South Carolina's Dylan Stewart makes Pro Football Focus' top 50 players in college football
Ahead of the 2025 season, Pro Football Focus (PFF) has released its list of college football’s top 50 players. Perhaps surprisingly, just one South Carolina football product made the cut. Sophomore EDGE Dylan Stewart slotted in at No. 9 on PFF’s list.
Gamecock quarterback LaNorris Sellers and defensive back Jalon Kilgore did not make the list. Both players, especially Sellers, have been all over preseason rankings and award lists.
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Below is what analysts Max Chadwick and Dalton Wasserman had to say about Stewart.
“Stewart is the most athletic South Carolina edge defender since Jadeveon Clowney was sending helmets flying more than a decade ago. And like Clowney, he has the upside of becoming a No. 1 overall pick.
“The former five-star recruit earned a 91.4 PFF pass-rush grade as just a true freshman, tied for sixth among all college football edge defenders. His 51 pressures tied for the second most among returning Power Four edge rushers. Stewart needs to get stronger to set the edge better in the run game, but he’s already the most fearsome pass rusher in college football.”
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The top-10 ranking backs up Chadwick’s previous assertion that Stewart is the “most fearsome pass rusher” in America. Stewart is the second-ranked EDGE on the list, slotting in one spot behind No. 8 Colin Simmons of Texas.
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Stewart’s inclusion on any list like this is a no-brainer. Though his sack numbers weren’t eye-popping, he was one of the top pass rushers in the country in terms of quarterback hurries. In anticipation of a big year, Stewart has made the majority of the published preseason All-American squads this summer. He also has picked up a lot of hype as a potential top pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.
Stewart is one of several cover athletes for this year’s edition of the EA Sports College Football video game series. CFB26’s Deluxe Edition features the star Gamecock on the cover, the second time a South Carolina star has been a cover athlete (A’ja Wilson, NBA 2k25).
