Solomon
Byrd.
Solomon
Byrd.
USC· 6'3"· 250 lb
"A sixth-year edge who wins with length and a genuine bull rush rather than bend, Byrd was drafted for his hands, his effort and the chance that power translates faster than technique."Pre-draft read
Byrd is a long-levered edge rusher who built his case on power rather than bend. At 6-3 with nearly 34-inch arms, he plays with his hands outside the frame, long-arms tackles onto their heels and converts a two-step burst into a bull rush that collapses the pocket instead of running around it. The strike timing is the trait: he lands first, resets his hips and works half-man to the quarterback.
The counters are honest rather than deep. He has a functional inside swipe and a push-pull when the tackle overcommits, but the ankle flexion to flatten the arc is average and speed rushers with true corner bend win reps he has to grind for. In the run game he sets a firm edge, spills with his outside shoulder and chases hard on the back side.
Byrd projects best in a four-man front that prioritizes athletic defensive ends who can disrupt passing lanes and generate pressure from a wide alignment.
Year 1 could see him as a rotational pass rusher off the edge, with the ceiling to develop into a reliable starting defensive end with double-digit sack potential in a scheme that maximizes his explosive traits.
He would struggle in a traditional two-gap 3-4 defense where his primary responsibility is to hold the point of attack against multiple blockers.
Byrd's explosive athleticism and ability to convert speed to power make him a strong fit for aggressive, attack-minded defensive fronts.
Solomon Byrd 2023 USC Football Highlights
Final college season: the long-arm bull rush, edge-setting reps and chase tackles.
NFL Draft Film Ep 978: Solomon Byrd / EDGE / USC / 2023 / Full Highlights
Full 2023 cutup used as the primary draft tape.
NFL Draft Film Ep 663: Solomon Byrd / EDGE / USC / 2022 / Full Highlights
First USC season: hand usage and power rushes against Pac-12 tackles.
Byrd arrived in the 2024 cycle as a sixth-year edge with a long, winding resume: a redshirt at Wyoming, a Freshman All-America season in 2019, a COVID opt-out in 2020, an injury-shortened 2021, and then two years at USC as a starter in the Pac-12. That path made the evaluation about traits and consistency rather than a clean production curve.
The tape and the numbers matched a rotational, power-based rusher. He posted 6.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss in his breakout Wyoming season, then produced 4.0 sacks with 7.5 tackles for loss in 2022 and 4.5 sacks with 7.5 tackles for loss in 2023 at USC, closing with roughly 18.5 sacks and 28 tackles for loss across five playing seasons. Houston's release credited him with 20 career sacks and seven forced fumbles once his early Wyoming totals were folded in.
The flags were the ones that push a rusher to day three: he was a pro-day prospect with no combine invite and no published testing beyond his measurements, his age was already past 24 on draft weekend, and the pass-rush plan lived on power without an elite closing burst. Taking him 238th was a bet on length, effort and a defined bull rush translating to a rotational role and special teams.
- 01
Length and hand placement
Uses nearly 34-inch arms to strike first, lock out tackles and control the rep before the blocker can get into his chest.
- 02
Bull rush
Converts a two-step burst into real power, walking sets back into the pocket and forcing quarterbacks off the spot rather than around it.
- 03
Edge setting
Squeezes and spills with the outside shoulder, holds the point against down blocks and rarely gets reached on the front side.
- 04
Motor and pursuit
Finishes plays away from the ball; a chunk of his tackles for loss came from chase and second-effort rushes after the first move failed.
- 05
Production spread across levels
Broke out with 6.5 sacks in the Mountain West and kept producing at USC with 8.5 sacks over two Pac-12 seasons.
- 01
Bend
Average ankle flexion and a wide arc mean he corners high; tackles with quick sets can ride him past the quarterback.
- 02
Counter package
The inside swipe and push-pull work, but he lacks a third and fourth move when the long-arm is neutralized early.
- 03
Athletic testing
No combine invite and no published 40, jumps or agility numbers, so his explosion traits had to be projected off tape alone.
- 04
Age and runway
He turned 25 in his rookie season, which leaves little developmental margin for a rotational rusher who needs technique reps.
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Wyoming | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | Wyoming | 12 | 45 | 6.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | Wyoming | 8 | 37 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | USC | 11 | 27 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023 | USC | 12 | 44 | 4.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Career | — | 46 | 158 | 18.5 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Season rows from CFBD; 2018 and 2019 Wyoming splits are partial. Houston credited him with 20 career sacks, 31.5 TFL and 7 forced fumbles. He opted out of 2020.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Honors
- FWAA Freshman All-American, first team (2019)
Late-round rotational rusher who earned snaps with hands, effort and edge integrity.
Power-first edge whose long-arm and bull rush produced real pressure without elite bend.
Long, hard-playing day-three edge who never cleared the rotational-depth line.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Houston took him 238th and immediately treated him as a developmental piece. He was waived at final cuts in August 2024, re-signed to the practice squad, and got his only real look in Week 18 of that season at Tennessee, finishing with two tackles and a pass defensed in his lone regular-season appearance. A reserve/future deal in January 2025 kept him in the building.
The 2025 cycle repeated the pattern. He was waived again at cuts in late August, returned to the practice squad, signed to the active roster on December 3, then was waived on December 29 and re-signed to the practice squad two days later without logging meaningful defensive snaps. Houston signed him to another reserve/future contract on January 20, 2026, and he entered this summer still on the roster fringe. The evaluation has held up almost exactly as written: the length and the bull rush are real, the lack of a closing burst has kept him from taking rotational snaps, and his career remains a practice-squad story rather than a settled one.
Data note: Season rows from CFBD; 2018 and 2019 Wyoming splits are partial. Houston credited him with 20 career sacks, 31.5 TFL and 7 forced fumbles. He opted out of 2020.