The 2026 NFL draft is a good one for edge rushers, with seven players projected to go in the first round. Our SackSEER projection system -- which predicts sack totals across a player's first five pro seasons -- agrees with the consensus on many of this year's top prospects. We also identify some strong candidates whose explosive characteristics make them worth taking a chance on despite mediocre collegiate sack production.
Projecting players from college to the pros is very difficult, and there's a wide range of possibilities. So while you might be surprised that no prospect is projected with more than six sacks per season, be aware that obviously some of them will end up as double-digit sack artists, while others will struggle and disappear from games for long stretches.
One major change in SackSEER for this year is that we have removed consideration of three-cone drill times. It is the biggest victim of declining participation in predraft drills, as only two edge rusher prospects ran the three-cone at the combine this year. We can't use it to consider players if no one is going to actually do it!
What follows is a ranking of the top edge rusher prospects for 2026, according to our model. We also identified one strong sleeper and one potentially overrated candidate.
Jump to: Underrated | Overrated Full SackSEER rankings Methodology: How it works
David Bailey, Texas Tech
SackSEER projection: 26.6 sacks through Year 5 Scouts Inc. ranking: 7 Similar historical prospects: Khalil Mack, DeMarcus Ware
Bailey led the FBS with 14.5 sacks last season, and he's clearly the SackSEER favorite for 2026. He's the only prospect in this year's draft who combines excellent collegiate sack production with outstanding workouts, with a 4.50-second 40-yard dash, a 35-inch vertical and a 10-foot-9 broad jump.
Keldric Faulk, Auburn
SackSEER projection: 23.5 sacks through Year 5 Scouts Inc. ranking: 24 Similar historical prospects: Preston Smith, Everson Griffen
Projecting NFL stats for top draft prospects
• Which WRs have the best Playmaker Scores? • Which RBs have the best BackCAST scores? • Which Edges have the best SackSEER scores?
Faulk is the heaviest edge rusher in this year's class at 278 pounds. A 35-inch vertical is impressive for a player carrying his weight, as was the 4.67-second 40 he ran at his pro day.
Faulk turns 21 in September, so he is coming to the league young. He played all three of his collegiate seasons at Auburn, where he had 10 career sacks and started in his sophomore and junior seasons.