Coming off a 2024 season that saw their edge group struggle with consistency of both personnel and performance, the New England Patriots opted for a reset. As part of it, the team invested a Day 3 draft choice in an intriguing pass rush option.
Whether or not Bradyn Swinson will carve out a rotational role in the new-look room will be seen, but his potential cannot be denied. Let’s take a closer look at him.
Hard facts
Name: Bradyn Swinson
Position: Defensive edge/Outside linebacker
Jersey number: 43
Opening day
age: 23 (7/4/2002)
Measurements: 6’3 1/2”, 255 lbs, 81 1/4” wingspan, 33 3/8” arm length, 9 7/8” hand size, 7.13s 3-cone drill, 4.33s short shuttle, N/A Relative Athletic Score
Experience
NFL: New England Patriots (2025-) | College: Oregon (2020-22), LSU (2023-24)
A multi-sport athlete growing up, who lettered both in football and track at Chapel Hill High School in Douglasville, GA, Swinson was a highly-regarded recruit coming out. A three-star prospect, he received over 40 scholarship offers from schools such as North Carolina, Boston College and Missouri. He instead opted to join to Oregon, where he appeared in 30 games with one start over three seasons.
During his 2022 junior campaign, Swinson started looking for other opportunities and entered the transfer portal. He enrolled at LSU the following January and finished his college career with a two-year stint in Baton Rouge. During that time, he played in 25 more games with 13 starts and picked up one second-team All-SEC selection.
In between his time as a Duck and a Tiger, Swinson combined to notch 128 tackles, 13.5 sacks and five forced fumbles. He joined the NFL as a fifth-round draft pick by the Patriots in April 2025.
Scouting report
Strengths: Swinson is a classic speed rusher off the edge, who combines a moldable frame with some good burst and acceleration out of his stance. He uses leverage well to stress offensive tackles to their outside shoulder, and also has the requisite bend to get under them. In general, his lower-body flexibility and quickness in addition to his consistent attack speed allow him to cause balancing and positioning issues for his opposition.
Bradyn Swinson pass rushing with finesse pic.twitter.com/j5DD6jdezD
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) April 27, 2025
Swinson offers a variety of pass rushing moves and plays with active hands. He has a good feel for placing his initial punch while also working with an active lower half as a bull rusher. Despite not being the most powerful of players overall, his motor is running hot whenever he is on the field. This, in turn, makes him a competitive player either at the attack point or in clean-up duty. It also allowed him to show steady improvement as an edge-setter in the run game.
Bradyn Swinson vs run blockers pic.twitter.com/k4OZKOp0O6
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) April 27, 2025
Weaknesses: Swinson is an able pass rusher, but he is not the most refined overall player yet and was in fact quite streaky during his 2024 season. His eye discipline and spatial awareness have been uneven as have been his counters.
He also is not a particularly powerful player at the point of attack — in part due to his comparatively average length and weight — which leads to questions about pass lane integrity and positioning relative to the rest of the pocket and the quarterback; Swinson being moved off his path might create openings for mobile QBs to exploit. His developing play strength also might limit him to a comparatively one-dimensional role versus NFL competition, especially early on in his career.
Bradyn Swinson pass rushing with power pic.twitter.com/C3e8RxzTec
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) April 27, 2025
In addition, there is talk that he has not been the easiest player to work with at both Oregon and LSU. While the Patriots are obviously fine with this aspect of his persona, and it indeed did not prevent him from producing at a high level toward the end of his college career, it might have contributed to him falling to the fifth round of the draft. The same is true for the fact that he only had one season of high-end college production.
2024 review
Stats: 13 games (12 starts) | 637 defensive snaps, 52 special teams snaps | 58 tackles, 8 missed tackles (12.1%), 13.0 TFLs, 2 forced fumbles | 60 quarterback pressures (8.5 sacks, 8 hits, 43 hurries) | 7 targets, 3 catches surrendered (42.9%), 30 yards | 1 penalty
Season recap: Swinson’s first season at LSU looked a lot like his three years at Oregon; he was mainly a role player who received comparatively limited opportunity to prove himself an NFL-caliber edge. His second year in Baton Rouge, on the other hand, became a breakout campaign for the then-22-year-old.
Working under a new edge rush coach — Kevin Peoples — he set career marks in several statistical categories and became a fixture along the Tigers’ defensive line.
Swinson ended up starting 12 of 13 games while almost doubling his snap output from the previous season, going from 379 to 637. He also managed to blow his previous pass rush production out of the water: he led LSU’s defense in both sacks (8.5) and pressures (60) and more than doubled his production in both categories from his first four college seasons combined.
His jump in 2024 was nothing short of impressive, but Swinson still failed to elevate himself to top-tier edge rusher status heading toward the NFL Draft. Part of it might have been his uneven production throughout the season: he went without a sack in eight of his games, including in three of five contests against ranked teams.
Still, the positive far outweighed any potential negative. Swinson finished his final season in college as a second-team All-SEC selection, a one-time SEC Defensive Player of the Week, and a two-time SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week. One of those honors came after a dominant effort against ninth-ranked Ole Miss: he had two sacks and a career-best eight tackles — including a stop on 4th-and-goal at the 1-yard line — in LSU’s overtime win.
2025 preview
Position: Pass rush ED | Ability: Depth player/Role player | Contract: Signed through 2028
What will be his role? Swinson was effectively a three-down player during his final season at LSU, but he projects mostly as a package player heading into his first NFL season. A pass rush specialist similar to fellow Patriots edge (and fellow LSU product) K’Lavon Chaisson, he will compete for a spot in the rotation alongside roster locks Keion White and Harold Landry.
What is his growth potential? Despite being a fifth-round draft pick, Swinson’s potential for growth is significant. While it remains to be seen whether or not he will ever become a starter-level player — that will very much depend on his play strength and edge-setting — he has the tools to at least develop into a productive situational pass rusher.
Does he have positional versatility? Swinson’s situational flexibility is limited at this point in his career, and so is his positional versatility. Besides aligning over both the left and right tackle in college and also having some experience on special teams — mostly from the field goal/extra point block teams — he is not yet a player to move all over the formation to create favorable matchups.
What is his salary cap situation? Even though he was drafted, Swinson currently has a relatively minimal impact on the Patriots’ books. With hit total 2025 cap number of $950,199 not high enough to qualify for Top 51 status, only his fully-guaranteed signing bonus proration ($110k) but not his base salary ($840k) is counted against New England’s cap at the moment.
How safe is his roster spot? Swinson has some potential particularly as a pass rusher, but his spot on the team is not secure. In order to make the 53-man roster as a rotational depth option on the edge, he will need to prove himself against the likes of K’Lavon Chaisson, Anfernee Jennings, Elijah Ponder and Truman Jones over the summer. The Patriots going with just two out of those five players to complement Keion White and Harold Landry could very well happen.
Summary: There are plenty of questions surrounding Swinson heading into his first season as a pro, but there also is no denying his potential as well as the fact that he could help address what was a big need for the Patriots in 2024. Does that mean he is bound to make the roster? Time will tell, but until it does he will be a fun rookie to keep an eye on this training camp and preseason.
What do you think about Bradyn Swinson heading into the 2025 season? Please head down to the comment section to share your thoughts.
More from patspulpit.com:
- WATCH: New Patriots WR Brandin Cooks makes ridiculous one-handed grab against the Jaguars
- Patriots release first depth chart of the season; list Mike Gilleslee as the number five running back
- Patriots-Jaguars Monday joint practice notes: WR Brandin Cooks puts on a show
- Patriots 2017 training camp: 08/07 live news feed, updates and open thread
- New England Patriots links 8/07/17 - Pats-Jags joint practices kick off preseason
- Former Patriots, Texans NT Vince Wilfork announces retirement
- Patriots 2017 training camp: Four things to watch during joint practices with the Jacksonville Jaguars
