After seeing what the Philadelphia Eagles’ pass rush did to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl, the Los Angeles Rams are trying to build their own dominant rotation of guys who can get after the quarterback.
With Jared Verse and Byron Young already at outside linebacker, the Rams added another edge rusher who plays with violence and a relentless motor. They drafted Josaiah Stewart in the third round, selecting the Michigan standout at No. 90 overall.
While he might be undersized at 6-foot-1 and 249 pounds, he plays much bigger than his frame. And his lack of size certainly didn’t hold him back at Michigan last season. He was one of the best pass rushers in the nation, recording a PFF grade of 91.2 in 2024 – the second-best of any edge defender.
When focusing on purely his pass-rush numbers, it’s easy to see why the Rams were enamored by him in the draft.
Among all edge rushers in this year’s draft class, Stewart ranked first in pass-rush grade (93.7) and pass-rush win rate (27.7%).
Although Stewart lacks the ideal size and measurables that NFL teams look for on the edge, he packs a punch, viciously exploding into blockers. That pass-rushing ability is evident on his true pass sets. The senior out of Michigan posted the highest PFF pass-rush grade on true pass sets in college football in 2024 while posting an incredible 41.2% pass-rush win rate on qualifying plays.
He’s a stout run defender, too. This chart shows he’s an all-around edge defender who can rush the passer and hold up against the run.
Edge rusher may not have been a pressing need for the Rams in the draft but Stewart’s upside was too good to pass up in the third round for a team with a defense built on getting after the quarterback.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
