Top Outside Linebackers In 2020 NFL Draft

1. Ohio State EDGE Chase Young – Junior – 6’4, 264 – N/A

When you have 30.5 collegiate sacks and 10 forced fumbles in 23 starts in the Big Ten, you’re probably pretty good at football. And Chase Young is pretty good at football. When an edge defender can beat tackles 1v1 inside, outside and through their chest, they are probably going top five. And Chase Young will go top five. He should be one of the best edge defenders in the NFL by the end of his third season.

2. LSU EDGE K’Lavon Chaisson – RS Sophomore – 6-3, 254 – N/A

There is an extremely short list of college edge defenders who have recorded less than ten sacks in college and gone on to be starting-caliber edge defenders in the NFL. If you’re betting on Chaisson, you’re betting on an extreme production outlier at a position where almost no outliers exist after he finished his LSU career with just 9.5 sacks. But if you’re gonna bet on an outlier, an elite tier athlete with the physicality, football character and high-end reps against some of the best tackles in college football is a good place to start. Chaisson has elite burst, speed, bend, change-of-direction and flashes just about every move an edge defender can have in their arsenal. Can he ever put it all together consistently, beyond just 2-3 snaps a game?

3. Penn State EDGE Yetur Gross-Matos – Junior – 6-5, 266 – N/A

On the hoof, Gross-Matos is one of the best-looking edge defenders in the class, with arms nearly 35 inches long on a 6-5, 266-pound, tapered frame. With 19 sacks and a whopping 37 tackles-for-loss during his three years at Penn State, the stats don’t hurt his eval either. Unfortunately the tape just doesn’t match the look, as Gross-Matos is consistently slow out of his stance and doesn’t threat the edge with burst or speed off the ball. I think he has some bend and flexibility, it’s just never on display because of how rarely he gets to the apex of the arc with any speed. Gross-Matos looks like he’ll need to continue to win inside of tackles at the same rate he did in college, but that just hasn’t proven to be a path to high-end success for edge defenders in the NFL.

4. Iowa EDGE A.J. Epenesa – Junior – 6-5, 275 – 5.04

Iowa Edge A.J . Epenesa – Photo by Getty Images

Epenesa’s calling card as a pass rusher are his hands, which he uses in a variety of moves to get tackles off balance and trim the angles down to get to the quarterback. His length and strength are good traits to have, but in the NFL athleticism rules at edge defender, and Epenesa doesn’t have a ton of it. The junior’s burst off the ball is average, and while he’ll lean on blockers at the top of the arc, his bend is below-average for the position. He ran through tackles that couldn’t use their hands in college, but when guys matched his physicality Epenesa wasn’t up to the task. I’m not sure he has the suddenness to beat guys on their edge 1v1, or the raw strength and demeanor to consistently win in the power game.

5. Michigan EDGE Josh Uche – Junior – 6-1, 245 – N/A

Uche’s potential is clear, as he has the athletic traits that you look for in an edge defender. But his best position in the NFL may be as an off-ball linebacker who rushes off the edge situationally. Uche has enough size to play outside, but he’s not really an edge setter in the run game, and most of his wins as a pass rusher came as a standup inside rusher. Figuring out how his game converts to the NFL is difficult, especially considering he spent his Michigan career as a backup and situational player, but Uche’s tape oozes potential, even if it is in a versatile role rather than as a full-time outside linebacker.

6. Notre Dame EDGE Julian Okwara – Senior – 6-4, 252 – N/A

For a guy with all the physical and athletic traits in the world, Okwara’s tape is just a whole bunch of nothing. His best move is a long-arm to his opponent’s chest, and he can really create some knockback, but other than the occasional inside counter, Okwara’s hands are sorely underdeveloped and he just can’t drop his pads or reduce his surface area at the top of the arc. As a result Okwara ends up as a punching bag for opposing tackles, most of whom had their way with him. And we haven’t even gotten to his struggles as a run defender, where tight ends consistently drove him off the ball. There’s a decent ceiling here, but I would be surprised to see Okwara as a starter for at least the next two years.

7. Alabama EDGE Terrell Lewis – Junior – 6-5, 262 – N/A

Lewis’ strengths and weaknesses are really clearly defined, as he clearly possesses three of the four desirable athletic traits for edge defenders: burst, speed and change-of-direction. That’s a great start, but it only helped him earn eight sacks during his 26 games at Alabama, six of which came this past season. Part of the reason is that Lewis can’t bend or doesn’t know how to yet, consistently failing to trim the apex of the arc to the quarterback. The other is that he has no idea what to do with his hands, bringing almost no rush moves to the table. When he wins, it is almost always with a long arm or an inside spin move, which are greats tools to have for an NFL rusher. I think Lewis can carve out a solid career as a speed-counter/speed-power rusher, but development is sorely needed, and his injury history is extensive.

8. Boise State EDGE Curtis Weaver – Junior – 6-2, 265 – N/A

Weaver has been one of the most productive edge defenders in the country during his career, with 34 sacks and 46.5 tackles-for-loss in the past three seasons. Weaver is also the first edge defender I’ve ever scouted that wins primarily by dancing. It’s a new move that other edge defender prospects are sure to try and employ moving forward. That’s the only way I can describe the way Weaver beat an admittedly weak slate of offensive tackles game-after-game, as he shifted and slithered and pranced around blocks to find his way to the quarterback. Weaver’s stats look awesome, but the tape brings to light questions about whether or not his style of play can translate to the NFL with the same level of success.

9. Tennessee EDGE Darrell Taylor – Senior – 6-4, 267 – N/A

After a rocky start at Tennessee that saw Taylor suspended two games for fighting with a teammate as a sophomore, the fifth-year edge managed to put it together and record 19.5 sacks over his final three seasons on the field. Taylor was consistently flashy the past two season for Tennessee, and in an edge defender class like this one that might be worth investing in before the top 100 picks close out. He has burst and bend, but they only come in flashes, and his hands must improve if he’s gonna reach his peak in the NFL.

10. Florida EDGE Jabari Zuniga – Senior – 6-3, 264 – 4.64

Zuniga is truly a mystery, as he has a couple reps each season that make your jaw hit the floor. Unfortunately it’s hardly ever consistent, as the redshirt senior simply plays with too high a pad level and too little flexibility at the top of the arc to really threaten as a rusher off the edge. He’s a penetrating run defender with inside/outside flexibility that can help a team in a versatile role at the next level.

Best Of The Rest

11. Utah EDGE Bradlee Anae – Senior – 6-3, 257 – 4.91

Utah OLB Bradlee Anae – Photo by: Getty Images

Unlike a lot of the edge defenders ahead of him on this list, I really enjoy Anae’s game, and he’s pro-ready thanks to his hand usage and ability to keep tackles guessing with his rush plan. Anae was a Senior Bowl standout with his physicality, sudden cross-chop and ability to convert speed-to-power. Unfortunately, Anae will need to be a significant athletic outlier in order to succeed in the NFL, as his short arms, average size and straight-up awful Combine performance don’t paint the picture of an edge defender that should be highly selected. With 30 sacks and 41.5 tackles-for-loss in college, Anae is the true test of traits vs. production as a prospect.

12. Florida EDGE Jonathan Greenard – Senior – 6-3, 263 – 4.87

Greenard blossomed out of nowhere with a 9.5-sack season after transferring to Florida from Louisville, but his athletic limitations may need more established pass rush skill than he offers to succeed in the NFL. Greenard has crazy length and good vision for an edge rusher, but there just isn’t enough of the really important stuff in his game to see him becoming anything more than a solid backup in the NFL.

13. Charlotte EDGE Alex Highsmith – Senior – 6-3, 248 – 4.70

Highsmith exploded for 14 sacks as a redshirt senior, after just six combined sacks over the previous three seasons. He’s intriguing because the flashes of athleticism are there, and he might just be scratching the surface of unpacking his skill as a rusher. Can he be an asset against the run at the next level, or will that always be a big enough concern to push him into long/late down work only?

14. Notre Dame EDGE Khalid Kareem – Senior – 6-4, 268 – N/A

Kareem is a power edge rusher who looks like a load when he can get inside an opponent with a strong push-pull move, but the lack of impactful traits are a big reason why he finished his college career with only 13 sacks. If you’re gonna win with physicality at the next level, you can’t spend as much time on the ground as Kareem did at Notre Dame. He is a strong point-of-attack run defender with exceptional length, but get him in space and he struggles.

15. Tulsa EDGE Trevis Gipson – Senior – 6-3, 248 – 4.70

With just 13 college sacks, Gipson was a little bit of a surprise addition to the Senior Bowl roster, but I thought he helped himself there. Gipson isn’t that big, but man he plays with crazy power and energy off the edge, which was evident even in 1v1s at the Senior Bowl. I don’t know how much he’ll ever threaten the edge with his tight hips, but Gipson works his tail off and has enough traits to be an intriguing mid-round addition to a defense that stands their edges up or asks them to play with their hand in the dirt.

16. Alabama EDGE Anfernee Jennings – Senior – 6-2, 256 – N/A

Jennings doesn’t have the length, build or athleticism you want in an edge defender, and yet I bet he’ll play in the league as a backup for a long time because he can do a little bit of everything well. The fifth-year senior doesn’t consistently dominate on tape, which explains the 15.5 career sacks, but he can beat blockers with his hands, he plays his heart out against the run and he constantly gets in passing lanes to bat balls down at the line of scrimmage. Jennings is the ideal backup edge defender who won’t ever wow you, but you won’t worry about him killing your team either.

17. Miami EDGE Jonathan Garvin – Junior – 6-4, 263 – 4.82

With just 12.5 career sacks, including a career-high 5.5 in 2018, Garvin has a long way to go before he’s ready to make an impact in the NFL. His traits have been talked about for a long time and even flashed on the field at times, but consistency is sorely lacking, and he may never have the football instincts to reach his peak at the next level.

18. Michigan State EDGE Kenny Willekes – Senior – 6-3, 264 – 4.87

I don’t expect Willekes to be highly-drafted, but man he just might be the one to make it out of the day three edge rushers. He’s just a decent athlete with really short arms for the position, but he knows how to get off the ball, fire through slivers of space and make impact plays behind the line of scrimmage. His 51 tackles-for-loss in college help prove that. Willekes probably won’t ever be a starter, but he has the right makeup to carve out a career as a solid backup in the NFL.

19. Syracuse EDGE Alton Robinson – Senior – 6-3, 264 – 4.69

Robinson was one of the roughest watches of any edge defender at the Senior Bowl, struggling to show the necessary burst and bend to win the edge, or the power to work through blocks as a bull rusher. His Combine performance was decent enough to get him back on the radar, but with character concerns, a 4.5-sack senior season and a lack of pass rush athleticism, Robinson might end up being a long shot to stick in the NFL.

20. South Carolina EDGE D.J. Wonnum – Senior – 6-5, 258 – 4.73

Wonnum’s never really developed after a six-sack sophomore season, collecting just 6.5 sacks over the final 17 games of his career. Edge defenders with his lack of bend and flexibility don’t typically do too much at the next level, but Wonnum flashes speed-to-power ability and plays with his hair on fire. He might be able to stick as a depth edge off the bench.