One underrated 2025 NFL free agent at every defensive position
2S20FB1 Miami Dolphins linebacker Tyrel Dodson (11) celebrates after an interception with safety Jevon Holland (8) during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)
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- Josh Uche has potential despite a lackluster 2024 season: The former Patriots draft pick ranked second in pressure rate in 2022 among edge defenders.
- Tyrel Dodson remains a strong coverage linebacker: Dodson was waived in the middle of the 2024 season but earned a third-ranked 82.9 PFF coverage grade.
- 2025 NFL Draft season is here: Try PFF’s best-in-class Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2025’s top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
With Super Bowl 59 in the books, the attention is on free agency, the NFL calendar’s next marquee event. While the biggest names usually garner most of the headlines, we’re highlighting one impending free agent from each defensive position who might not get the deserved media hype but could be very useful for any team that signs them.
Click here for the offense version.
Edge Defender: Joshua Uche
The Michigan product had a breakout season in 2022, when he earned an eighth-ranked 87.8 PFF pass-rushing grade (among 100 qualifying edge defenders that season) and recorded a second-ranked 21.1% pressure rate at the position.
Even though Uche was a one-dimensional player who only contributed on pass plays, that made him a valuable piece who consistently manufactured pressure on third downs. But Uche’s career since then has taken a downturn, and even a mid-season trade to the Chiefs in 2024 didn’t help. Regardless, Uche is only 26 years old, and his previously displayed potential should encourage a team to bet on him.
Interior Defender: Tershawn Wharton
Wharton grew more important for Kansas City’s defense over time, playing a career-high 780 snaps in his fifth season with the Chiefs this past year. And while he has not necessarily stood out as a run defender, he became a solid pass-rusher from the interior. Wharton’s 71.9 PFF pass-rushing grade in 2024 ranked 21st among 95 qualifying interior defenders, while his 10.5% pass-rush win rate placed him 26th.
Wharton saved the best for last, as he earned a career-high 90.1 PFF overall grade on the biggest stage, Super Bowl 59. That mark tied for 23rd among 1,590 single-game performances throughout the 2024 NFL season.
Linebacker: Tyrel Dodson
Dodson’s 2024 season did not necessarily go as planned after he signed a one-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle waived him mid-season, and the Dolphins then claimed him before he missed time due to injury. Dodson was still playing at a high level and proved that he can be an above-average starter for a lot of teams.
While the 26-year-old’s 67.3 PFF overall grade ranked only 34th among 84 qualifying linebackers, he truly stood out as a coverage defender with his third-ranked 82.9 PFF coverage grade. He struggles against the run, evidenced by a poor 47.0 PFF run-defense grade in 2023, but his contributions in coverage should have a lot of teams interested in signing him. Good coverage linebackers are a bigger need than ever before.
Cornerback: Paulson Adebo
Adebo has been essentially the definition of a boom-or-bust cornerback since he came into the league. Over the past four seasons, he has allowed 1.37 receiving yards per coverage snap — the sixth-highest average among 92 cornerbacks — and has given up the 11th-most receiving yards per reception (13.6). No cornerback has allowed more receiving yards over the past four seasons than Adebo (2,631).
However, his 12 interceptions over that span are tied for the seventh most with Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II, and he has forced an incompletion on 14.8% of the passes sent his way (16th).
Admittedly, Adebo’s playing style is not for everyone, but a defensive coordinator who prefers to play a lot of aggressive man coverage will surely value what he brings to the table.
Safety: Elijah Molden
The Chargers traded for Elijah Molden a week before the 2024 regular season and gave up as little as possible — a 2026 seventh-round pick — in the process. Los Angeles was on the better end of that deal, as Molden played a career-high 761 snaps despite being put on injured reserve after Week 17 with a shin injury. His 76.5 PFF overall grade was a career-best mark.
Molden’s PFF overall grade ranked 16th among 98 qualifying safeties, and his 75.4 PFF coverage grade placed him 14th. He also ranked fourth among safeties in passer rating allowed (44.9). While Molden does not possess the versatility of some other safeties, he can be very valuable in a well-defined role as a deep safety.
