• The top edge rushers bring different styles: Abdul Carter, James Pearce Jr. and Mike Green all display elite traits but excel in different categories.

• Graham shows why he is DT1: Michigan’s Mason Graham has established himself as the 2025 NFL Draft’s top defensive tackle, thanks to elite burst, bend and pass-rush moves.

• 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: 6 minutes

As we head into the home stretch of the 2025 NFL Draft season, it’s time to stack some of the top prospects up against one another with some superlatives.

Here, we look at standout traits and styles from the top defensive linemen.

Best Pass-Rush Repertoire

Ezeiruaku is as pure a pressure generator as there is in this class. His greatest asset is his deep arsenal of pass-rush moves to the inside and outside of offensive tackles. He uses his larger-than-expected wingspan to long-arm blockers as well as set them up with feints to get to the outside. Ezeiruaku not only knows how deep his arsenal is, but he also knows how to sequence his moves as the game progresses.

DT: Derrick Harmon, Oregon

Harmon is a perfect fit for an even front defense that needs a productive pass-rushing 3-technique. His swim move, ability to dip and rip through blocks and push-pull move are all featured in his tape. His upper-body strength and excellent hand usage create a load for blockers to handle and are the biggest reason he led the FBS in pressures this season.

Best Burst

Pearce’s explosiveness off the line of scrimmage is tantalizing. While he still needs to work on his pass-rush plan beyond that, there’s no question about his elite first step — the biggest reason he racked up 107 pressures and 21 sacks over the past two seasons. If that isn’t enough proof, Pearce raced to a 4.47-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, the best time among the edge defenders who participated.

DT: Mason Graham, Michigan

Graham’s burst and explosiveness at a reported playing weight of around 315 pounds was tough for college offensive linemen to handle for the past three seasons. That caliber of explosiveness has allowed him not only to function as a 3-technique but all over the line of scrimmage. He even took some reps as a stand-up edge rusher this season and was prominently featured as the looper on stunts. Most defensive tackles simply don’t move the way Graham does.

Best Bend

EDGE: Abdul Carter, Penn State

Carter has a ridiculous ability to maintain leverage out of his stance and dip his shoulders to adjust while engaged with blockers. He finds a way to bend underneath offensive tackles without losing any momentum along the way. In just one year as a full-time edge defender, he found the right combination of explosiveness and bend to become an elite edge rusher in the NFL.

DT: Mason Graham, Michigan

Graham’s shorter arm length means he needs to find other ways to win. One of those is with quickness, as stated above. The other is to play with enough bend, leverage and relentlessness to work underneath blockers who have a length advantage. Graham does the latter particularly well in the run game as he penetrates into the backfield and pursues the football.

Best Long Arm

As mentioned above, Ezeiruaku has a keen understanding of how to use his wingspan to apply pressure and set up his next move. His hand placement is superb as a pass rusher and in the run game. If Ezeiruaku consistently wins with his length, the combinations of moves he can create throughout a game feel endless.

Norman-Lott uses his length and explosive hands to startle offensive linemen just as the ball is snapped. That explosive nature led to him leading all qualified defensive tackles with an 18.9% pass-rush win rate in 2024. He still needs to prove he can play more snaps every week, but Norman-Lott’s potential as a pass rusher is built upon his long arms and explosive hand usage inside.

Best Bull Rush

EDGE: Bradyn Swinson, LSU

Swinson put some ridiculous bull-rush reps on tape where he cleanly forklifted offensive tackles off their feet and into the quarterback’s lap. That power, as well as his excellent hand usage, is the reason he earned an elite 90.3 PFF pass-rush grade and generated 60 pressures in 2024. Swinson will need to play in a defense that prefers stand-up outside linebackers as its primary edge defenders, but he has more than enough power and potential to shine in the NFL.

DT: Jordan Phillips, Maryland

Phillips doesn’t currently have a deep arsenal beyond his bull rush, but he’s certainly made that his trademark move. When he explodes out of his stance and gets two hands on an offensive lineman’s chest plate, he takes them for a ride. Time will tell if he can add more to his repertoire, but Phillips has plenty of NFL-caliber play strength.

Best Swim Move

EDGE: Mike Green, Marshall

Green wins in multiple ways as a pass rusher, and one is with a devastatingly quick swim move. Of course, he had a major athletic advantage playing in the Sun Belt, but he uses his swim move to disengage with blockers as effectively as any player in this edge group. 

DT: Mason Graham, Michigan

Graham’s hands are as quick as his feet, which is much needed, considering he lacks length in his arms. He makes it work, though, with an extremely tight swim move that allows him to penetrate into the backfield seemingly at will. Graham’s ability to use his tools to his advantage is why he is clearly the best defensive tackle in this class.

Best Spin Move

EDGE: Nic Scourton, Texas A&M

Scourton featured his swim move more prominently in 2023 as a Purdue Boilermaker, when he earned an elite 90.9 PFF pass-rush grade. When he’s able to build momentum as a stand-up rusher, he can quickly get to his spin move as offensive tackles brace for a burst to the outside or his power. If Scourton is unleashed in the NFL more than he was at Texas A&M in 2024, expect to see plenty of his spin move.

Peebles was one of college football’s most effective pass rushers over the past three seasons while at Duke and Virginia Tech. He already featured a deep pass-rush arsenal prior to 2024, but he added a counter spin move that he featured more often this past season as a complement to his already excellent hand usage. Peebles could be a Day 2 sleeper for a team searching for interior pass-rush help.