NFL Draft preview: Edge rushers

Edge rusher is another position of need for the Saints.

It’s officially NFL Draft season. The Super Bowl is over and it’s time to shift our focus to who the New Orleans Saints could draft in April.

We already previewed some of the offensive tackles the Saints could look to add in the draft, so I thought today we’d look at some of the edge rushers the Saints could select with their first two picks – and there are quite a few quality ones in this draft.

Dallas Turner, Alabama

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There seems to be a big three in this draft class that could fall anywhere from No. 5 to No. 20, it all just depends on how they perform in the combine and how teams rank them.

The first guy, who seems to be the one projected to be drafted first in most mock drafts, is Dallas Turner. The Alabama standout posted 11 sacks and 55 pressures in his junior season.

Turner is an experienced edge rusher who has shown the growth you want to see out of a young player. He played exactly 647 in 2022 and 2023, and saw his numbers grow from 37 pressures and five sacks to 55 pressures and 11 sacks while being the guy teams key in on (he played with No. 3 pick Will Anderson last season).

I think there’s a good chance Turner goes earlier than No. 14, but we’ve seen the Saints be aggressive in making moves for edge rushers in the past.

Laiatu Latu, UCLA

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The second of the big three is Laiatu Latu out of UCLA. Latu was an absolute stud for the Bruins in 2023, posting 15 sacks and 62 pressures in his junior season.

He’s been one of the more productive pass rushers over the past two season, totaling 127 pressures and 27 sacks since the start of the 2022 season. He is uber talented as has over 1,200 snaps of experience.

I think he has a pretty good chance of being drafted early, but with 3-4 QB’s and a handful of wideouts expected to go inside the top-10, Latu could slip into the Saints lap.

Jared Verse, FSU

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The final of the big three is Florida State’s Jared Verse. The FSU standout passes the eye test. Standing at 6-foot-4, 260-pounds, he also fits the Saints prototypical edge rusher.

Verse has been productive in all four seasons he’s been in college. In his first two seasons (at Albany), Verse totaled 53 pressures and 11 sacks in just over 300 pass rush snaps. He’d transfer to FSU in 2022 where he’d record 98 pressures and 20 sacks in just over 500 pass rush snaps.

He’s big, he’s productive and he’s one of the better run defending edges in this class. I’d expect him to be the third of the big three to be drafted (this is before the NFL Combine and Pro Day’s), so if anyone’s going to be there at 14, I expect it to be him.

Darius Robinson

Darius Robinson was a bright spot on a Missouri defense that was much improved in 2023. He was the catalyst for their defensive line and finished his five-year career with career-highs in sacks (9), pressures (42), hurries (27) and stops (27).

The concern with Robinson is “can he do it again?” In his first four seasons in college, Robinson totaled 30 pressures and five sacks. He doesn’t have much experience as a top-end edge rusher, but if he can continue to play like he did in 2023, he deserves to be a top pick.

I don’t think he or any of the other guys on this list after Verse would be the pick at 14, so this is where we enter the second round territory of this list, and Robinson would be a pretty nice selection at 45.

Chop Robinson, Penn State

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Robinson is probably not the ideal draftee for the Saints because he seems to be a bit more of a project than most of these guys, and I’m sure that’s the last thing Saints fans want.

Robinson doesn’t exactly have the numbers that the other pass rushers have, he’s posted just 10 sacks in his three year career. Like I said, he’s a bit more of a project pick, but he’s got the athletic ability to be a solid edge rusher in this league if he’s developed properly.

Bralen Trice, Washington

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Bralen Trice has been a highly productive edge rusher for the Washington Huskies for the past two seasons and was one of their stars in their win over Texas in the semi-finals.

Trice finished his junior season with eight sacks and 80 pressures, that’s more pressures than anyone on this list. This wasn’t a fluke either, in 2022, Trice had nine sacks and 70 pressures.

One knock on Trice is that he’s been known to miss tackles. He’s missed 29 in the past two seasons alone, whiffing on over 30% of his tackles. If he can improve as a tackler, he can become a very good edge in the NFL.

Chris Braswell, Alabama

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The final edge rusher on this list is Chris Braswell. The Alabama product finished his junior campaign with eight sacks and 56 pressures.

He was overshadowed a bit last season as he played next to Dallas Turner, but Braswell was still very effective in both pass rush and run defense. He’s missed just nine tackles in his career while totaling 76 tackles.

He was recently mocked to the Saints in PFF’s most recent mock draft, so he could very well be available at pick 45.