The 2025 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year race is going to be wild. Travis Hunter is the headliner. Abdul Carter was picked right after him following a tremendous career rushing the passer at Penn State. There were five outside rushers selected in Round 1 and 10 in the top 60.
It’s time to formulate my Defensive Rookie of the Year rankings.
I used recent historical trends as a guide in creating these rankings, and these trends are worth mentioning before we get started.
- Five of the past seven DROYs have been outside pass rushers
- Shaq Leonard (2018) is the only non first-round pick to win this award since DeMeco Ryans (2006)
- After off-ball linebackers won DROY five times in six years from 2004 to 2009, Luke Kuechly (2012) and Leonard (2018) are the only off-ball linebackers to take home the trophy
- Ndamukong Suh (2010) and Aaron Donald (2014) are the only defensive tackles to win DROY this millennium
- Marcus Peters (2015) and Sauce Gardner (2022) are the only two cornerbacks to win the award since Charles Woodson (1998)
With those in mind, here are my rankings, which of course are based on my thoughts on the rookie and his situation in Year 1 in the NFL. Beneath these rankings are my favorite value picks based on current DROY odds at Caesars Sportsbook.
Edge rushers are often favorites for DROY — even if we’ve rarely seen Round 2 picks win it — and Green was one of my favorites in this draft class. And he landed in a sneaky-good situation in Baltimore. The success of the Ravens defense doesn’t hinge upon him registering 80 pressures in Year 1. Odafe Oweh had 55 pressures a season ago.
The Ravens drafted Green in Round 2 for a reason, though. With Kyle Van Noy now 34 years old, Baltimore desperately needs another youthful edge presence who can affect the opposing passer on a regular basis. Green has the goods to be that type of asset. While he did play at a lower competition level than most early-round selections, 89 pressures on 537 opportunities don’t happen by accident.
Green arguably had the most electric burst/bend blend at the position in the class, and the Ravens have a long history of fostering outstanding productivity from edge rushers (see: Van Noy, Jadeveon Clowney, Za’Darius Smith etc). While Green is on the younger side — he’s yet to turn 21 years old, there’s a decent chance he’s viewed as the missing piece on what is already a stingy Ravens defense in 2025.
Hairston is a twitchy, playmaking cornerback with scheme versatility. If he can get his hands on the football often in marquee games as part of an opportunistic defense, he’ll emerge as a serious DROY candidate in a hurry.
Four of Buffalo’s first six contests are in prime time — and this is a team that entered the offseason in dire need of an elite athlete at the position opposite star cornerback Christian Benford. That’s precisely what the Bills got with Hairston, who, when fully healthy in 2023, had five interceptions in 13 games, and housed two of them for scores. With 4.28 speed, Hairston can follow essentially every receiver in the league deep, and he plays with the suddenness needed to follow in man or spring forward to make a play on the football in zone.
Sean McDermott’s defenses have been incredibly consistent in Buffalo, particularly in the turnover department, as Buffalo has finished in the top 8 in interceptions in each of McDermott’s eight seasons to date as a head coach. Don’t sleep on the 30th overall pick making noise in the DROY race.
3. Abdul Carter, EDGE, Giants (+250)
Carter is a freaky specimen around the corner. There’s no doubting that. He has the athletic toolbox to beat blockers in a multitude of ways at the next level — burst, bend, speed-to-power and an ascending, diverse collection of pass-rush moves to dispatch blocks at the point of attack.
For his development, I love how Carter lands in New York with an established stud rushing on the opposite side of the defensive line in Brian Burns. Pressure won’t be completely off the No. 3 overall pick. It’ll just be reduced to a manageable level. Could it indirectly hurt his Defensive Rookie of the Year chances? Potentially.
Carter is unlikely to be “the guy” up front for the Giants, and of course, we cannot forget about Dexter Lawrence, either. Maybe he’s viewed as the addition that takes New York’s defense to an entirely new level. If so, he’ll earn serious DROY consideration.
2. Travis Hunter, CB, Jaguars (+1000)
I’m at odds with myself, and that split-decision is part of why Hunter is here, and not at No. 1.
Part of me believes because Hunter is so widely regarded as awesome already, he doesn’t have to break rookie cornerback records to win the award. With that thought comes the potential nudge he’ll get from voters for playing both ways.
Then again, part of me believes his foray at receiver will eat into his snaps at defensive back, thereby lessening his defensive productivity. Despite the dilemma about Hunter’s snap splits on each side of the ball, my final thought on Hunter is that he’s more of a prominent feature at corner, especially as a rookie in Jacksonville. And he’s as smooth and sudden as they come at the position with ridiculous, almost impossibly good ball skills and awareness that should lead to ample interceptions and pass breakups.
Many of them will be of the acrobatic variety, like plays on the football you’ve never seen before. Hunter’s natural playmaking capabilities will make him be a strong DROY contender in 2025.
1. James Pearce, EDGE, Falcons (+1700)
With Pearce as my No. 1 overall prospect in the 2025 class, I’m not backing away from that before any games are played, and +1700 represents magnificent value.
Here’s why: Pearce is a sizable, athletic, refined and deceptively powerful outside rusher who demolished the SEC the past two seasons with a cumulative pressure rate over 21%. I’ve written that statistic like 50 times the past four months, and I’m still astonished by it.
Then, his situation in Atlanta couldn’t be more conducive to DROY hype. Stealing this snippet from my NFL Draft superlatives piece I wrote right after the draft: “Atlanta has finished 32nd in sacks twice (2015, 2021) and 31st a ridiculous five times (2013, 2014, 2019, 2022, and 2024)” over the past decade. Any uptick in team pass-rushing production will be viewed as a ginormous win for the Falcons, and I believe Pearce will be at the center of that en route to winning this mostly outside pass rusher-dominated award.
Other value bets
Jalon Walker, LB/EDGE, Falcons (+750)
The Falcons have been so anemic rushing the passer that I’m listing the other first-round defender they selected in this section, too. If Walker is predominantly bending the corner in passing situations, I love his upside in Raheem Morris’ defense. If Atlanta asks him to cover as an off-ball linebacker, I don’t love it.
The size deficiencies will be an initial hurdle for Walker to get over. His arm length is in the sixth percentile among edge rushers — his wingspan in the 43rd percentile. He’ll have to rely on his incendiary burst and flattening skill attacking the outside shoulder of offensive tackles. And while I have serious questions about his coverage capabilities, Walker will absolutely make plays against the run due to his quick trigger and high-level speed to the football.
We typically don’t see DROYs on losing teams, and it still feels like the Browns are at least year or two away from contending in their own division. Despite that working against him, Graham has the pro-ready game to emerge in the DROY conversation as a running mate on the same defensive line as Myles Garrett.
Even though he won’t turn 22 years old until early September, Graham was a monster in his final two seasons at Michigan, even if his classic numbers don’t indicate it. He totaled 63 quarterback pressures on 589 opportunities to get after the passer. And a 10.6% pressure rate is fantastic across two seasons for any interior rusher. Graham is clearly above-average in every area — and he’ll hustle on every single snap. I don’t absolutely adore his value at +1200, but this is a sound, three-down defensive tackle who will have the ultimate luxury of playing on the same front as a former Defensive Player of the Year as a rookie.
The last time a safety won DROY was 35 years ago — Mark Carrier in 1990. But I don’t care. Emmanwori would have to be an outlier. And he is an athletic outlier at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds with 4.38 speed, a 43-inch vertical jump and a broad jump in the 99th percentile at the position. He’s a freak among freaks.
He couldn’t have landed in a situation more conducive to instant success, either, with Mike Macdonald in Seattle. This is the guy who patrolled the sidelines as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator when Kyle Hamilton quickly transitioned into an All-Pro safety. Emmanwori is, quite obviously, a rocket to the football against the run and in coverage. If you’re feeling lucky, this is the DROY bet I’d make.
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Author: Chris Trapasso
June 4, 2025 | 9:05 am
