Rashad
Weaver.
Rashad
Weaver.
Pittsburgh· 6'4"· 259 lb· 4.88s 40
"A 6-4, 259-pound Pittsburgh edge with 7.5 sacks and ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2020 after an ACL wiped his 2019 — a Round 4 hand-usage-first rusher with average length and a heavy medical file."Pre-draft read
Weaver, a long-armed 4-3 base end with sub-package interior flex, primarily aligns at left defensive end on early downs, kicking inside to 3-technique on obvious passing downs. Against the run, he sets a C-gap with heavy hands and disciplined eyes on blocks. As a pass rusher, his best moves are a long-arm, a two-hand chop to inside spin, and a cross-chop against oversetting tackles. He plays with a thoughtful, series-based rush plan.
His length, redirect, and intelligence on inside twists and stunts are separators. His hands and length affect the pocket even without finishing. Limitations include a lack of first-step suddenness and average ankle bend; he lacks the raw explosion for a primary rusher. He is best as a rotational base end who can slide inside on passing downs.
Teams utilizing a one-gap 4-3 penetrating front with extensive sub-packages for interior pass rush will find Weaver to be an ideal fit.
He can be a Year 1 rotational base end with the ability to flex inside as a sub-package pass rusher, and has the ceiling to develop into a reliable NFL starter.
He would be a poor fit in a two-gap 3-4 scheme that requires him to consistently hold the point of attack against double teams at defensive end.
Weaver's blend of hand usage, redirect, and scheme versatility makes him a valuable asset in a modern, multi-front defense.
Rashad Weaver NFL Draft Tape | Pitt DL
Full draft tape cut: hand usage, long-arm, and inside-outside pass-rush plan against ACC tackles.
Rashad Weaver 2020 Regular Season Highlights | Pittsburgh DL
ACC Defensive Player of the Year season — 7.5 sacks, 14.5 TFL as a base end / interior sub-rusher.
Rashad Weaver Highlights — Pitt All-American, Comeback SZN 2020
Return-from-ACL 2020 tape showing lockout in the run game and counter-rush moves on passing downs.
Weaver enters the league as an edge defender from Pittsburgh, offering a defined hand-usage rush plan and production against high-level ACC competition. His 6-4, 259-pound frame and physical play style project him as a plug-and-play base end, with a specific functional redirect skill that allows him to contribute as an inside-outside sub-rusher. His 6.97 three-cone time supports this ability. A team is buying a rotational piece with a high floor for immediate impact.
He returned from a torn ACL in 2019 to record 7.5 sacks and 14.5 TFL in 2020, earning ACC Defensive Player of the Year. This followed a 6.5-sack season in 2018, demonstrating consistent performance rather than a one-year anomaly. He was used primarily as a five-technique and showed versatility to kick inside on pass-rush downs.
Evaluators noted medical flags, including the torn ACL, and a lack of elite explosion (4.88 forty, 32-inch vertical) which capped his upside to a rotational role. An off-field arrest in 2020, though resolved, also impacted his draft stock. Boards generally clustered him in the third-to-fifth-round range, and he was drafted in the fourth round.
- 01
Defined rush plan
Weaver uses a long-arm, two-hand chop to spin, and cross-chop, winning with technical setup and series-based execution.
- 02
Run defense edge setter
He utilizes heavy hands and length to set a C-gap, stack blocks, and control point of attack.
- 03
Interior sub-package flex
Weaver kicks inside to 3-technique on passing downs, winning with twists and inside moves.
- 04
Tested redirect ability
A 6.97 three-cone time supports his short-area quickness for stunts and inside moves.
- 05
Consistent high-level production
Accumulated 7.5 sacks, 14.5 TFL in 2020 and 6.5 sacks in 2018 against ACC competition.
- 01
Below-average explosion
His 4.88 forty and 32-inch vertical limit his burst to consistently win outside as a primary rusher.
- 02
Medical history concern
A torn ACL in 2019 and prior issues raise flags about his long-term durability outlook.
- 03
Limited athletic ceiling
Average burst, bend, and length project him as a rotational player rather than a full-time starter.
- 04
Off-field arrest (2020)
A resolved 2020 arrest impacted his draft stock and requires character evaluation by teams.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.88sp50
- Vertical
- 32inp50
- Broad jump
- 114inp50
- Three-cone
- 6.97sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.26sp50
- Bench
- 20repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Pittsburgh | 12 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2018 | Pittsburgh | 14 | 44 | 5.5 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2020 | Pittsburgh | 9 | 34 | 7.5 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Career | — | 35 | 106 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Plan-based, hand-heavy edge whose value comes from run-game seriousness, sub-package interior rushes, and IQ rather than juice. Fits Weaver's tape and testing much more cleanly than a burst-based comp.
A less-explosive, less-long version of the archetype: technician base end with hand usage, inside-outside sub-package flex, and steady sack production if he stays healthy. Aspirational rather than expected.
Round-2 draftee who settled in as a rotational base end / stand-up 3-4 OLB, capped by explosion and length. The floor if the medical file eats into snap counts.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Solid rotational hit. Depth Year 1 (injury), rotational contributor Year 2 (5.5 sacks), 12 sacks over Year 3-4 combined. Signed 1-year extension with Tennessee in 2024, on the roster in 2025. Journeyman rotational edge — solid Round-4 value.
Pre-draft context. Rashad Weaver arrived at Pittsburgh as a lean 3-star out of Cooper City, Florida, and quietly grew into one of the most trusted defensive linemen in that collegiate system. He broke out in 2018 with 6.5 sacks and 14 TFL playing five-technique, then lost the entire 2019 season to a torn ACL suffered in fall camp. The comeback year in 2020 was the résumé the league remembered: 7.5 sacks, 14.5 TFL, three passes broken up, and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year award over teammate Patrick Jones II. Measurables told the story of the projection — 6-4, 259 pounds with a 4.88 forty and a 32-inch vertical at Pitt's pro day, but a 6.97 three-cone and 4.26 shuttle that flashed the twitch and redirect skill his tape kept promising. Boards had him tightly clustered in the third-to-fifth-round range as a base end with sub-package rush upside.
NFL fit — Tennessee Titans. Tennessee took him 135th, betting their defensive system could turn a technician into a rotational piece behind Harold Landry and Bud Dupree. A fractured fibula in the 2021 preseason wiped his rookie year before it started, echoing the Pitt ACL narrative. He returned in 2022 as a legitimate contributor: 5.5 sacks, eight tackles for loss, and a pick-six against Green Bay, mostly as the third edge and sub-rush option. The trajectory looked like a Round 4 hit.
Retrospective. The pick unraveled off the field. In February 2023 Weaver was arrested and later convicted of misdemeanor assault on a woman, drawing a three-game NFL suspension. His 2023 season stalled (one sack), Tennessee moved on ahead of 2024, and he bounced through the Browns and Bills practice squads without sticking to a 53. What looked like a Round 4 win after 2022 has aged into a mixed outcome — a real NFL contributor for one season whose career was capped by a combination of durability and a serious off-field incident.