Antwaun
Powell-Ryland.
Antwaun
Powell-Ryland.
Virginia Tech· 6'3"· 258 lb· 4.69s 40
"Powell-Ryland is a prolific speed-to-power pass rusher with explosive get-off and a knack for strip-sacks, whose projection hinges on whether his elite production can overcome short arms and a limited rush repertoire."Pre-draft read
Designated edge rusher who lined up almost exclusively as a wide-nine defensive end at Virginia Tech and made his living winning the corner. Powell-Ryland times the snap as well as any rusher in the 2025 class, and his first three steps put tackles in a recovery posture before their hands ever land. From there he wins with a hard inside chop and a lean that lets him flatten under the arc.
The rush is far ahead of the run defense. He plays with an active, violent motor and finishes on the ball — nine career forced fumbles are not an accident — but he is a light-framed edge who gets displaced when tight ends and tackles get into his chest. The signature is the strip: he attacks the throwing hand, not just the quarterback.
Attacking four-man front that lets edges pin their ears back on early downs; wide-alignment sub-package rush units
Year 1: designated third-down rusher for 15-20 pass-rush snaps a week plus core special teams. Ceiling: 8-10 sack rotational starter in a rush-by-committee front.
Two-gap 3-4 defenses that ask edges to set a hard edge against 320-pound tackles and read on the move; his frame cannot hold the point.
Value is entirely situational until he adds functional play strength; every snap should be a chance to rush.
Antwaun Powell-Ryland 2024 Regular Season Highlights | Virginia Tech DL
Full senior-season reel: 16 sacks, two four-sack games and the strip-sack finishes.
Virginia Tech DL Antwaun Powell-Ryland | 2025 NFL Draft Tape
Draft-cut tape showing the get-off, the inside chop and the corner flatten.
Virginia Tech DL Antwaun Powell-Ryland Midseason Highlights | 2024 ACC Football
Midseason ACC cutup including the four-sack, two-forced-fumble game at Old Dominion.
A one-trick specialist in the best sense. Powell-Ryland spent three seasons buried on Florida's rotation before transferring to Blacksburg and turning into one of the most productive pass rushers in college football. He is a speed-to-corner rusher with a genuine plan, real hand quickness, and the burst to convert pressure into finished plays rather than near-misses.
The production is loud: 25.5 sacks and 34 tackles for loss in two Virginia Tech seasons, capped by a 16-sack, 19-TFL senior year that ranked third nationally and made him the first Hokie with double-digit sacks since 2005. The flags are just as clear. He is under 260 pounds with short arms, plays too high against down blocks, and his rush plan narrows to speed and inside chop when the corner is taken away.
Boards read him as a sub-package rusher who needs a defined role, and that gap between elite production and marginal size is exactly why a first-team All-ACC edge with All-American honors slid to the sixth round instead of Day 2.
- 01
Elite get-off
times the snap as well as anyone in the class, and his first three steps regularly put tackles into panic recovery before contact.
- 02
Corner-flattening bend
dips his shoulder and turns the arc without losing speed, the trait that produced 16 sacks as a senior.
- 03
Strip-sack finisher
attacks the throwing hand on arrival, and nine career forced fumbles plus six recoveries prove it is a habit, not luck.
- 04
Hand quickness
a hard chop and swipe combination that clears the tackle's punch and keeps his chest free on the speed rush.
- 05
Relentless motor
chases plays from the backside and converts coverage sacks and scrambles into finishes rather than close calls.
- 01
Undersized frame
258 pounds with 31 1/4-inch arms means he gets moved off the spot when a tackle or tight end lands first.
- 02
Run defense
plays high against down blocks and gets sealed inside, which limits him to obvious passing situations early.
- 03
Narrow rush plan
leans on speed and the inside chop; when tackles set deep and vertical, his counters are still developing.
- 04
Power deficit
almost no functional bull rush, so quarterbacks who step up in the pocket erase his outside win consistently.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.69sp50
- Vertical
- 36.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 124inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Florida | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | Florida | 12 | 5 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | Florida | 13 | 29 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 2023 | Virginia Tech | 13 | 40 | 9.5 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2024 | Virginia Tech | 12 | 43 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Career | — | 52 | 117 | 30 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
Season totals reconcile exactly with Sports-Reference career line (52 G, 117 tackles, 42 TFL, 30.0 sacks, 9 FF, 6 FR). Team bios list 14.5 TFL in 2023 and 19 in 2024; SR season figures used for internal consistency.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Honors
- 2024 First-team All-ACC
- 2024 AP Third-team All-American
- 2024 Dudley Award winner
- 2023 Second-team All-ACC
- 16 sacks in 2024 (3rd in FBS)
Long-limbed situational rusher who carved out a real rotational career on effort and finish.
Undersized speed rusher whose get-off and bend turned a role into double-digit sacks.
Light-framed college producer who never found the strength to hold an NFL roster spot.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
The Eagles took him with pick 209 and never found roster space. He flashed in the preseason finale at the Jets with a sack and a forced fumble, but Philadelphia released him at the final cutdown, cycled him on and off the practice squad through the fall, and let him go for good in early November. Cincinnati signed him to its practice squad two days later, and he finished his rookie year there without a regular-season snap.
In hindsight the evaluation was right and the landing spot was wrong. Powell-Ryland is a designated third-down rusher, and he fell to a team with one of the deepest edge rooms in the league, where a 258-pound specialist had no path to the 46. Nothing about the 2025 tape changed the profile: the get-off and the strip-sack instincts are real NFL traits, and the size and run-defense limits are equally real. He needs a defense willing to give him twenty pass-rush snaps a week and live with the rest. Cincinnati may be that defense.
Data note: Season totals reconcile exactly with Sports-Reference career line (52 G, 117 tackles, 42 TFL, 30.0 sacks, 9 FF, 6 FR). Team bios list 14.5 TFL in 2023 and 19 in 2024; SR season figures used for internal consistency.