Top 25 EDGE rankings entering Week 7 of college football
At the halfway point of the 2023 season, some clarity is coming around the best players in the country at various positions. And edge rusher is no exception going into Week 7.
Only two players dropped out of the On3 Top 25 edge rushers after Week 6, and one of the replacements has been ranked intermittently this year already. It’s also looking like the best pass rush tandem in the country is coming into focus.
The conference breakdown is as such: seven from the SEC, six from the Pac-12, five from the ACC, four from Group of 5 schools, two from the Big 12 and one from the Big 10.
Check out the full On3 Top 25 edge rushers below.
1. Laiatu Latu, UCLA
The UCLA defense dominated on Saturday, handing Washington State its first loss of the season. A big part was Latu and the defensive front harassing QB Cameron Ward.
Latu finished with one sack and seven pressures in the win. He continues to be a consistent force off the edge for the Bruins.
2. Dallas Turner, Alabama
Turner has turned into the dominant havoc-engine on the edge that Alabama hoped he could be. He currently leads the nation in pressures.
He recorded eight and a sack against Texas A&M on Saturday. He’s got nine sacks this season, one off his career high set in 2021.
3. Kaimon Rucker, North Carolina
It was a fairly quiet day for Rucker stat-wise, but the North Carolina defense was stout in a blowout win. He recorded a pair of stops.
Rucker has four sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss through five games. His disruptiveness has been a big part of the Tar Heels shaping up on defense in 2023.
4. Jared Verse, Florida State
Verse finally showed up on the stat sheet in a win after starting the season slowly. He recorded a pair of sacks as the Seminoles won, 39-17.
He’s been effective even without the counting stats, but one of the best edge rushers in the nation had been curiously kept off the sack totals. That changed, finally.
5. Jonah Elliss, Utah
The Utes are 4-1 and didn’t play in Week 6. In the weeks leading up to the idle week for the Utes, Elliss was on a tear.
The edge rusher had 5.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss in the two Pac-12 games Utah has played. He recorded 16 pressures across those two games.
6. Chris Braswell, Alabama
Braswell and Turner have formed what is likely the best pass rush duo in the country at the halfway mark. The duo is reliable for a sack or two and some impact plays week in, week out.
Against the Aggies, Braswell had a blocked field goal return for a touchdown wiped out by a suspect penalty, but the play was remarkable — and the block counted all the same. He also had a sack.
7. Solomon Byrd, USC
In a game where every little margin mattered as USC won in triple overtime, Byrd made a few key players. He finished with two pressures and a pair of stops.
He’s got five sacks and eight tackles for loss in six games. He’s also forced three fumbles.
8. James Pearce, Tennessee
Pearce and Tennessee were on a bye in Week 6. They’ll load up for a big game against Texas A&M this weekend.
Pearce has five sacks and seven tackles for loss through five games. Both those figures are more than double his 2022 production as a freshman.
9. Kydran Jenkins, Purdue
Jenkins didn’t record a sack in a loss to Iowa, or a tackle for loss. It was his first game of the season without such a play.
Even still he recorded five pressures and gummed up the already gummed-up Iowa offense. Jenkins has four sacks and six tackles for loss through six games.
10. Mohamed Kamara, Colorado State
Kamara has lived in opposing backfields all season. He’s been on a tear of late with multiple sacks in four-straight games.
Kamara currently leads the country with 9.5 sacks. He’ll continue as one of the best — if not the best — edge rusher in the Mountain West.
EDGEs No. 11 through 25
11. Jalen Green, James Madison
12. Jamil Muhammad, USC
13. Ashton Gillotte, Louisville
14. B.J. Green II, Arizona State
15. Grayson Murphy, UCLA
16. Johnny Walker Jr., Missouri
17. Jasheen Davis, Wake Forest
18. Ben Bell, Texas State
19. Nelson Ceaser, Houston
20. Tyler Baron, Tennessee
21. Shemar Turner, Texas A&M
22. Tre’Mon Morris-Brash, UCF
23. Davin Vann, NC State
24. Sam Burton, Marshall
25. Princely Umanmielen, Florida
Two players jumped into the Top 25, either re-emerging in the case of Bell (No. 18) or rocketing up for the first time in the case of Gillote (No. 13). Falling out of the Top 25 are Marshall’s Owen Porter and Georgia’s Mykel Williams.