All-Sleeper Defense: 10 NFL Draft Prospects Poised to Outperform Their Projections

The 2025 class of interior defensive linemen is the most loaded we've seen in years — maybe decades — and that happens at the same time that said IDL are becoming more and more crucial at the professional level. With an increasing rate of quick-game in the NFL, you want quarterback disruptors who can get to the passer in the shortest distance, ergo the quickest amount of time. 

There are all kinds of interior defensive linemen in this class, which makes it even better. In the case of Darius Alexander, who was invisible to all the bigger schools but got himself on Toledo's radar, it's the combination of power and agility at 6-foot-4 and 305 pounds, and a play style that shows his desire to dominate, there's one NFL team about to get a one-gap penetrator everywhere from nose shade to over the tackles. Last season, Alexander had four sacks, 37 total pressures, 27 solo tackles, and 27 stops after a 2023 campaign in which he had seven sacks, 46 total pressures, 19 solo tackles, and 23 stops. 

If you're concerned about Alexander's abilities to hold up against stronger competition, consider that he dominated Senior Bowl week in the practices, and in his one-sack, five-pressure game against Pitt last season, he left a trail of destruction wherever he was aligned. No, Toledo isn't Ohio State, but Alexander is good enough to make a seamless transition to the NFL. 

_{Interior Defensive Lineman: CJ West, Indiana}

Last season, the 6-foot-1, 316-pound West had one sack, 25 total pressures, 28 solo tackles, and 22 stops. He was flying under the radar to a point because his sack totals weren't there in his first year with the Hoosiers after four seasons at Kent State, but a strong scouting combine put him on the radar of a few more people. 

Going back to the tape after that combine would tell you a few things about West. He got those pressure numbers on just 239 pass-rushing reps. And from just burning past blockers with short-area speed to knifing through double-teams with his leverage and strength, West's tape is great, and he did his thing against some of the best opponents the NCAA had to offer throughout Indiana's great season, and postseason run. West's seven-pressure game against Michigan in particular showed a rolling ball of butcher knives capable of making very good offensive linemen wishing he wasn't there at all. 

_{Edge Defender: Josaiah Stewart, Michigan}

The 6-foot-1, 249-pound Stewart was one of my more fascinating evaluations in this particular pre-draft process. From a measurables standpoint, Stewart has a spider chart that isn't visible without a microscope. He doesn't look like a prototypical edge defender at all, so how did he amass nine sacks and 37 total pressures last season for the Wolverines, and 15 sacks with 66 total pressures in two Michigan seasons after transferring from Coastal Carolina? 

Because when you put on the tape, you see that Stewart has the strength and leverage of a man 30 pounds heavier, and his speed-to-power moves are absolutely lethal. Stewart can upend offensive tackles with force disruptions around the arc, straight-up bull-rushes that will take those blockers right off their feet, wicked hand-fighting moves to displace, stack-and-shed reps you'd expect from a lighter defensive tackle, and dip-and-rip moves with pure speed and bend. If he was a bit taller with longer arms, he'd be a first-round discussion in a lot of rooms. 

Some NFL teams will look at Stewart's size and see a limited pass-rusher. Those NFL teams will be making a mistake. This is a case where you want to focus on what the player has already proven able to do, as opposed to how he may not fit your ideal version of what an edge-rusher looks like. 

_{Edge Defender: Ahmed Hassanein, Boise State}

In Ahmed Hassanein's case, size is not the issue, though the arm length could give some people pause. At 6-foot-3 and 267 pounds, Hassanein brings his own intriguing combination of speed and power to the table. What he needs is simply more experience to put it all together. Born in the United States, Hassanein moved with his family to Cairo, Egypt at age six and grew up there. He moved back to America in 2018, and though he was a multi-sport athlete in Egypt, he didn't start playing American football until his older half-brother Cory Besch, a high-school football coach in Anaheim, California, became his legal guardian and got him interested in the game.

In four seasons with the Broncos, Hassanein amassed 27 sacks, 133 total pressures, 64 solo tackles, and 72 stops. Over his last two seasons there, he had 24 of those sacks and 115 of those pressures. NFL defensive line coaches will understand that there's some work to be done with Hassanein's overall technique — odds are, they'll also be fascinated with a guy his size who can do what he does from an athletic perspective. Hassanein is exactly the kind of multi-gap disruptor who can work guards with straight up power and the agility to go right around them, and can also knife through double-teams, jump multiple gaps, and bend the edge from the outside. 

If I'm an NFL GM, and my defensive line coach is on board, I want Ahmed Hassanein anywhere from the third round on down, I'll take a flyer on a year of development with decent pass-rushing numbers, and I'll then bet on the ferocious upside to take over. 

_{Linebacker: Shaun Dolac, Buffalo}

Every draft class has its share of egregious scouting combine snubs. Julian Edelman, Wes Welker, Osi Umenyiora, Antonio Gates, James Harrison, Victor Cruz, and Doug Baldwin are just a few of the guys in recent years who succeeded in the NFL far beyond what a combine non-invite would indicate. 

A few years from now, we may have to add Shaun Dolac's name to that list. His omission from this year's group is especially dumbfounding in a linebacker class that isn't filled with first-round talent. Last season for the Bulls, the 6-foot-0, 221-pound Dolac had five sacks, 16 total pressures, 125 solo tackles, 76 stops, and he allowed 43 catches on 58 targets for 317 yards, 220 yards after the catch, one touchdown, five interceptions, two pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 56.5.

Now that nickel has become the new base in the NFL, smaller linebackers have no diversions in their paths to success as long as they've proven that they can cover half the field, rush from the line of scrimmage and on blitzes, and still have enough in the tank to deal with run fits when the need arises. Dolac, who also had 10 tackles for loss as a run defender last season, checks all the boxes. 

_{Linebacker: Jackson Woodard, UNLV}

Woodard is another do-it-all linebacker who could be a real force in the right defense, and hey — at least he got a combine invite. After three seasons at Arkansas where he barely got on the field, Woodard transferred to UNLV in 2023, and the hits started happening. 2024 was the year when it all came together, as Woodard totaled four sacks, 20 pressures, 91 solo tackles, 64 stops, 12 tackles for loss, and 38 catches allowed on 60 targets for 428 yards, 197 yards after the catch, one touchdown, four interceptions, 11 (!) pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 62.4. 

As a pure pass defender, Woodard can play everything from flat coverage to hook/curl like a big safety, with outstanding route and spatial awareness. The pressures can come from the second level or from the B-gap, and the tackles for loss happen on both screen demolitions (a Woodard specialty) and run stops in which he'll read and work through gaps as a running back would. 

Woodard is a bit high-cut at 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, so if you're in the market for an old-school head-cracker, he may not be for you. Also, if you're looking for an old-school head-cracker to help define your defense, you may be living in the past. Linebackers with Woodard's specific skill sets are both the NFL's present, and its future. 

_{Cornerback: Jordan Oladokun, Bowling Green}

The NFL may be in the middle of a press coverage revolution, but not all teams have gotten the memo. As a result, there's still a strong market for cornerbacks who can read and react in off coverage, which is very good news for Bowling Green's Jordan Oladokun. Last season, the 5-foot-11, 188-pound Oladokun (another combine snub) allowed 26 catches on 61 targets for 219 yards, 128 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, five interceptions, nine pass breakups, and a preposterous opponent passer rating of 18.4.

Oladokun does have the skills to play press coverage; it's just that he was barely ever asked to do it. So, he adapted and became a real problem for opposing offenses when it was time to come up and blow up potential receptions. His deflections come from that great sense of timing, and Oladokun is not at all hesitant to lay the boom to erase a catch that's just about to be made. As for the interceptions and other receiver denials, many of them are about Oladokun's great understanding of how and when to jump a route. 

NFL teams like the Panthers, Chargers, and Giants who eschew press coverage should find Oladokun to be an immediate upgrade to their secondaries. And there are press-heavier teams who could observe his match feet and ability to trail receivers through the route, and be easily convinced that his further adaptations would be no problem whatsoever. 

_{Cornerback: Zah Frazier, UTSA}

Zah Frazier, on the other hand, has enough reps in press for that to easily translate. At 6-foot-3 and 186 pounds, with the athleticism that his basketball and track backgrounds would indicate, he would seem like a natural bump-and-run cornerback, and that's the end of the evaluation. 

Except for this — four of his six interceptions, and four of his five pass breakups, came in off coverage. So, there's more here than meets the eye. Overall in 2024, Frazier allowed 18 catches on 38 targets for 246 yards, 35 yards after the catch, one touchdown, those six interceptions and five pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 37.7.

I was able to watch tape with Frazier at the scouting combine — during his podium session, actually. Three people were there, because Travis Hunter's podium session was about 20 feet away at the same time. Frazier impressed me with his ability to peel off his own assignment to help his teammates in coverage, his assignment-correctness based on tape study, and his overall understanding of coverage nuances. Beyond his physical skills, those mental checks will serve him very well at the next level. 

_{Safety: Xavier Watts, Notre Dame}

When we talk about the best safeties in this draft class, why isn't Xavier Watts right up there at the top in every discussion? Beats the heck out of me. 

Watts came to South Bend in 2020 as a receiver, switching to defense in 2021 after the 2020 COVID season, in which he redshirted. Starting in 2023, Watts' ball skills really started to show up. He picked off seven passes with three pass deflections that season, and followed it up with a 2024 campaign in which he allowed 17 catches on 32 targets for 179 yards, 132 yards after the catch, no touchdowns (Watts hasn't allowed a touchdown since the Gator Bowl vs. South Carolina at the end of the 2022 season, and it's the only one he allowed in college), six interceptions, four pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 30.1.

The coverage stuff is as good as you'll see from any safety in any recent class. So, where are the dings? Watts doesn't have limiting measurables for a safety, unless you're really picking nits. He had 67 tackles and 23 stops last season, and while his run tackling isn't anything to write home about, that's not really what you want him doing most of the time, anyway. He did spend some time at Notre Dame as a roving linebacker, so it's not as if anyone on that staff thought of him as a "weaker" player in that sense. This is also a defender who can play credibly everywhere from single-high safety to slot defender to box maven to a few shots at outside cornerback. 

Again, I don't know why more isn't said in the court of public opinion regarding Xavier Watts. My estimation is that we might be surprised by the quickness with which he comes off the board as a result, because he already has so many of the traits NFL teams want in safeties. 

_{Safety: Andrew Mukuba, Texas}

One thing you learn when you evaluate players long enough is that development is never linear. The curve doesn't always make sense; you just hope that at some point, the light goes on, the acumen catches up to the athleticism, and it's all good. 

For Andrew Mukuba, the 2024 season was when that happened. 

After three seasons at Clemson in which he allowed six touchdowns and had just one interception, Mukuba transferred to Texas, and just exploded onto the scene with a season that proved beyond a doubt that this is a potential star as a deep-third defender. Last season, Mukuba allowed 10 catches on 23 targets for 74 yards, 16 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, five interceptions, six pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 12.1 that was by far the lowest for any Power 5 safety last season — Florida's Trikweze Bridges ranked second at 29.9, and South Carolina's Nick Emmanwori (another guy I'd pound the table for in this draft class) ranked third at 37.1.

At 5-foot-11 and 186 pounds, Mukuba is built more like a prototypical cornerback, but if that's a problem for you, you may be focusing too much on what he doesn't have. I can get guys three inches taller and 30 pounds heavier as box-bangers against the run in the middle rounds. What I can't generally get in the middle rounds is someone with Mukuba's range, ball skills, catch radius (some of his interceptions and deflections are fun from that standpoint), and timing to both deflect and intercept. And for a guy his size, he has no issue whatsoever getting his nose in at the catch point to break things up physically.

Seeing that light go on in Mukuba's case makes me wonder how much more upside is still to come.