NFL Draft
2/9/25
6 min read
Bradyn Swinson 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For LSU Tigers EDGE
Height: 6040 (unofficial)
Weight: 250lbs (unofficial)
Year: Redshirt Senior
Pro Comparison: Austin Booker
Scouting Overview
LSU Tigers edge defender Bradyn Swinson is an impressive, instinctual pass rusher despite just one year of starting experience across five years of play at the college level. Swinson boasts good burst, power, length, and a fair variety of pass-rush counters that can make him a challenge to set against.
With his skill set, he can rush effectively from either two or three-point stances and generate vertical or horizontal stress on offensive tackles. He’s an incomplete player against the run at this stage of his development but should have little issue earning opportunities as a rotational pass rusher while he tries to round his early down defending into form.
2025 NFL Combine Results
| Position | Name | School | 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Split | Broad Jump | Vertical Jump | 3-Cone Drill | 20-Yard Shuttle | Bench Press |
| EDGE | Bradyn Swinson | LSU | 7.13 | 4.33 |
Positives
- Vast array of pass-rush maneuvers and counter ability to play slippery through first contact
- Offers some surprising speed through steep angles as a looper and works back up the arc
- Possesses good length and closing burst, giving him a big influence around the pocket
Negatives
- Does not handle power run schemes that challenge his real estate effectively enough
- Block deconstruction skills that require upper-body strength and hand power can be further developed
- Can get big eyes when left unblocked on the edge and be manipulated to collect the edge
Background
Swinson is from Douglasville, GA, and played high school football for Chapel Hill HS. There, he was a consensus 3-star prospect. Swinson received offers from Arizona State, North Carolina, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Michigan State, and others before enrolling at Oregon. As a member of their 2020 recruiting class, Swinson played in seven games during the 2020 COVID season before logging his first career start in his redshirt freshman season in 2021. Swinson played in 11 games that season and then another 12 for the Ducks in 2022 with no starts.
Swinson would then enter the transfer portal as a 3-star transfer (247 Sports) and landed with the LSU Tigers, playing in 12 games with one start in 2023. He finally assumed a starting role in 2024, starting 12 of 13 games played and emerging as a standout pass rusher. Swinson led the team in sacks, quarterback hits, and tackles for loss in 2024 and was named Second Team All-SEC for his play.
Tale Of The Tape
Swinson projects as a developmental starter at odd-front rush linebacker. He lacks the ideal mass to play tight alignments, but from wide angles, he can have run leverage built into his alignments and be given proper space to amplify his athleticism as a pass rusher.
When rushing off the edge, Swinson illustrates aggression and confidence in his approach to the quarterback. He will set up tackles through the initial charge, offer reactive quickness to transition, and adjust his track and plan.
He isn’t a guesser who will predetermine counters and paint himself into a corner if he’s caught with a disadvantageous set. Swinson illustrates long-arm and speed-to-power conversion ability, swipes, rip-and-dip, and chop counters depending on the geometry of his corner. He possesses sufficient bend to flatten his track and carry speed through the top of the arc with a good counterbalance to the tackle and can accelerate out of contact effectively to carry through to the target.
Swinson boasts a large tackle radius with his length, and his second gear allows him to quickly swallow quarterbacks even if he’s worked past parallel on his rush and forced to peel back down towards the line of scrimmage in his pursuit after uncovering.
This burst is also useful as an interior rusher. Sometimes, LSU would mug him up over the top of guards and charge him with rushing interior gaps or getting involved in twists and loops. Swinson showcased enough ability to carry these games tight to the line of scrimmage to be impactful. Even more impressive was his feel for small creases to the quarterback in congested areas within the heart of the pocket.
Active hands bolster Swinson’s slipperiness, and he fights within the outer reaches of his arm length to keep exit angles clear out of blocks. His precision can be errant and certainly can be more developed in more neutral rep opportunities against the run, which is a common theme in many of his areas of development.
As a run defender, Swinson is a developing talent. He lacks the idea anchor to leverage and play the point of attack with patience. Teams that run a lot of power and pulling guards will test him early and often. He was a touch too slow when squeezing down to compress or wrong-arm a pulling guard, providing a crease off his inside shoulder.
Double teams that look to expand or bubble him will have success creating displacement and will challenge Swinson as well. Even when teams left him unoccupied on the front side and challenged him to sort the mesh point, he would get overeager to crash and attack the back, leaving the edge open for the quarterback to pull.
However, Swinson is an impactful backside pursuit defender and possesses the length and hand leverage to develop into a more consistent performer in this phase. Still, his margin for error is more limited than some because he is a leaner frame.
His NFL team can protect him by playing him as a rush linebacker early on. This will give Swinson more steep angles on the edge to play outside and protect him from the double teams at the point of attack that can really gouge him.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Swinson projects as a developmental starter at odd-front rush linebacker. He lacks the ideal mass to play tight alignments, but from wide angles, he can have run leverage built into his alignments and be given proper space to amplify his athleticism as a pass rusher.
Grade: 76.50/100.00, Third Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
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