Akheem Mesidor

● Brawny build with solid mass in lower body and chest ● Moves well for his size; doesn’t labor in transitions or Euro steps ● Fires out of stance to outpace blockers to the corner and win at the top of his rush ● Violent swipe hands and uses variations of cross-chops and club-rip moves to knock away reaches of blockers ● Off-the-ball quickness helps him win over B-gap ● Sets a sturdy edge to restrict outside runs ● Able to snatch, pull blockers off balance and make plays vs. the run ● Sniffs out screens; showed better processing in 2025 ● Plays with his hair on fire — menacing demeanor gives blockers fits ● Coaching staff raves about his toughness and unselfishness in moving positions ● Rare production on college resume — 52.5 career tackles for loss and 35.5 sacks

● Doesn’t have ideal arm length and weight fluctuated as he moved positions ● Plays urgently but not explosively for the position, by NFL standards ● Plays in overdrive — finds himself out of position to gear down and make a play ● Launches as a tackler; needs to keep his feet underneath him and eyes up to finish ● Older player — will be 25 on draft weekend ● Played through right foot injury during 2022 season — and tried to play through it again in 2023 but was forced to shut things down after two games and undergo surgery; suffered a similar injury (torn ligaments) to his left foot, which required surgery in 2023; offseason shoulder surgery before he enrolled at Miami (May 2022); missed one game because of injury as a super senior (Oct. 2025)

A three-year starter at Miami (and four-year starter overall), Mesidor lined up as a base defensive end (slid inside on sub-downs) in defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman’s four-man front. After playing primarily on the interior at West Virginia, the Canadian native moved to edge rusher for the Hurricanes in 2022 before battling foot injuries that wiped out his 2023 season. After returning in 2024, 339 Back to table of contents -- 343 of 629 -- he played defensive tackle out of necessity but moved back outside to edge for his sixth season and had a career year (one of only two FBS players in 2025 with at least 17.5 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks and four forced fumbles). After several years of flash plays, Mesidor put it all together as a super senior and made significant strides with his pass-rush instincts. Along with his urgent upfield quickness, he has aggressive, well-timed hands and a deep bag of rush moves, which allows him to vary his attack and create challenging angles for blockers. He is a physical run defender with adequate play strength, although he can get stuck on blocks and needs to continue maturing his escape maneuvers. Overall, Mesidor won’t be universally loved because of his age and injury history, but he is a disruptive force off the edge who is always playing 100 mph. He projects as a three-down NFL starter, with interior value on subpackages.