NFL draft preview: Bills likely to have DE options in first two rounds
The Bills want the edge rushers to be strong edge setters in the running game. Undersized, one-dimensional pass rushers who only play on passing downs usually are not valued highly on the Buffalo board.
This is second in a series of position previews for the 2025 NFL draft. Today: Defensive ends
There likely will be options for the Buffalo Bills to find an edge rusher both late in the first round and late in the second round of the 2025 NFL draft.
Last year, only five edge rushers were picked in the first round, and only two were taken in the second round.
“I think there’s going to be some edge rushers in this draft who you’re going to look back at a couple years from now and say, ‘Why did they drop a little bit?’ ” ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said. “History tells us you can find some of these guys a little later in the draft.”
“You’re going to see six or seven go in the first round,” ESPN’s Jordan Reid said.
“I think there’s a lot of depth along the defensive front,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. “We can go into Day 2. There’s going to be some edge rushers there ... if you want to be patient.
The Bills have a viable top four at edge rusher, with Greg Rousseau and Joey Bosa starting, backed up by Michael Hoecht and A.J. Epenesa. Young Javon Solomon is No. 5 on the depth chart.
But Hoecht is suspended for the first six games. Bosa has been hindered by injuries the past three seasons. And Bosa and Epenesa are under contract only through this season. Another option would be good.
Overall position ranking: 8/10.
Bills view. The Bills want the edge rushers to be strong edge setters in the running game. Undersized, one-dimensional pass rushers who play only on passing downs usually are not valued highly on the Buffalo board. The Bills also like defensive ends with length. Rousseau’s arms are 34⅜, Epenesa’s are 34½, Solomon’s are 33⅞. Under 33 is undersized at the position.
Bills need ranking: 9/10.
Penn State’s Abdul Carter, sacking Maryland quarterback MJ Morris in a game in November, is the top-rated defensive end in the draft. Barry Reeger, Associated Press
The best. Penn State’s Abdul Carter is the clear No. 1 edge rusher, and a likely top-four pick.
“What you want for Carter is to be like Micah Parsons,” said Kiper, referring to the Dallas Cowboys’ star, who, like Carter, also wears No. 11. “That’s the kind of guy who can impact the game when you need it the most.”
Boom or bust. Two edge rush prospects widely projected for the first round are risky. Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart is a physical freak at 6-5 and 267 pounds. He ran 4.59 in the 40-yard dash and had a 40-inch vertical jump. But he had just 1.5 sacks in 2024 and just 4.5 for his college career, despite playing 37 games. He is a pure power player, but his football instincts are questionable.
Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr. ran 4.47 at 6-5 and 245 pounds. The 10-yard split for both Pearce and Stewart was 1.58, even better than Von Miller’s 1.59. But Pearce is a pure outside, wide speed rusher. He has explosive speed, but not explosive power, as evidenced by his poor 31-inch vertical jump. Pearce is compared to ex-Bills lineman Leonard Floyd, but Floyd’s vertical jump was 39.5 inches. Pearce isn’t as impactful against the run as a team would want, either. That should cross him off the Bills’ list.
Names to know. Besides Carter, the Georgia duo of Jalon Walker and Mykel Williams are likely to be gone early. So will Marshall’s Mike Green, who led the nation with 17.5 sacks last season.
An interesting consideration at No. 30 for Buffalo could be Boston College’s Donovan Ezeiruaku, who is a tad undersized at 6-2½ and 248 pounds. But he has speed and bend around the edge, along with 34½-inch arms. He had 16.5 sacks last season. Ezeiruaku isn’t an ideal edge setter against the run, but he wasn’t bad, and he plays assignment sound. He may clear the bar for the Bills on the run front if he lasts until No. 30.
No. 30 might be a little high for Arkansas’ Landon Jackson, but the Bills have shown a lot of interest in him. Jackson, 6-6 and 264 with 33¼-inch arms, is raw and powerful and plays with relentless effort. He had only 6.5 sacks in both 2024 and 2023. His pass rush win rate wasn’t great. But he was asked to play a ton of snaps at the 4i position, opposite the inside shoulder of an offensive tackle. The Bills don’t do that. When Jackson lined up at an outside end position, his pass rushes looked better. His testing numbers were incredible – a 4.68 time in the 40 with a 40.5-inch vertical jump and a 10-9 broad jump.
“I feel like I’ve probably talked to the Bills eight times, by now,” Jackson told reporters at Arkansas’ pro day.
Is Jackson going to go in the 30-to-40 range? Might he last into the 50s or even No. 56 on Day 2? It’s unclear.
Players who should be on the board late in the second round who look like potential fits for the Bills include Ohio State’s J.T. Tuimoloau and Texas A&M’s Nic Scourton. Tuimoloau is a good pocket pusher at 265 with 33¾-inch arms. He is not real bendy or shifty, but he has a high floor, as Epenesa does. Scourton had 5.0 sacks last season and only 0.5 the last six games, but he played at 280 pounds. He was down to 257 at the combine. He had 10 sacks for Purdue in 2023, and he’s only 20 years old.
Tuimoloau has a higher floor than Ohio State teammate Jack Sawyer, a second-rounder who has short arms (31¾). Ole Miss’ Princely Umanmielen is long, tall and bendy. But at 244 pounds, he might worry the Bills against the run. UCLA’s Oluwafemi Oladejo is a late-second or third-round prospect in the risk category. He spent most of his college career at linebacker, but switched to edge rusher the last 10 games of 2024 and posted 4.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss. He will require patience wherever he goes.
Sleeper: Boise State’s Ahmed Hassanein grew up in Egypt, and his first year of football was 2019. He is an undersized undrafted free agent candidate. Elijah Ponder of FCS Cal Poly is a bendy, undersized edge who looked good at the East-West Shrine Bowl.
TOP 10 DEFENSIVE ENDS
Rank Player, school Ht. Wt.
1 Abdul Carter*, Penn State 6-3 250
2 Jalon Walker*, Georgia 6-2 243
3 Mykel Williams*, Georgia 6-5 260
4 Mike Green*, Marshall 6-3 251
5 Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M 6-5 257
6 James Pearce Jr.*, Tennessee 6-5 245
7 Donovan Ezeiruaku, Boston College 6-2 248
8 Landon Jackson, Arkansas 6-6 264
9 JT Tuimoloau, Ohio State 6-4 265
10 Nic Scourton*, Texas A&M 6-3 257
* − Underclassman