This is the second in a series on the upcoming NFL Draft, which will take place April 28 through 30. Today: The edge rushers
The term edge rusher has taken hold in the NFL to help find some common ground between defensive ends and outside linebackers. And with each passing year, that line that separates those two positions becomes more clouded.
As the spread passing attacks continue to take over college football offensively, college defenses have to find ways to stop them. And rushing the passer remains the best way to do that.
This year's draft is deep with pass rushers of all shapes and sizes. We could see as many as eight taken in the first round, with perhaps five being selected in the top 10 picks.
The Steelers have arguably the top edge rusher in the NFL in outside linebacker and 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt.
Thing is, when the Steelers selected Watt with the 30th pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, he was the ninth edge rusher selected. All he has done is produce 72 sacks in 77 career games.
Last season, Watt missed two full games and parts of others with injuries. And he's always been a player who will pull himself out of games at times to attempt to conserve energy for later in the game because of how hard he plays.
Alex Highsmith, who took over for Bud Dupree last season, produced six sacks in 16 games and should continue to get better as the former third-round draft pick gets more comfortable in the NFL.
Behind those two, however, the Steelers have some holes. Derrek Tuszka, a former seventh-round pick of the Broncos, was signed after being released by Denver. He produced 19 tackles and two sacks in limited playing time, while Taco Charlton, signed after Melvin Ingram was dealt to the Chiefs for a sixth-round draft pick, had 18 tackles and half a sack in 11 games.
Charlton has not been resigned in free agency, but the Steelers did add versatile Genard Avery in free agency. Avery has started games at both inside and outside linebacker in his career, lessening the need for the Steelers to select an edge rusher early in this draft.
But the Steelers could still add an edge rusher, and as usually the case, they come in all shapes and sizes.
Michigan's Aiden Hutchinson, Kayvon Thibodeaux of Oregon and Travon Walker of Georgia are largely the consensus top-three edge rushers available in this draft and it wouldn't be a surprise to see that trio selected in the top four picks.
One wildcard will be seeing what happens with Michigan's David Ojabo. Considered a sure first-round prospect when the process began, he suffered a torn Achilles' tendon at his pro day, clouding his draft status, even though he should be ready to play at some point during the 2022 season.
The Steelers likely won't start looking at edge rushers -- unless the value becomes too great to pass up -- until Day 3 of the draft.
Jeffery Gunter of Coastal Carolina could be one the Steelers look to on Day 3 to beef up their depth.
Gunter (6-4, 258 pounds) is an athletic edge rusher who will need to continue to work on his ability as a run defender. But he had 17 sacks and 35 tackles for a loss in the past three seasons for Coastal Carolina, helping put the Chanticleers on the college football map.
He was one of 14 players asked to work out at Coastal Carolina's pro day recently, the most in program history. Gunter, who showed off a 4.7-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis -- including a nice 1.57-second 10-yard split -- showed he's not just a player who relies on speed. At his pro day, Gunter showed he has power, as well.
“I just feel like I wanted to show everybody that I’m a smooth athlete (and) that I can do things as far as dropping and be smooth in my pass rush, and I feel like I did that,” Gunter told the Myrtle Beach Post and Courier. “And I showed them I’m pretty strong, too. Thirty reps on bench (press), if y’all didn’t know.”
If not Gunter, Western Kentucky's DeAngelo Malone, Western Michigan's Ali Fayad, Christopher Allen of Alabama or Carson Wells of Colorado could be nice fits as developmental edge rushers who can help on special teams right away while seeing time as backups.
Lolley's Edge Rusher Rankings
1. Aidan Hutchinson, Michigan (6-7, 260)
2. Trayvon Walker, Georgia (6-5, 272)
3. Kayvon Thibodeaux, Oregon (6-4, 254)
4. Jermaine Johnson, Florida State (6-5, 254)
5. George Karlaftis, Purdue (6-4, 266)
6. Boye Mafe, Minnesota (6-4, 261)
7. David Ojabo, Michigan (6-4, 250)
8. Arnold Ebiketie, Penn State (6-2, 250)
9. Nick Bonito, Oklahoma (6-3, 248)
10. Dominique Robinson, Miami (Ohio) (6-5, 253)
Also See:
Steelers NFL Draft Preview: Running Backs
