The 2025 class of edge rushers was talented enough to have 11 edge rushers selected in the first three rounds of the draft. When I was gathering my list of players to watch by position, I told myself I was going to keep it to 15 players at each position.
Regarding 2026 eligible edge rushers, I have 24 on my list who are worth watching. I did narrow it down to 15 for now, but if I have the time towards the end, I would like to get eyes on all 24 of them because they are all deserving.
This process got me thinking, though. If I am having a hard time getting my notes together now, and NFL teams are starting this process much earlier, could Jason Licht and his staff have seen this coming?
The Bucs were projected by a lot of draft analysts to be taking an edge rusher in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and instead they went with a wide receiver. They didn’t go edge rusher until they found four, so now the door is open for them to address it in the first round in the 2026 draft instead.
Some of the players Bucs fans should watch this year include Keldric Faulk of Auburn, Dani Dennis-Sutton of Penn State, David Bailey of Texas Tech, LT Overton of Alabama, and T.J. Parker of Clemson. All of them have first round talent and all of them could be welcome additions to the Bucs defense in 2026 if selected.