Dylan Stewart already has 11 career sacks and six forced fumbles — and he can't even enter the NFL Draft until 2027. He's one of the best edge rushers in college football, and South Carolina has him for a while.
Stewart announced himself as a unanimous Freshman All-American and just kept coming: 56 tackles, 11 sacks and six forced fumbles across his first 24 games, the production of an edge rusher who's both fast off the ball and disruptive once he arrives. At 6-5, 245, he pairs explosive bend with a knack for the strip. He's officially back, and because of his age, he isn't draft-eligible until 2027 — meaning a top-three returning edge talent is locked in for a defining junior year, paired with the return of quarterback LaNorris Sellers. The forward stakes are an All-America, double-digit-sack season: the tools and the early production already make him one of the most dangerous pass rushers in the sport.
How he plays
Stewart is a bend-and-burst edge rusher — the modern speed-rush archetype. The trait that pops on tape and in the numbers is the corner: explosive get-off and the flexibility to flatten to the quarterback, which is how a player produces 11 sacks this early. The six forced fumbles add the finishing element — he doesn't just get there, he rips the ball out. At 6-5, 245 he's still filling out, which is the exciting part: the speed rush is already elite, and the power and counters that come with a stronger frame would make him complete. He's a quarterback's nightmare off the edge with a runway most stars don't get.
