2026 Draft: EDGE

[BobDigital]

Early days still as far as my personal scouting. But when it comes to edge at this point i am getting the feeling this will be a rather deep class, but without any true top tier options. Bailey is the only guy i've watched i think has the chance to make more than 1 pro bowl in his career, and it isn't based on who is he now as a player, but who i think he can be. Everyone else looks like just a solid starter at best. Guys like Bain, Faulk and Parker seem to be getting over drafted in mocks due to position and need from NFL teams more than they are worth of those spots.

I think there may be a lot of value to be found in rounds 2-4 in this draft. IDK about beyond that. But i don't see any steals form EDGE. Cause teams will not let a EDGE fall far if they believe in him. They are too valuable. I am hoping we lose this draft with 2 guys and I'd be happy to use back to back pick even for the right players.

 

[BobDigital]

My scouting report on the divisive Matayo Uiagalelei. Some rank him as a borderline first, some as a day 3 prospect.

First lets get the negatives out of the way. I don't think he can come in and start week 1. Maybe not even year 1. His anchor is inconsistent. Hand fighting is rare to see. Doesn't get his arms up enough IMO. His burst and bend around the edge is kinda meh. His bull rush is kinda meh. A lot of stuff is very unpolished and inconsistent here. And even if they do get polished up i don't think he'll ever have a bend or burst outside worthy of note. Nor do i think he will ever be a great bull rusher even if he puts on 20 lbs of muscle. He isn't twitchy enough on the first step. At least i think so. I don't see any pro bowls in his future even if he hits his full potential.

Now the good stuff. He is very young. Won't be 21 till rookie mini camp. There are a lot of technique things to improve, and i think a lot can be. He has some fantastic physical traits. His feet are extremely quick for a guy his size. His lower body is twitchy at times. He has really impressive reaction time if you look closely. His arms are longer than normal even for a 6'6 270lb. He uses them to good effect when it comes to making tackles or gaining space on an OL man. He is very slippery for a guy his size and manages to squeeze through some tight windows to get into the back field on occasion. His anchor when it is good can hold up to a double team very well. There are tons of flashes and a few stand out games/sequences where you see high end talent. Look at how he ended that Ohio State game in 24 for instance. Took it over in the end vs one of the best schools in the nation. His spin move is actually very fast and smooth, again due to how unusually quick his feet are for his size. He is rarely off balance because of this.

His run blocking is okay, but can and should be improved. When he gets low like he should, it is a lot better. He wants to play standing up to utilize his hands immediately, and cause his first step isn't special anyway. He doesn't win fast and i won't say he has a non stop motor per say, but he consistently works though at times i saw him get behind the play and he doesn't have recovery speed if that happens. Something i don't often talk about with players are their attitude. As i like to stick to film and leave that for others, but since so much of his value will be based on his ability to be coached up and improved, i watched some. He gives the feel of a very coach-able guy.

Overall he is a guy you look at and ask, what can he be? The answer is he can be very good. He has some rare but not quite elite traits along with a good foundation of skills. Coach him up and he can become a pretty good every down starter. When you look at his flashes and think to yourself 'imagine if we could get that out of him more consistently?' I understand the borderline first round hype. But i'm not sold that will happen, such a pick can only be justified by a more finished product or higher upside. But the floor feels secure to at least be rotational and maybe have the occasional pretty good game where he makes some plays most likely.

Overall, his ceiling is pretty tempting and the floor doesn't seem too low. I see him being more than a 'full project' but needing work. I have him as a 4th rounder and if he makes it pass the middle of that round his value really starts to shoot up. But i wouldn't be surprised if he went in mid to late 3rd. 2nd is a reach IMO.

 

[mayoclinic]

Mike Renner on Malachi Lawrence:

46. Malachi Lawrence, DE, UCF
Lawrence has broad shoulders, long arms, and plays with an uncoachable violence. He got better every single year at UCF and down the stretch this season was unblockable.

Renner's 2026 NFL Draft Big Board: Top 150 prospects as pass rushers, wide receivers dominate top of list

There's still a few months to go, but the 2026 draft class is beginning to take shape.

www.cbssports.com

 

[mayoclinic]

 

[mayoclinic]

 

[manxman2601]

35” arms too. Probably my favourite mid-late round edge option other than you know who.

 

[mayoclinic]

For me, a lot of how I view the Pats' 2026 draft will depend on who is available with those 2 4th round picks. Between OL, EDGE, and DB there is a ton of depth, and a ton of variability between draft boards.

Malachi Lawrence and/or Akheem Mesidor in the 4th would be awesome.

 

[manxman2601]

The best pure pass rushers in this draft based upon win rate in true pass sets. Again, i'm excluding those that don't really feature in any draft discussion.

1. David Bailey - 40.2
2. Clev Lubin - 38.3
3=. Derrick Moore - 36.0
3=. Malachi Lawrence - 36.0
5. Akheem Mesidor - 35.3
6. Joshua Josephs - 34.3
7. Rueben Bain - 29.3
8=. TJ Parker - 28.6
8=. Cashius Howell - 28.6
10. Romello Height - 28.3
11. R Mason Thomas - 28.1

for context

Abdul Carter - 35.1
James Pearce Jr - 29.8
Bradyn Swinson - 34.1
Jared Verse '23 - 28.6
Will McDonald '22 - 39.6
Nick Herbig '22 - 35.7
Will Anderson '22 - 27.1


David Bailey, Clev Lubin and Derrick Moore were all top 5 last year too. As pass rushers go, this group this year are pretty good.

 

[manxman2601]

Derrick Moore has been a very good pass rusher for two years straight. My only real concern is that he relies a lot on power which won't work so well in the NFL as much. Proven production though.

 

[manxman2601]

I really like Clev Lubin. My only concern is that he's more of an OLB than a DE.

 

[manxman2601]

Malachi Lawrence.

He might have the highest upside of almost all the edge rushers in the class other than David Bailey. The issue is his floor. He hasn't been that good against the run and he's still pretty raw.

 

[manxman2601]

My narrowed down EDGE targets in order.

1. David Bailey

2. Rueben Bain

3=. TJ Parker

3=. Akheem Mesidor

5. Derrick Moore (might swap these)

6. Malachi Lawrence (might swap these)

7. Clev Lubin

Kenyatta Jackson, Caden Curry, Cashius Howell, Gabe Jacas, Joshua Josephs and Zion Young are on my "they're fine" list.

 

[mayoclinic]

I haven't studied Malachi Lawrence, but Mike Renner says he (1) "plays with violence", and (2) has been unstoppable the 2nd half of the season.

Trajectory matters. Lawrence and Kenyatta Jackson both intetest me due to length and upside.

Still holding out hope for Yhonzae Pierre.

Zion Young less interesting to me since his off-field issues. Seems too out of control.

 

[manxman2601]

Zion Young less interesting to me since his off-dield issues. Seems too out of control.

The drink driving thing is a problem for sure. I think Vrabel might like his on-field aggression though so long as it can be controlled a bit.

 

[BobDigital]

No love for R Mason?

My breakdown of R Mason Thomas.

His run defense isn't really worth mentioning. And due to his frame and shorter arms that is probably going to be a thing for his career. I don't ever see him developing into an every down player. However i think there are some technique things he can improve here to maybe get in some of those middling downs as a pass rusher. 6'2 249lbs some reports say? (looks more like 240lbs to me... maybe less). But yeah, I've seen smaller guys who were willing run defenders make due with less. But i am not holding my breath here.

Now for his pass rush. I heard terms like elite bend, great speed, a lot of pass rush moves, great first step. All that jazz. Frankly, I wasn't blown away by anything. Not to say it is bad, but i don't think he was honestly a stand out in any single one of these areas. Is bend is good, not elite. (Good is fine... but let's not call it something it isn't. Bain has elite bend.... this ain't that). His speed again is only good. His first step is pretty good, but not special for his size. As for his pass rush moves. I saw him do a number of things, but he pretty much only won one way with 2 or 3 moves. Any hand fighting seemed entirely incidental from my POV. Either he just beats the guy to the edge and bends in a pure match of speed/quickness/bend. Or he uses a very nice stutter step to cause hesitation then does the same. I didn't see him win any other way outside of a single bull rush. Which i guess is impressive... but i never saw it work so well again, so fluky things can happen i guess. The lack of any inside moves was notable. At least any i personally saw have an effect. Not saying they don't exist, but i didn't see them. No spins either.

A number of times he won it wasn't instant. and frankly a better QB would have gotten rid of the ball.

A few things i liked were despite his height he got some PDs... Got to like that. And he never gives up on a play and can run guys down. His highlight run 40 yards down the field or so is a great example of this. However I am not convinced on his ability to finish a moving dancing target. While his first step straight line speed is good, I didn't see any proof of sudden change of direction quickness that looked notable. Not saying it isn't there... But again, I just didn't see it in anything i looked at. Show me a few highlights of him making plays in a 'phone booth' with quick twitch and I'll change my tune.

Also saw he had a lot of missed tackles. He seemed pretty solid tackling to me in pass rush situations. So i will assume a lot of these happened on run plays, which i saw fewer snaps of. (Sorry Bakers, I know you were hoping for me to see it differently than this, but even i don't value my opinion that much on prospect rankings, so you don't need to either. The only thing i ever promise about them is i will call it how i see it even if it makes me look silly sometimes).

It may sound like i am saying he sucks, I'm not. But when you are coming in the NFL to do a specialized job, everything about it should be under an extra powerful microscope. And i don't think he is an elite specialist. Is he a good specialist? Remains to be seen, but maybe worth a shot. Does he have NFL worthy traits? Absolutely. But he isn't a freak who can keep winning cause he does one particular skill well enough to set everything else up. He will need to win with more depth to his game than i think is currently NFL ready.

I see him as a 5th round pick. Only because i wouldn't personally use a 4th on him. If another team did I wouldn't be surprised at all, or say they are wrong. i think his value is one of the first 10 picks of that round and you hope you got a nice little steal.

 

[manxman2601]

 

[manxman2601]

 

[mayoclinic]

 

[mayoclinic]

 

[mayoclinic]

More Yhonzae Pierre porn:



Things I like:

- Explosive, powerful, disruptive
- High pass rush win rate, causes a lit of turnovers
- Rushes from both sides
- Drops into coverage 19% of time
- Upward trajectory