He entered the 2025 season with high first-round grades from NFL scouts, but neither his impact nor his production matched those lofty expectations. Despite the lack of flash, he still earned All-SEC honors in 2025 and played an unselfish role in the structure of the scheme.A king-sized edge defender, Faulk is long, athletic, and strong. He is a straightforward pass rusher, and there isn’t much deception in his initial plan or counters.

However, though he lacks explosiveness for early wins, he is fluid in his attack and thuds with his hands to create knockback at contact. He stacks and sheds efficiently from different alignments to detach in the run game. He needs better consistency with his pad level and instincts, but rarely misses tackles and offers position flex along the line.Lance Zierlein, NFL NetworkFrom Lance Zierlein:Faulk has a long, developing frame, good movement skills, and the potential for odd or even fronts once he gains more muscle mass.

He’s a culture player with high character who earns a grade bump based on his age (turns 21 in September), traits, and advanced foundation. A fluid athlete with good movement skills, he works around blocks with finesse but needs more assertive initial strikes to set firmer edges in gap control. His toughness and mentality suggest he’ll play through blocks more consistently in an NFL environment.

Faulk’s rush is diverse. However, with average upfield burst, he might require a move inside on passing downs, where his long levers, quickness, and agility can overmatch guards. Faulk needs polish but offers a high ceiling that should reveal itself within a couple of years.Todd McShay, The RingerFrom Todd McShay:With a scintillating combination of length and athleticism, Faulk is a plug-and-play defensive lineman who can line up at multiple spots on the front and brings rare physical traits.

And at just 20 years old, he brings sky-high upside as an impact player against both the run and the pass. The former Auburn standout fires out of his stance and gets his hands on opponents, using a strong punch for his initial attack to keep blockers on their heels. He employs a strong, long-arm stab to walk offensive linemen back into the pocket.

He stacks and sheds opponents and fights with his hands incessantly, ripping, chopping, and clubbing away at defenders to keep himself clean and wrench opponents aside. Faulk is an easy-moving pass rusher who shows excellent power at the point of attack; he overpowers blockers and fights into the backfield. He’s an active and high-energy rusher who sticks with plays and chases down the ball carrier.

He is a force against the run, using his length and strength to hold his ground, set the edge, and shed opponent blocks.Faulk lacks top-tier explosive burst off the ball and does not possess elite bend off the edge. There are times when he loses his footing or balance when trying to quickly turn the corner. That makes him more of a power player who wins with brute force.

He needs to expand his repertoire of rush moves and work to avoid getting stalemated. His production is underwhelming—he notched just two sacks in 2025 after grabbing seven sacks in 2024.NFL Draft BuzzFrom NFL Draft Buzz:The tape on Faulk tells two very different stories depending on which side of the ball is in focus. In run defense, this is one of the most complete and punishing edge defenders to come through the SEC in recent memory.

That kind of dominance against the run is not a fluke. He plays with a level of physicality and technique against the ground game that will translate from Day 1, and there is no defensive coordinator in the league who would not benefit from plugging him into early-down rotations immediately. The floor here is a high-quality starter who makes the entire front seven better by controlling his gaps and forcing offenses to account for him on every play design.The pass rush ceiling is where the conversation gets complicated, and honestly, where the film demands some patience from evaluators. His 2025 numbers dropped hard from the previous year, but a lot of that was Auburn sliding him inside on nearly a third of his pass-rush snaps, a ro