Ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft (April 24-26 in Green Bay), we’ll be taking a position-by-position look at the Detroit Lions‘ roster and how the team’s needs can be met on draft weekend. Today: Edge.

Current roster outlook

Argue the order however you’d like, but there’s no question about it anymore: Aidan Hutchinson is in the elite tier of edge rushers, a group of transcendent superstars who can turn a game on its head in a moment’s notice. Hutchinson showed he belonged there when he posted 101 pressures as a second-year pro in 2023. It was only confirmed by his 45 pressures and 7½ sacks in five games in 2024, before a broken leg against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6 robbed him of a season that seemed destined for Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Hutchinson’s presence can’t be overstated, and it’s important to remember that when evaluating what the Lions have at edge rusher heading into the draft.

If the Lions were to play a game today, Marcus Davenport would be the assumed starter on the opposite side of Hutchinson. In a vacuum, that’s a nice fit; Davenport has the physical tools and powerful play style the Lions want out of their edge defenders. But it’d be disingenuous to not acknowledge the innate risk attached to Davenport, who has missed 28 of his last 34 possible games due to injuries. It’s not Davenport’s fault these ailments continue to pile up, but relying on him to play 17 games (plus whatever comes in a potential postseason run) is rooted more in hope than anything else.

Depth behind Hutchinson and Davenport includes Josh Paschal, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Isaac Ukwu and Nate Lynn. Paschal, who could get some increased reps along the interior of the defensive line next season, had 31 pressures on 370 pass-rush snaps in 2024. Muhammad, back on a one-year deal after being one of Detroit’s most successful mercenaries, had 24 pressures and three sacks, totals he posted over nine games.

Level of need: Medium-High

Labeling the need at edge defender as “high” wouldn’t be accurate, not when a top-five pass rusher is on the roster. And despite Davenport’s injury history, he is a capable starter when healthy. That said, it’s a need that can’t be ignored by general manager Brad Holmes. The Lions exited the draft in 2023 and 2024 with eight and nine edge defenders on the roster, respectively, and they currently only have six. The position is going to be addressed at some point. The key question is when.

At the top

Abdul Carter (Penn State) and Jalon Walker (Georgia) are a couple of pass rushers projected to go in the top 10, and Carter will almost assuredly be off the board within the top four. Walker did a bit of everything for the Bulldogs (he’s listed as a linebacker and played both on and off the ball), but some of his best moments in 2024 came with him working off the edge.

Finding consensus rankings for the next tier of pass rushers is difficult. There’s a general shared thinking of who makes up the immediate prospects behind Carter and Walker — Donovan Ezeiruaku (Boston College), Mike Green (Marshall), James Pearce Jr. (Tennessee), Nic Scourton (Texas A&M), Shemar Stewart (Texas A&M) and Mykel Williams (Georgia) — but opinions on the order vary, and each player has flaws.

For potential draftees like Ezeiruaku (6-foot-2½, 248 pounds) and Pearce (6-5, 245), it’s their leaner size. Both were extremely productive — especially Ezeiruaku, who was second in the nation in sacks (16½) and tied for sixth in pressures (60) last season — but it’d take the Lions straying away from their typical type. Not impossible, but it’s something to consider.

Stewart (6-5, 267) and Williams (6-5, 260) are in a similar mold of one another. Each of them have the measurables the Lions desire, and both are supreme athletes. The latter observation is particularly true for Stewart, who made waves at the combine and posted a perfect Relative Athletic Score. He’s a true athletic anomaly, which makes his 4½ sacks over the last three seasons all the more stupefying.

Something to keep in mind with Williams, who had 26 pressures and five sacks as a junior: He only received 249 pass-rush snaps in 2024. That’s comfortably less than Ezeiruaku (428), Green (354), Carter (350), Scourton (316) and Stewart (315). There’s perhaps some upside with Williams that isn’t available in many of the other prospects.

The concerns for Green are of the off-field variety. He’s been accused of sexual assault twice, though he’s never been charged with a crime. Green denied all wrongdoing while speaking about the alleged incidents at the combine, so it’ll be up to teams to do their due diligence while vetting him. His numbers in 2024, including a nation-leading 17 sacks, are elite.

Teams who could be after an edge in Round 1

Every team (outside of the Tennessee Titans)

Down the board

If the Lions leave Day 1 without an edge defender, it shouldn’t be cause for immediate concern.

There isn’t a position in this class as rich in second- and third-round talent than what is available at edge; The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, one of the most respected draft analysts in the game, has 17 edge defenders in his ranking of the top 100 prospects in the draft. For reference, receiver (12), cornerback (11) and defensive tackle (11) are the only other position groups with more than 10 players in Brugler’s top 100.

Options on the draft’s second day are highlighted by the likes of Landon Jackson (Arkansas), Sai’vion Jones (LSU), Oluwafemi Oladejo (UCLA), Jack Sawyer (Ohio State), Bradyn Swinson (LSU), JT Tuimoloau (Ohio State) and Princely Umanmielen (Ole Miss), among others. Sawyer, once viewed as a possible first-round choice, collected 64 pressures in 2024 — Indiana’s Mikail Kamara (68), Miami of Ohio’s Brian Ugwu (66) and Carter (66) were the only players with more — and was a team captain, which is something this Lions regime has become known to value.

Swinson is an interesting study. It took him five seasons (and a transfer from Oregon to LSU) to break out, but he impressed with 60 pressures and 8½ sacks in 2024. Both of those marks led the team, as did Swinson’s tackles for loss (13).

Que Robinson (Alabama) is a likely Day 3 option who served as a rotational piece on the Crimson Tide’s defensive line. Robinson, at 6-4 and 243 pounds, is on the lighter side. The former four-star recruit who, according to FOX Sports, visited with the Lions earlier this month had 19 pressures and four sacks in 2024.

Time to target

It could be as early as the first round, and don’t be surprised if the Lions double dip at the position, similar to how they approached cornerback (Terrion Arnold in Round 1 and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. in Round 2) last year. With the edge class being so deep, though, there are possible contributors to be had at picks No. 28 (first round), No. 60 (second round) and No. 102 (third round).