Earlier this week, I reviewed some of my gem selections on offense from the past two seasons. Today, we turn our eyes to the defense. While I have found a few intriguing offensive players during the two years of this exercise, it’s on the defensive side where I’ve done most of my cooking.
Let’s dive in.
Defensive Tackles
2025 class selections: Alfred Collins, Joshua Farmer, Ty Hamilton, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, Ty Robinson
Potential UDFA sleepers — Cam Horsley, Coziah Izzard, Fatorma Mulbah
2024 class selections: Ruke
Orhorhoro, T’Vondre Sweat, Maason Smith, Brandon Dorlus, Jaden Crumedy
While size and elite athleticism are valued in every position group, when it comes to the guys up front, it’s less of an option and more of a requirement. That can take shape in all kinds of playstyles and different body types, but a preference is given to big, powerful, highly athletic prospects. I find the players with the types of traits I prefer tend to have the kind of athleticism and size that lands them with an RAS of roughly 8.40 and above. If they score lower than that, they usually have a unique trait that makes them worthy of exception, like Farmer’s 35” arm-length (35” arms, 83⅜” wingspan), or T’Vondre Sweat’s explosiveness relative to his larger-than-usual size. Of course, they also need to flash on tape.
Both Longhorns I selected, Sweat and Collins, hit the ground running and validated my belief in their tape and unique physical traits. Seeing Brandon Dorlus come on after sitting most of his rookie year and collect nine sacks in 2025 was another big win.
I don’t have any players yet that I’d reasonably call a miss. I’m pretty pleased with the results here. Each player has played NFL snaps, and only Jaden Crumedy has changed teams. Even my UDFA projected guys are hanging around on practice squads, with Horsley getting a call-up to the active roster to play 14 snaps in Week 18. Considering that many of these guys were developmental traits guys — exactly the type of players you should be looking for deeper and deeper into a draft — many of them having to wait until Year 2 to get significant playing time isn’t unexpected.
EDGE
2024 class selections: Xavier Thomas, Adisa Isaac, Chris Braswell, Cedric Johnson, Gabriel Murphy, Marshawn Kneeland
The 2024 edge rusher class was considered to be a pretty weak one, and that holds up here. Pass rusher is a primary position that always gets pushed up the board, but 2024’s first edge (Laiatu Latu) didn’t come off the board until pick 15. Four other edge players — Dallas Turner, Jared Verse, Chop Robinson, and Darius Robinson — were all polarizing prospects who have been a mixed bag so far.
The quick notes on this group.
- Thomas went to a bad Arizona team with a wide-open edge room. He managed some playing time as a rookie, but only played 15 defensive snaps in four games before being released in late November. He signed on to the Texans’ practice squad a few days later and signed a reserve/futures contract with Houston this January. I’m curious to see if a little seasoning in the Houston pass rush lab turns him into a decent situational rusher.
- I had this to say of Braswell in my eval: “He may never fully develop into a starter, but that’s not what the Steelers need him to be. He possesses enough athletic traits, persistence, and a desirable team-first attitude that could make him a valuable role player.” That’s what Braswell has been since Day 1. He isn’t a supercharged alternate like Nick Herbig, but he’s been a good piece in Tampa’s rotation.
- Isaac was the twitchiest athlete in this group, but he has not been able to get on the field due to his health.
- Johnson saw 142 pass rush snaps in 2025. In that very small sample size, he got a score of 7.6 in PFF’s Pass-Rush-Productivity stat, a metric that PFF describes as “A formula that combines sacks, hits and hurries relative to how many times they rush the passer.” For context, both Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig registered an 8.2 PRP, so Cincinnati might have a player ready for a larger role.
- Gabriel Murphy was highly productive in college, but his shorter-than-typical arms and just average speed seem to have capped his ceiling thus far. He’s got a handful of NFL snaps, but has spent most of his time on the practice squad.
- Lastly, Marshawn Kneeland sadly passed away during this past season.
The Steelers haven’t desperately needed edge rushers. After evaluating them in 2024, I skipped them in 2025 as Nick Herbig’s emergence made it seem like even less of an immediate need. Naturally, the Steelers proved me a year early by selecting Jack Sawyer in the fourth round. I look forward to diving into the position again this year, when the class is seemingly more promising.
Cornerbacks
2025 class selections: Jacob Parrish, Nohl Williams, Darien Porter, Cobee Bryant, Dorian Strong, Zah Frazier
2024 class selections: Andru Phillips, Renardo Green, Nehemiah Pritchett, Jarvis Brownlee Jr., Myles Harden
While I look for über athletes to play up front for the defense, I actually think you can be a little more lenient about explosiveness in the defensive backfield. Don’t get me wrong, we love it when a Nick Emmanwori-type athlete gets a perfect RAS score, and then it translates to the field. We’ll discuss that further in the next section with the safeties, but I find cornerbacks and safeties to be like their offensive counterparts (receivers) every draft cycle. Some players put up freaky numbers at the Combine and get pushed up the board, regardless of what they look like on tape. Meanwhile, a corner that runs a 4.50-4.60 can still win regularly on Sundays if they have good technique, instincts, and spatial awareness. I’m not saying to look for players who test poorly, but just pointing out that a player scoring less than a 9.00 isn’t a career death sentence — especially when you focus on press corners as much as I have these past two classes.
Eight of these 11 selections have multiple starts, even if none have yet become superstars. But that’s what this gems series is about, finding useful roleplayers and starters. Nohl Williams is the one I might take the most pride in from last cycle, but I don’t think I have any major hits or misses. Frazier missed the season with an injury, and Pritchett hasn’t cracked into the starting role for an elite and Super Bowl-winning secondary, so I’m not too put out by his lack of play time. Bryant was an UDFA because of his size, and he got a start for Atlanta near the end of the season.
Safeties
2025 class selections: Craig Woodson, Jonas Sanker, KevinWinston Jr., Billy Bowman Jr., Caleb Ransaw, R.J. Mickens, Jordan Hancock
If you aren’t terminally online, you might have missed some post-Super Bowl discourse regarding nickel-hybrid Nick Emmanwori.
RAS is a useful tool, but it’s just a small piece of the puzzle. Just because a player can run fast and jump far, doesn’t mean they’re destined for Canton. When scouting safeties, especially, you want guys who are sound tacklers, can stick to tight ends, slot receivers, and running backs in coverage, and if they have some freaky length, speed, or ability to deliver jarring hits without sacrificing tackle efficiency, all the better. Some guys are built to play around the line of scrimmage. Others are meant to help contain or erase threats deep downfield. And in recent years, there has been a growing value in finding players that are slot-safety hybrids. If you can find a player who can do all three, all the better.
- Craig Woodson was that last option for the Patriots this year. While his box score doesn’t jump out at you, the New England defense was good enough this year to take advantage of a favorable schedule. Woodson’s ability to play in the box (347 snaps), slot (155 snaps), and deep (661 snaps) was a big part of that.
- Jonas Sanker was one of my favorite watches last year because of how he loves to hit. The other safety to quickly earn a starting gig and register over 1,000 snaps.
- Bowman Jr. got off to a great start, but unfortunately, tore his Achilles.
- Ransaw, similarly, was shut down with an injury before the season began. He and the team had put off foot surgery, hoping he could recover in time for the season, but it didn’t work out that way.
- Winston Jr. started six games in the back half of the season, after missing the start of the season due to an injury he suffered in his last year of college.
- Mickens also started six games for the Chargers.
- Hancock was a rotational player who got 138 coverage snaps for the Bills.
Again, no superstars, but no players I’d call misses yet either. This year is another deep safety class, so I look forward to sharing some of this year’s crop with you.
