Gabe Jacas leads rookie edge rushers with 15.7% pass-rush win rate

Day 2 picks Howell and Thomas round out the top three

Wire Report IntelligenceUpdated 45m2 min read

Highest pass rush win rate among rookie edge this season Gabe Jacas 15.7% Cashius Howell 14.8% Via @PFF on X

What happened: PFF's 2026 regular-season leaderboard places Cashius Howell, who led the rookie class with 11 pressures at the start of October, second among first-year edge defenders at 14.8% behind Gabe Jacas, with R Mason Thomas third at 13.8%. Malachi Lawrence ranks fourth at 12.9%, and Akheem Mesidor rounds out the top five at 11.7%.

Why it matters: Second-round selections from the 2026 NFL Draft hold the top three pass-rush efficiency spots, as Jacas (55th overall out of Illinois), Howell (41st overall out of Texas A&M), and Thomas (40th overall out of Oklahoma) all outpace their first-round counterparts. Mesidor (22nd overall out of Miami) and Lawrence (23rd overall out of UCF) went back-to-back in the opening round as of September 29, 2026 draft records, yet trail the three Day 2 edge rushers in win rate.

By the numbers: 2026 PFF rookie edge pass-rush win rate and 2026 NFL Draft slot (as of Sept. 29, 2026): Gabe Jacas 15.7% (Round 2, No. 55); Cashius Howell 14.8% (Round 2, No. 41); R Mason Thomas 13.8% (Round 2, No. 40); Malachi Lawrence 12.9% (Round 1, No. 23); Akheem Mesidor 11.7% (Round 1, No. 22).

What to watch: Only 0.9 percentage points separate Jacas and Howell at the top of the rookie edge leaderboard as the 2026 NFL regular season continues.

Sources

@PFF 2026-10-22T14:59:15.177466+00:00

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