The 2025 college football season is shaping up to be a breakout year for some of the most explosive, game-wrecking defensive ends in the country—many of whom are new faces in new places. Whether they arrived via the transfer portal or steadily climbed the depth chart at their original programs, this group of edge defenders is loaded with pass rush potential and NFL upside. From stat sheet stuffers at the Group of Five level making the leap to Power 4, to returning stars poised for dominance in the Big Ten and SEC, these are the top-5 defensive ends to watch in 2025.
Clev Lubin, Louisville
A big get for Jeff Brohm, Mark Hagen and the Cardinals in the 2025 transfer portal, the Clev Lubin experience is versatile, explosive, and dense on the stat sheet. His lore stretches beyond his FBS debut with Coastal Carolina last season, and begins with JuCo roots planted in the powerhouse program that is Iowa Western.
In 2023, Lubin led the Reivers to an NJCAA-DI National Championship with 11.5 sacks and 55 total tackles. His stellar freshman campaign in the Jayhawk Conference earned him passage to the FBS recruiting trail where he landed with the Chanticleers for the 2024 season. If last year was his “prove it” season, look no further than his transfer into a P4 program for 2025 as the sign that he proved it. With 10 sacks and a pass rush win rate of greater than 22%, Lubin tortured Sun Belt OTs and QBs across over 200 pass rush snaps in just 10 games played. Other notable metrics from 2024 include his 12.5 tackles for loss and 3 fumbles forced.
Louisville is 12-4 in the ACC over the past two seasons and their schedule will prove the biggest test of Clev Lubin’s accent through the ranks of college football competition. He makes a great fit for the BASE 4-2-5 defense the Cardinals adopted in 2023, as his pass rushing highlights make up just a portion of his prospect profile. Elite athleticism and plus-plus mobility led to about a 10% workload in coverage snaps for the Chants last year. A rarity for a top-15 sack-getter in the country.
Eric O’Neill, Rutgers
Another journeyman who’s wreacked havoc along the way, Eric O’Neill is also a product of the transfer portal ladder poised to become a household name under the bright lights of the BIG10 in 2025.
After two full seasons of work at Long Island University highlighted by over 1,300 total snaps, 18 sacks, and 50 hurries, O’Neill tested the transfer waters for the first time and landed at James Madison for the 2024 campaign. He hit the ground running in FBS competition, adding 13 more sacks, 40 hurries, and another 340+ pass rush snaps to his resume as a Duke. The performance earned him another tour in the transfer portal, this time landing in the BIG10 with Rutgers University.
O’Neill will spend his redshirt senior season showcasing against a group of BIG10 offensive tackles which features six top-150 prospects on our big board. No small task, but one that his tape suggests he’s poised to dominate. Three-down capability, high-level efficiency in pass rush, and relentless pursuit are the calling cards on his scouting report. He’s earned consideration for the Buck Buchanon Award and is a legitimate “do-it-all” defensive end.
If Eric O’Neill can continue the momentum built in one season at JMU, and cut down on missed tackles in 2025, he will find his name flying up draft boards as we progress through this draft cycle.
Derrick Moore, Michigan
One of two players on this list to have stayed put throughout his career, Derrick Moore has shown steady development year-over-year in Ann Arbor. Truth be told, he may be the most universally underrated talent in the 2026 class. No, he’s never led the country in sacks or snaps played, but he was the most efficient pass rusher in 2024 (23.4% win rate) and he’s shown an incredible amount of versatility for a true prototype defensive end at 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds.
The Michigan Wolverines defensive line room has produced nine draft selections since 2022. Derrick Moore (and his counterpart, TJ Guy) will all but certainly continue building that reputation in this cycle. He has elite length and wins at the line of scrimmage primarily with strength, but possesses plus speed and attacks pass rush sets with poise and patience.
Built like a prize fighter in the Super Heavyweight division, Moore’s overall athleticism pops on tape. If he can simply repeat last year’s production, I believe that a top-100 selection next April is a shoe-in. His efficiency in pursuit paired with what he offers against the run and in coverage make him a bonafide blue chipper. As far as “keeping guys on your radar” goes, Derrick Moore may actually be impossible to ignore this fall.
Max Llewellyn, Iowa
Considering he’s never started a game for the Hawkeyes, Max Llewellyn’s upside makes him one of the most intriguing DL prospects in this class.
Llewellyn was one of only four defensive ends to post at least a 20% win rate in 2024. He also finished 5th overall nationally in efficiency of sacks, hurries, and QB hits relative to his opportunities (203 pass rush sets). He’s payed his dues, flashed a high ceiling, and is expected to fill a three-down role this fall.
The identity of Iowa football fits him like a glove; Des Moines area native, loyal, and he’s strong enough to head-up the guard when they need it. This is a full-package prospect, both physically and from an intangibles perspective. The 260 pound Johnny Hustle hasn’t missed a game in two years and possesses the tools to go absolutely nuclear in 2025.
Cashius Howell, TAMU
Will McDonald +20 pounds, anyone? Cashius Howell is the power forward of this defensive end class, and will be the name attached to everyone’s favorite “high motor” description come February.
A bell cow on the defensive line at Bowling Green, Howell recorded 10 sacks and 27 hurries while logging over 500 total snaps for the Falcons in 2023. His transfer to Texas A&M came with some turbulence in the form of Shemar Stewart, Nic Scourton and Shemar Turner blocking him out of playing time. Each of the aforementioned were drafted among the first 62 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, and a path has been cleared for Howell to take on a three-down role this fall.
His length, speed, and relentless effort stand out on tape, but the versatility he was required to show for playing time in 2024 is definitive of Cashius Howell the football player. He secured an INT and had three pass breakups last year across 85 snaps in coverage; one of only three Edge players in the FBS to pair 30+ pressures with over 80 coverage snaps (Mo Westmoreland, UTEP & Antonio Doyle Jr., UNLV).
Film suggests that he’s the most explosive athlete on this list, and he is capable of disrupting the game in as varietal a manner of any defensive end in the class.
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