He was one of college football’s most productive pass rushers in 2023, and now, with his scouting report, Texas A&M edge defender Nic Scourton has the attention of evaluators in the 2025 NFL Draft cycle.
Just how early could Scourton come off the board?
Nic Scourton’s Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’4″
- Weight: 280 pounds
- Position: Edge Rusher
- School: Texas A&M
- Current Year: Junior
The Purdue Boilermakers went 4-8 in 2023, but the talent on defense was a bright spot for Ryan Walters’ squad. At safety, Dillon Thieneman looks like a future star, and on the defensive line, Scourton emerged as an overwhelming force for opposing tackles.
Scourton originally joined the Boilermakers as a four-star recruit from Bryan High School in Texas, and he flashed promise as a true freshman. But Scourton’s true breakout came as a 19-year-old true sophomore in 2023, when he amassed 10 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, three pass breakups, and a forced fumble.
After his second-team All-Big Ten season, Scourton leveraged his performance into an opportunity in the SEC closer to home. He transferred to Texas A&M early in the 2024 offseason, where he’ll look to prove himself against some of the best the CFB has to offer.
The 2025 NFL Draft EDGE class looks stacked on the surface, but few prospects are as compelling as Scourton, who’ll be just a 21-year-old NFL rookie if he declares. Scourton’s physical profile is truly all-encompassing, and he’s just getting started.
Scourton’s Scouting Report
Strengths
- Powerfully-built EDGE with imposing length, and the mass to rush inside or outside.
- Extremely explosive, twitched-up rusher who can create angle advantages and off-set.
- Explosion, mass, and length yield elite power capacity on bull rushes and long-arms.
- Can shock blockers and erode their center of gravity with ruthless knock-back power.
- Surprisingly smooth and fluid lateral mover for his size, with light feet and flexible hips.
- Flashes good ankle flexion for his size and has shown he can corner while hand-fighting.
- Has a devastating spin move made potent by efficient footwork and icepick technique.
- Knows how to feign inside or outside rushes by pressing, before capitalizing with spins.
- Able to levy chop-spins and violently nullify the outside hand while diverting inside.
- Can widen blockers with stutters, then target extensions and forklift through with power.
- Able to levy successive chop-club-rip counters with his inside and outside hands.
- Has shown he can load his base and acquire leverage when one-gapping in run defense.
- Has the raw strength and sturdiness to hold strong at 5-tech and absorb chip blocks.
- Motor runs hot in all phases, which allows him to work through contact on second effort.
- Flashes impressive range and pursuit speed for his size and can engulf with his length.
Weaknesses
- Doesn’t quite have elite lateral freedom or hyperactive twitch on recovery.
- Visibly lacks an elite bend component, and is particularly limited by torso flexibility.
- Longer torso and upright nature can detract from efficiency with torque output.
- Muscle-bound frame can impact his ability to bend and acquire leverage on the attack.
- At times diverts too far upright when traversing gaps in run defense, exposing his torso.
- Has trouble managing his pad level and base load on stunts and swim moves.
- Can be lopsided with his alignment on the move, jeopardizing balance and leverage.
- Can more consistently have a counter plan against blocks after play-action fakes.
- Has room to improve counter quickness and contingency plan when power rushes stall.
- Sometimes is over-reliant on spins, and disengages his hands too early in reps.
- Can further flesh out his arsenal when working vertically and around the apex.
- In spite of raw strength, can improve hand strength when deconstructing anchors.
- At times, can be more cognizant of pulling blockers as a backside pursuit defender.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Entering the 2025 NFL Draft cycle, Scourton grades out as a mid-to-late first-round prospect who could rise into the early-first-round conversation with another productive year, and more growth with his overall pass-rush arsenal and leverage management.
Scourton is an extremely unique EDGE prospect, in that he has an elite combination of physical tools. He’s a massive player at 6’4″, 280 pounds, with arms likely near 34″, and at that size, he has near-elite explosiveness and agility, as well as functional hip flexibility and bend.
With both his lateral range and twitch, Scourton impresses, and he has the instant accelerative capacity to create angle advantages and leverage power from his momentum and mass. But just when you start to bill him as a power rusher, he can hit you with a vast array of spin moves from different alignments.
Scourton still has room to expand his counter arsenal, and he can be more consistent when working vertically and threatening the apex. But overall, his pass-rush utility is extremely promising.
And beyond that, Scourton is a strong and sturdy run defense asset, who can also make plays in pursuit, and drop into coverage on occasion.
If Scourton can level up with his hand usage and pad-level maintenance, early-first-round capital is easily on the table.
Scourton is the rare rusher with an elite power profile, whose finesse element can be just as deadly. At his peak, he could be an impact NFL starter, with stand-up and even-front end ability and alignment versatility.