Top 10 edge rushers in the On3 College Football Top 100

Alex Weberby:Alex Weber•05/22/23

The NFL Draft and spring practice are now in the rearview mirror as the college football offseason hits the long summer until kick-off this fall. So, without much live action to report on, On3’s top college football minds got in the lab and came out with a brand new top 100 ranking of the best players in college football for 2023.

It’s called the On3 College Football Top 100, which you can view in full with that link. However, in this particular post, we’re just looking at who On3 rated as the top 10 edge rushers for this upcoming season. Charles Power and Clark Brooks came to the following conclusion on just who that group is. Below, you can view their take on the best 10 edge rushers while also seeing where these guys stack up in the overall rankings.

On3 College Football Top 100: 10 best edge rushers

Player Name (Overall On3 100 Ranking) | School

  1. Jared Verse (5th) | Florida State
  2. Laiatu Latu (19th) | UCLA
  3. Bralen Trice (20th) | Washington
  4. Chop Robinson (25th) | Penn State
  5. JT Tuimoloau (26th) | Ohio State
  6. Donovan Ezeiruaku (45th) | Boston College
  7. Dallas Turner (47th) | Alabama
  8. Owen Porter (49th) | Marshall
  9. Mykel Williams (58th) | Georgia
  10. Chico Bennett (59th) | Virginia

There you have it, with the superstar Seminole defender leading the way. Here was what Clark Brooks had to say about him along with some of the other top edge players for this coming season:

“Jared Verse will headline Florida State’s stacked defensive line. Last fall, the former Albany transfer cracked the nation’s top 15 in Pass Rush Win Rate (23.7%) and owns college football’s best Sack Rate (4.4%) among returning edges. He is definitely on the short list for many to be the top defender off the board next spring.

“Though down a peg, UCLA’s Laiatu Latu, Washington’s Bralen Trice, Penn State’s Chop Robinson and Ohio State’s JT Tuimolau all are capable of ruining any offensive line’s day. The two Pac-12 standouts both totaled as many havoc plays as Will Anderson last fall and return with the two best Total Pressure Rates among the position. Along with those two, Robinson rounds out the top three for best returning Havoc Rates.”

That’s five edge defenders in the top 26, per the On3 rankings. The ability to create tackles for loss and put pressure on the quarterback has only become more important recently across all levels of football, and having a consistent pass rushing playmaker is perhaps the best weapon a defense can possess.