early on in the 2026 EDGE group, and a lack of volume in the middle and late rounds. The class left onlookers searching for a more resounding top flight of blue-chip talent, as well as more depth later on. The 2027 class could solve both issues.
Already, Colin Simmons and Dylan Stewart are in a duel for the top EDGE spot and a top-three overall ranking in the 2027 NFL Draft class, but even beyond them, the upcoming EDGE group appears to have massive potential, with risers like Adam Trick, Anto Saka, and others in the mix. Over two dozen names could factor in when all is said and done, but as it stands, here are my way-too-early top-10 EDGE prospects in the 2027 NFL Draft.
10) Adam Trick, Texas Tech
Adam Trick is a mid-round EDGE prospect with early-round potential in the 2027 NFL Draft, if he can effectively make the transition from the MAC to the Power 4.
Trick began his career as a three-star off-ball linebacker recruit in 2022 and redshirted in 2022 before serving primarily as a special teamer in 2023. In 2024, Trick made the switch to the edge and showed promise in a rotational role, racking up 4.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss.
In 2025, he broke out as an elite producer at the lower-conference level. He amassed 8.5 sacks, 12.5 TFLs, 1 interception, 4 pass breakups, and 3 forced fumbles, as well as an incredible PFN DL Impact score of 96.4 and a strong pressure rate of 17.4%.
Now having transferred to Texas Tech, Trick’s stock could be catapulted on a defensive line that was one of the best in the nation in 2025. At a leaner 6’4″, 250 pounds, Trick is close to average size on the edge, with middling length, but his athleticism, bend, and motor proved to be overwhelming for MAC offensive lines more often than not in 2025.
Trick boasts elite first-step explosion and long-track acceleration off the edge. He’s an extremely natural reducer and cornering threat with high-level bend and ankle flexion, and he already boasts near-elite pass-rush execution just two years into his career as a full-time EDGE.
Trick brings a vast rush arsenal and elite angle IQ to the fold, and can beat tackles with a variety of arc-running rip combos, forklift-swims, inside counters, and explosive-aided power.
Meanwhile, in run defense, his off-ball background grants him keen gap intelligence and processing ability, and he has the athleticism, fluidity, and playmaking range to drop into the flats or into middle-field coverage and pose as a threat.
Having said all this, Trick still has questions to answer. His middling length saps his knockback power on full extensions, and while he has an above-average power element, his power sustain can be inconsistent against stronger opponents. To that end, he still has room to improve his play strength, power resistance, and leverage in run defense.
Trick’s slight limitations with strength and power may serve as schematic funnels, but as an odd and hybrid-front wide-alignment rusher with tantalizing pass-rushing upside and role versatility, Trick has impact starter potential and can be an immediate rotational catalyst.
9) Anthony Smith, Minnesota
Anthony Smith is a potential early-round EDGE prospect in the 2027 NFL Draft, with a unique physical skill set and inbuilt value across schemes.
Smith joined the Golden Gophers as a four-star recruit, and after preserving his redshirt in 2022, he began to see more reps in the team’s defensive line rotation. In 2024, Smith emerged as a full-time starter and caught eyes with his production, accruing 6 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss across 13 games.
In 2025, Smith reprised that role, stacking up 17.5 TFLs and a Big Ten-leading 12.5 sacks. Smith’s PFSN EDGE Impact grade of 78.5 stood out as above-average, and he earned a pressure rate of 11.4%, while allowing just 1.41 yards per run stop.
At 6’6″, 285 pounds, Smith certainly passes the eye test. He’s tall, long, and impressively built, with excellent lean mass and overall proportions. As one might expect, his power profile is formidable.
He excels at acquiring leverage and playing with bend at his size, and when he’s properly aligned and fully extended, he can puncture gaps, cave in the pocket, plow blockers into the passer, and reset the contact point in the run game.
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Smith has a high floor as an alignment-diverse EDGE presence with stand-up and strong-side capabilities, and his ceiling is compelling, too. He has very good explosiveness, agility, and flexibility for his size.
Having said all this, Smith still has room to keep growing. His pass-rush arsenal is relatively raw, without a consistent counter game, and his power sequencing on bull-rushes and long-arms can be more consistent as well. Additionally, for all his natural strength, Smith can still add a bit more mass to his lower body to better stave off combo blocks, and he doesn’t have an elite speed element off the edge.
Nevertheless, as a versatile EDGE with utility from 5-tech, 7-tech, and as a situational player at 4i and 3-tech, Smith has quality starter potential in hybrid schemes.
8) Yhonzae Pierre, Alabama
Yhonzae Pierre is a scheme-specific EDGE prospect with early-round upside in the 2027 NFL Draft. A highly-touted five-star recruit, Pierre redshirted with the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2023 and played sparingly in 2024, but broke out in 2025 with 8 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss.
Along the way, he achieved a PFSN EDGE Impact grade of 77.9, as well as a strong pressure rate of 18%. At around 6’3″, 253 pounds, with close to average proportional length, Pierre doesn’t have an overwhelming size profile. Nonetheless, Pierre boasts several eye-catching physical components, chief among them his explosive, springy, and nimble short-range athleticism.
On top of that propulsion, Pierre possesses twitched-up, energized corrective and reactive athleticism, as well as the ankle flexion and reduction ability to corner tight angles around blocks, and the natural leverage to gain an edge in the pad level battle.
As a pass-rusher, Pierre has a competent rush move arsenal and has a keen understanding of how to bait and draw blockers out of position with initial rush angles and euro-steps, before capitalizing with wicked corrective motions and sudden upfield explosion.
While his raw power profile is only above-average at best, he’s flashed the ability to generate surprising knock-back at contact, and he can use his explosiveness to maximize leg drive and lower-body power output on bull-rushes and long-arms.
Assuredly, Pierre must get stronger; while he has decent compact mass for his build, he can be moved off the line in run defense by duo and combo blocks, and his finishing hand strength can fail him on attempted rips and swims.
Without high-end size, power, or strength, Pierre may be limited to odd and hybrid-front schemes as a wide-alignment rusher and weak-side LEO, but he has impact starter upside in that environment with his tools, rush nuance, and red-hot motor.
7) Anto Saka, Texas A&M
Anto Saka is a potential early-round EDGE prospect in the 2027 NFL Draft, who could rise to Round 1 territory with a strong final season at Texas A&M.
Hailing from Baltimore, Saka averaged over a sack per game as a high school senior and fielded interest from a number of blue-blood schools as a four-star recruit in the 2022 cycle.
However, Saka would pass over higher-prestige programs to sign with Northwestern, where he achieved a career-high 5.5 sacks as a mere redshirt freshman in 2023. Saka retained his prevalent rotational role in 2024, and in 2025, he started 11 games for the Wildcats, logging 3 sacks, 4 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery.
While his 70.8 PFN EDGE Impact score was below-average, Saka’s advanced metrics provided some reason for optimism. In spite of his limited sack production, he achieved a strong pressure rate of 13.8% as well as a true dropback pressure rate over 10%.
Now with the Aggies, Saka has a chance to finally realize the Round 1 physical potential that has always been present. At around 6’4″, 255 pounds, Saka is compact, muscle-bound, and incomprehensibly explosive, with a relentless motor.
With his first step, he can create instant angle advantages or work across-face in a nanosecond, and his long-track acceleration is just as lethal working to the apex with ankle flexion, or building up to speed-to-power.
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And while he has middling length, he defies expectations with his power profile, showing off eye-catching bouts of extension force, knock-back, and sustained lower-body power, magnified by his explosion and urgent leg churn.
Contrasting his sack production, Saka has a working rush arsenal and an understanding of upper-lower synergy, with chops, inside and outside rips, and power moves at his disposal, and he’s a useful looper and pin player on stunts.
That said, Saka can further refine his precision and timing. He exhibits slight hip stiffness at times, which limits bend, and his run defense is addled by inconsistent option reads and adaptability, streaky pad level maintenance, insufficient play strength against combos and double-teams, and passive point-of-contact resets.
If Saka can up his pass-rush production with more 1-on-1’s in 2025 and become more of a gap controller in run defense, Round 1 upside is on the table. But even on Day 2, Saka has impact starter NFL potential and immediate rotational appeal as a pass-rush catalyst in hybrid schemes.
6) Clev Lubin, Louisville
Clev Lubin is a potential early-round EDGE prospect in the 2027 NFL Draft with a particular affinity for rushing the passer. A star running back and defensive end in high school, Lubin progressed from the US Military Academy Prep School to Army in 2022, but would ultimately transfer out after a year on the bench.
As a sophomore, Lubin played at junior college Iowa Western, and in his one season there, he racked up 11.5 sacks and 23.5 tackles for loss, earning first-team All-NJCAA honors. Lubin’s production led to FBS interest, and he transferred to Coastal Carolina in 2024, picking up where he left off with 9.5 sacks, 12 TFLs, and first-team All-Sun Belt honors.
In 2025, Lubin completed his collegiate circuit, landing at the Power 4 program Louisville, and again recorded standout numbers, among them 8.5 sacks, 13 TFLs, 3 forced fumbles, 5 pass breakups, and an 87.5 PFSN EDGE Impact score that ranked third in the nation.
On the rush, Lubin achieved an absurd 22.2% pressure rate, with a 17.6% true dropback pressure rate. At around 6’2″, 267 pounds, with decent proportional length, Lubin fits a unique mold for the position. He’s not the tallest or the longest player, but he’s well-leveraged and hyper-dense, with great explosive athleticism, off-setting twitch, and an unhinged tenacity that underscores his game.
Few rushers will bring more energy on a down-to-down basis with Lubin, and it’s not uncontrolled, either. Lubin is an elite pass-rush technician who can align power properly, stack forklift-rips and throw-by moves off of initial power exertions, combine euro-steps with swims and chops, and bait blockers into prematurely extending with feigns.
Lubin has a high-level understanding of how to set up rush reps and can capitalize on ankle flexion, grating hand strength and wrenching power, and closing speed. In run defense, Lubin is competent, but can struggle to fully lock out and establish half-man relationships at times against longer tackles, and he can be driven off the line by combo blocks.
But at the end of the day, as a supercharged, hyper-imposing rush presence with weak-side pursuit ability, Lubin has impact starter upside and can immediately serve as a pass-rush catalyst in an NFL rotation.
5) Matayo Uiagalelei, Oregon
Matayo Uiagalelei is a potential early-round EDGE prospect in the 2027 NFL Draft, who brings size, power, and pass-rush production to the fold.
A highly-touted four-star recruit out with two-way abilities coming out of high school, Uiagalelei signed with the Oregon Ducks and made an immediate impact as a full-time EDGE in 2023. After flashing in a rotational role, Uiagalelei broke out as a first-team All-Big Ten performer in 2024, amassing 10.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss.
Uiagalelei’s raw production took a step back in 2025, but his PFSN EDGE Impact score improved from 75.9 to 81.8. In 2025, while his pressure-to-sack conversion fell, he nearly doubled his true pressure rate to 12.8%, and scored better efficiency metrics against the run.
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Listed at 6’5″, 272 pounds, with visible length, Uiagalelei is built with NFL-translatable mass and power capacity, and his athletic gifts are clear on film. For his size, he’s relatively explosive and quick, with good functional bend working around the apex.
In the run game, he has the strength to stack and forklift through down blocks and has steadily improved his gap discipline. Meanwhile, as a pass-rusher, while much of his 2024 production was in spite of a lacking arsenal, he displayed growth in 2025, with better timing, upper-lower sync, and an array of swipes, rips, and power moves.
While Uiagalelei has good ankle flexion, his hips can be somewhat stiff at times. This can contribute to problems with leveraging and pad-level maintenance later in reps, and his counter arsenal can be further fleshed out.
A great but non-elite physical framework slightly caps Uiagalelei’s upside, but he nonetheless has the size, burst, quickness, power profile, and playmaking motor to add value to an NFL rotation, and potentially grow into an impact starter with schematic versatility.
4) Kenyatta Jackson Jr., Ohio State
Kenyatta Jackson Jr. is the highest-ranked returner from Ohio State’s legendary 2025 defense and a potential first-round EDGE in the 2027 NFL Draft.
He first arrived in Columbus as a highly-regarded four-star recruit from Florida, who donned the No. 97 jersey worn by both Bosa brothers.
Despite that esteemed jersey assignment, Jackson redshirted in 2022 and was primarily a rotational contributor through the 2023 and 2024 seasons. In 2025, however, Jackson came into the fold as an impact starter for the Buckeyes, amassing 6.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss across 14 games.
On the PFSN EDGE Impact scoring scale, Jackson earned a respectable 77.8 grade, with an eye-catching pressure rate of 15.3% and an average yards allowed per run stop of just 1.4. At 6’6″, 265 pounds, with elite proportional length, Jackson possesses a rare physical makeup, blending high-level explosiveness, foot speed, play strength, and power capacity together.
His explosiveness alone enables him to sear through gaps and disrupt blocking schemes early in reps, but he’s also shown he can leverage his burst, mass, and length into awe-inspiring power output, which he can then channel with bull-rushes or sequence moves thereafter with push-pulls and forklift-swims.
In Matt Patricia’s defense, Jackson’s explosive power and contact authority make him an alignment-versatile staple. He can serve as a gap puncturer or combo absorber from 3-tech and 4i, or take on tackles 1-on-1 as an inside-outside slanter or from wider alignments.
Despite his pressure production, Jackson is still fairly raw with his hand usage and counter work, and while he has decent ankle flexion, his flexibility isn’t an overarching strength. Regardless, Jackson profiles as an alignment-versatile DE with high-level run defense utility, additional pass-rush upside left to unearth, and impact-starter upside in the NFL.
3) Quincy Rhodes Jr., Arkansas
Quincy Rhodes Jr. is a potential first-round EDGE prospect in the 2027 NFL Draft, who offers unique athletic upside and alignment versatility.
He originally joined the Arkansas Razorbacks as a four-star recruit in 2023 and played nine games as a primary special teams contributor. In 2024, Rhodes earned a higher share of rotational reps, but only started one of 12 games played.
2025 was Rhodes’ emergence, and it was a dramatic one: he went from a rotational player to one of the top sack and pressure producers in the SEC. In 12 games and 11 starts, Rhodes amassed 8 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss, while earning an exceptional PFSN EDGE Impact score of 86.4.
Rhodes’ raw sack production is extremely impressive given how often Arkansas played with negative game scripts, and the advanced numbers are equally inspiring: He boasted an 11.8% pressure rate and converted pressures to sacks over 22% of the time, while splitting reps across 7-tech, 5-tech, 4i, and 3-tech alignments.
At around 6’6″ and 277 pounds, with excellent proportional length, Rhodes has a freakish combination of size, lean mass, explosiveness, short-area quickness, and bend. And while his operational skill set is relatively unrefined beyond that foundation, the foundation alone produces countless eye-catching reps on his film.
Rhodes proves most consistent in the pass-rush phase, where he fires off the line, shows the ability to acquire leverage and generate power across a wide array of gaps and rush angles, and flashes keen angle IQ with a wicked spin move that leaves tackles lurching. His power capacity and closing speed can overwhelm in tandem, but Rhodes can still be more consistent overall, with his pass-rush plan, counters, power sequencing and sustain, and sturdiness in run defense.
Nevertheless, his scheme and alignment-versatile profile, as well as his astronomical pass-rush upside, warrants Round 1 consideration.
2) Colin Simmons, Texas
Colin Simmons is a potential blue-chip EDGE prospect in the 2027 NFL Draft, with an elite disruptive imprint and translatable tools.
Simmons was a five-star recruit and made an immediate impact as a true freshman for the Texas Longhorns. In 2024, he amassed 9 sacks and 14 tackles for loss, while earning a strong PFSN EDGE Impact score of 86.1.
In 2025, he improved that EDGE Impact number to 86.9, while accumulating 12 sacks, 15.5 TFLs, and 3 forced fumbles, while also earning first-team All-SEC and second-team All-American honors.
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At a listed 6’3″ and 245 pounds, Simmons is slightly undersized, but has excellent proportional length to compensate. He’s a banshee on the rush with an insatiable playmaking motor, and those central qualities are magnified by his hyper-elite first-step explosiveness, long-track acceleration, tight cornering ability, effervescent twitch, and lateral explosive range.
Even at his size, tackles still need to respect his speed-to-power, and that opens up opportunities for Simmons to manipulate and exploit timing and angle advantages.
Simmons has the rush intelligence to bait tackles out of positioning with initial rush angles, stutter-steps, and feigns, and his propulsive explosion, bend, and power pose devastating threats once out of position.
In run defense, Simmons’ flaws show up more; he doesn’t have the play strength to consistently set the edge and compress gaps. Additionally, he’ll void his gap to get upfield through over-aggression at times, and he can be inconsistent processing options.
Still, as a pass-rush catalyst in odd and hybrid-front schemes, with a respectable run defense floor, Simmons has the upside to be a game-changing presence.
1) Dylan Stewart, South Carolina
Dylan Stewart is a projected first-round prospect in the 2027 NFL Draft with blue-chip potential.
A five-star recruit from Washington D.C., Stewart signed with South Carolina out of high school and was an immediate impact player for the Gamecocks. As a true freshman, he accounted for 6.5 sacks, 10.5 tackles for loss, and 3 forced fumbles, while registering a near-elite PFSN EDGE Impact score of 86.8 and an impressive true dropback pressure rate of 12.4%.
Stewart’s pressure metrics fell a touch in an injury-affected 2025 season, but he still earned a solid Impact grade of 80.3, while also putting up a 3.7% TFL rate in run defense and pursuit, while allowing just 0.76 yards per run stop, per TruMedia.
As an athlete and mover, the suspicions are true: Stewart moves different. At a listed 6’5″ and 245 pounds, with near-34″ arms, Stewart’s explosiveness off the line is more akin to teleportation.
He’s exceedingly twitched-up and light on his feet, with elite hip fluidity, ankle flexion, and torso reduction at his size, and his combination of explosion, length, and consistent lower-body load can yield overwhelming power exertions.
Stewart’s sheer physical potential is the core of his evaluation; he has a near-unmatched blend of explosiveness, lateral agility, quickness, bend, length, and relentless motor, and there are glimpses of proper pass-rush execution with angle manipulation, stunt efficiency, upper-lower synergy, and power production.
Overall, Stewart has room to keep expanding his counter arsenal and improve his hand precision, and he could add a bit more mass and supplement his play strength as well. But still, Stewart is an unmatched physical talent, with a host of blue-chip foundational traits that set his floor as a potential game-wrecker. At his maximum, Stewart is a blue-chip odd or hybrid-front EDGE with two-phase dominance in his range of outcomes.
Honorable Mentions
- Teitum Tuioti, Oregon
- Taylor Wein, Oklahoma
- Princewill Umanmielen, LSU
- Kameryn Crawford, USC
- Boubacar Traore, Notre Dame
- Damon Wilson II, Miami (FL)
- Will Heldt, Clemson
- Toby Anene, Colorado
- John Henry Daley, Michigan
- J’Mond Tapp, Memphis