The top of the totem pole of edge rushers in the 2026 NFL Draft contains plenty of different archetypes, and another interesting watch is Michigan Wolverines' star Derrick Moore. He put it all together in his final collegiate campaign, and enters the draft all over the Top-10 positional prospect rankings of draft analysts.
Coming from the powerhouse St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, Maryland, Moore saw the field in short spurts as soon as his freshman season, ending 2022 with 2 sacks. The next two years were equally decent, picking up 5 and 4 sacks respectively, before his major breakout in 2025. His senior season was far and away his best statistically, hitting double-digit sacks and putting himself on the map of premier draft-eligible edge rushers.
Derrick Moore NFL Draft Profile:
Position: Edge Rusher
School: Michigan Wolverines
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 260 pounds
Hometown: Baltimore, MD
Statistics:
- 2025: 30 Tackles, 10 Sacks, 10.5 TFL, 2 FF, 3 PBU
- Career: 95 Tackles, 21 Sacks, 24.5 TFL, 3 FF, 8 PBU
Strengths:
Solid inside jab, places himself well in gaps, and can break up passes at the line Holds contain well, drives his hands up and through the lineman’s pads, and cements his baseDecent footwork to drop back into coverage and survive across the middleWorks up and through tackles when bull rushing, gets himself into a good spot, and has the power to generate pressureDisciplined when sitting in gaps against the run, won’t allow himself to be driven off of his assignmentWorks laterally and behind himself well to crash on ball carriers and limit second-level gainsTimes his engagements on speed-to-power transitions effectively, lets himself work into the tackle’s torso and rip through itAlways stays moving and can get himself involved in plays during their later stagesFirst inside step is sharp when he uses it, and he locks out his shoulder well to finish working through gapsCan be really impressive working linearly through tackles when his technique is rightRip move is violent and deadly when he can time it right, and he re-centers himself to beeline for the QB when he executes it properlyWeaknesses:
Struggles to time snaps in two-point stances, will get bouncy, and fail to launch out of his lower half Plays a bit high when trying to move the line laterallyCan get bunched up in traffic at the line, especially when working against screensNeeds to keep his hands more active as a pass rusher, gets contained by tackles, and isn’t as violent as desired when shedding blocksWill stay too patient against the run at times, will attack the ball carrier without momentum, and miss some tacklesAllows himself to get drawn too far outside and driven around the pocket instead of closing itHolds his ground against the run, but doesn't shed many quick blocks to make impact playsDoesn’t engage tackles with a ton of force, needs to become craftier to win some repsAcceleration is somewhat limited on tape, won’t sink into his base, and shoot through his legs to gain momentum; this becomes an issue especially when he’s chippedNot the tallest frame, doesn’t have the length to work laterally and wrap up plays away from his frameDoesn’t have high-end fluidity in his lower half and will struggle when he can't work mostly in a linear fashionNFL Outlook:
Moore is certainly more of a pass-rushing EDGE prospect than a complete defender, but he has the tools to be selected in the earlier rounds of the draft. His speed-to-power transitions are among his premier qualities, with finishing moves that optimize his win rate. He’s a Day 1 contributor at the NFL level, albeit likely not in an every-down role. He can offer teams a boost to their pass rush, and his development could yield anywhere from a decent rotational player to a solid all-around impact piece.
NFL Player Comparison
Former Cincinnati Bengals DE Sam Hubbard is one player who comes to mind when comparing Moore to an NFL talent, as well as being someone who landed in a similar draft position to his current projection. Hubbard played 7 years in the NFL, all for the Bengals, and recorded 38.5 total sacks in his career. His run defense was always adequate, more than Moore can say, but much of his NFL success came through rushing the passer. If Moore can refine his pass rush arsenal, he could become a similarly valuable piece to whatever defense gets to mold his game.
Prospect Grade:
