We are now less than a month away from the 2026 NFL Draft. The Bucs have made their major free agency moves, shoring up the floor of their roster in several areas. Now back to scouting prospects who might be available in the draft. Up next is Auburn defensive lineman Keldric Faulk.

The defense has been the crux of my focus this offseason looking at multiple positions to find players who may be able to help Tampa Bay become a top-notch defense. The Bucs will need to find a running mate for Yaya Diaby and perhaps some additional depth. Previous edge scouting reports are as follows:

David Bailey, T.J. Parker, Rueben Bain Jr., Akheem Mesidor, Cashius Howell, R Mason Thomas, Malachi Lawrence

Faulk is a very difficult evaluation because his size puts him right at the edge of being an edge rusher and an interior defensive lineman. I am evaluating him as an edge because I think it’s his best path to success in the NFL, but I understand if others see him playing along the interior.

Keldric Faulk Background and College Career

Keldric Faulk was a four-star recruit out of Highland Home Alabama. He was a two-sport athlete in high school playing basketball in addition to football. Cooper Petagna of 247 Sports noted in his write-up of Faulk in high school, “Maintains a high athletic ceiling, has continued to improve his play speed and reactionary ability as he’s developed throughout his high school career. Arrow is pointing up, projects a high-level multi-year starter at a Power Five program at the next level.”

Faulk committed to Auburn in December of 2022 and joined the Tigers as a part of their 2023 class. He fulfilled Petagna’s prediction, starting three years at Auburn racking up almost 1,600 snaps. Over his three seasons in the SEC Faulk totaled 109 combined tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, one forced fumble and 10.0 sacks. He also tallied six passes defensed, four of which came in his final year.

Measurables

Per Mockdraftables:

Height – 6-5 (89th percentile)
Weight – 276 lbs. (81st percentile)
Arm Length – 34.75” (82nd percentile)
Wingspan – 82.25″ (80th percentile)
Hand Size – 9.875” (49th percentile)
Vertical Jump – 40” (96th percentile)
Broad Jump – 130” (97th percentile)

Per Pro Day Reporting captured by Kent Lee Platte’s RAS system:

40-yard dash – 4.67 seconds (78th percentile)
10-yard split – 1.68 seconds (23rd percentile)

Keldric Faulk is a DE prospect in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 9.10 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 202 out of 2239 DE from 1987 to 2026.https://t.co/V6nHV5PmG0 pic.twitter.com/cSpZfgopmm

— RAS.football (@MathBomb) April 4, 2026

Scouting Report

Games Watched: Alabama (2025), Missouri (2025), Oklahoma (2025)

Athleticism

It all starts with Keldric Faulk’s size. His size and reach are attributes that coaches can dream about. But he moves more like a supremely athletic interior defender than a true edge. Yet I’m not sure he can put on enough mass to become a three-down defensive tackle. It makes him a difficult evaluation. His best role athletically is as a 4-3 defensive end who pushes inside on late and long downs.

Faulk has a non-explosive first step, below-average bend for an edge, and limited lateral speed. This creates a player whose physical profile doesn’t match his measurables. His lack of burst is backed up by his 10-yard split (23rd percentile). He gets to his speed but doesn’t accelerate through the line quickly. His pad level is inconsistently low, and he can’t replicate his best reps with any regularity.

Faulk lacks the closing speed to consistently win up the arc. I would best describe him as a pocket pusher when working on the edge. The testing speed simply isn’t there to threaten the corner reliably. And his change of direction doesn’t even flash as plus. The Tigers alum is consistently out-leveraged and lacks the lateral speed to keep up on plays to the edge. Faulk struggles to get wide enough and cannot change direction efficiently enough to recover.

He has strong hands and legitimate physical power in a phone booth setting, but the profile rarely activates on the edge. Faulk doesn’t connect his speed into force effectively, making his power situational rather than systemic. It shows better inside which is where some of his best reps happen.

Pass Rushing

When I watch Faulk, he comes off as an underdeveloped pass rusher without a plan. Theoretically he would be able to throw around his plus core strength and length to convert speed to power and drive tackles back into quarterbacks at their landmarks. But the reality is far from a match to that theory. Faulk just doesn’t connect his physical tools into consistent production. At this point he is an inconsistent pocket pusher with a limited ceiling and a slow and ineffective spin move.

Faulk tries to make up for his slow get-off by timing snaps, but he struggles to do so effectively, and it leads to him jumping offsides too much. His pass rush arsenal is limited to a slow, telegraphed spin and an occasional double-hand swipe. His strong hands are a genuine asset, but the move arsenal is far too thin to threaten NFL tackles consistently.

His ceiling as an edge finisher is a pocket pusher with limited sack upside and his best finishing reps come when looping inside where competition is distracted. He’s just not a reliable closer from the edge. Here is a solid look at his game vs Oklahoma from a social media account called Bengals and Brews.

Keldric Faulk vs. Oklahoma https://t.co/xfMfKre4An pic.twitter.com/kUpJVNFv8q

— Bengals & Brews (@BengalsBrews) February 13, 2026

Run Fitting

Faulk’s ability against the run is a plus, especially against gap schemes where his genuine vertical anchor and length play up the best. But he has lateral limitations working against wide zone show up too often. Faulk struggles to keep up as backs work to the edge and often out leverage him. His best attribute is his strength at the point of attack. His lower half power makes him difficult to displace, and Faulk can stone some of the best offensive linemen.

His long arms come in handy keeping linemen off his frame and allow him to maintain his eyes in the backfield to follow the play. When Faulk correctly identifies the play, he can convert his power and length into TFLs. This is where his linear speed shows up the best chasing down backs from behind. His backfield recognition is adequate but not instinctive which means he misses opportunities he should capitalize on. It shows up also in his missed tackles rate (24.4% in 2025).

Coverage

Faulk only logged three coverage snaps in 2025, so I have very few thoughts on his ability in this area of the game. It’s a more important part of the modern NFL and I think Auburn deliberately shielded him from that part of their defense – yet they still had edges drop. Across from him Keyron Crawford dropped 126 times this season. That’s telling and speaks to how they felt about Faulk in that area of the game. Personally, I don’t think he has the fluidity and spatial awareness to process route concepts in coverage.

Best Traits

• Size/length/speed profile
• Strength at point of attack as a run defender

How Does He Fit The Bucs And Best Role

Faulk’s archetype is that of a hybrid between Anthony Nelson and Logan Hall. Theoretically, he can play all the way from a wide-9 alignment to heads up as a nose on a seven-man front on third-and-long. In the Bucs’ system he would play a 5-technique on early downs when the Bucs are in their base 3-4 personnel, kick to edge in nickel sets, and push inside to 3-technique for sub-package nickel set.

Auburn EDGE Keldric Faulk – Photo by: USA Today

But given his lack of experience and projection as a dropper, depressed college production, lack of ideal size to play inside, and lack of pass rush juice, I don’t think he is a great fit for Tampa Bay’s system at all or someone they would be targeting.

I am about as low as one can be on Faulk. Of the eight edge rushers I have evaluated thus far this cycle, he is dead last for me and in the sixth of the seven tiers I use. I don’t see him ever becoming a starter and his ceiling in my opinion is Anthony Nelson – a reserve defensive end.