NFL Draft
3/20/25
5 min read
Antwaun Powell-Ryland 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Virginia Tech Hokies EDGE
Height: 6022 (verified)
Weight: 253lbs (verified)
Year: Redshirt Senior
Pro Comparison: Markus Golden
Scouting Overview
Virginia Tech Hokies pass rusher Antwaun Powell-Ryland is a pass rush technician who has been one of the most disruptive edge presences in the country during the last two seasons. He offers concise, accurate hands and a bevy of counters to keep offensive tackles off balance.
Thanks to his stature and height, he can play with good leverage and power against soft sets. But his run-defending resume at the NFL level will be a long-term aspiration. Powell-Ryland will need to prove himself an ultimate outlier due to a lack of length and modest explosiveness to develop into a starter someday. He can, however, be a valued piece of a pass rush unit on passing downs fairly quickly.
2025 NFL Combine Results
| Position | Name | School | 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Split | Broad Jump | Vertical Jump | 3-Cone Drill | 20-Yard Shuttle | Bench Press |
| EDGE | Antwaun Powell-Ryland | Virginia Tech | 4.69 | 1.64 | 124 | 36.5 |
Positives
- Savvy pass rush plans on a weekly basis helped fuel him as a hyper-disruptive college talent
- Offers good leverage working around the corner or with power thanks to stature
- Plays with a hot fire in the belly that will be required to overcome some outlier physical attributes
Negatives
- Lack of length and reach (31.25-inch arm length) may be a non-starter for some teams
- Is missing the ideal burst and explosiveness to mask the lack of reach
- Will have his hands full if charged with working as an early down run defender trying to control the point of attack
Background
Powell-Ryland is from Portsmouth, VA, and played high school football for IC Norcom HS and Indian River HS. He was rated as a 4-star recruit (247 Sports) and committed to play in the Under Armour All-America Game before declaring for and enrolling with the University of Florida Gators as a member of their 2020 recruiting class.
Powell-Ryland played in two games during the 2020 season, retaining his fourth season of eligibility in the process. He logged appearances in 25 games in the next two seasons at Florida, making five starts as a redshirt sophomore in 2022. After that season, Powell-Ryland hit the transfer portal as a 4-star transfer.
Landing with Virginia Tech, Powell-Ryland was no longer competing for starting opportunities — he hit the ground running with the Hokies. He started 12 of 13 games, posting 9.5 sacks and earning Second-Team All-ACC honors for his play in 2023. The encore was even better in 2024 as Powell-Ryland logged a whopping 16 sacks in 12 starts, putting him third in FBS. He was named First Team All-ACC and Second Team All-American for his performance.
Powell-Ryland accepted an invitation to the 2025 East-West Shrine Game to culminate his college career.
Tale Of The Tape
The pass rush profile is impressive. Powell-Ryland understands the finer points of winning in the pocket, and thanks to his physical limitations, he’s been forced to develop a technical approach to the position. That should afford him a certain floor as a talent and, at the very least, a niche role on a roster.
As a pass rusher, Powell-Ryland offers a tight punch and good instincts to react quickly to the nature of a tackle’s pass set. He’s capable of winning with chops, rips, scissors, and spin moves while also boasting the leverage and punch power to convert to power and play through tackles that don’t set him up quickly enough. The variety of wins on film is impressive and compounded by a hot motor; he’s been seen getting up off the turf, locating the football, and finishing second and third-effort plays in the pocket.
Powell-Ryland offers good power as a wrap-up tackler. He’s a dense frame but must get tight to his aiming point to consistently wrap and finish plays. He lacks the ideal tackle radius and wingspan on account of only sufficient bend and lean to go with sub-par length at the position.
When attacking with speed around the corner, Powell-Ryland will need to strike his hand counter to turn the edge. He’s missing the burst to blow tackles away and lacks the ability to unlock his hips and take tight corners while leaning into contact. These limitations have been circumvented successfully thus far, but he may run into some pro tackles who have all the answers for his counters and render him a pocket contain player only.
In the run game, Powell-Ryland feels like a player more likely to be capped by his physical profile than as a pass rusher. Penetration schemes and aggressive fronts that allow the line to get upfield and attack the mesh point would be one way to help mitigate his point-of-attack skills.
He lacks the length to punch and extend to control blocks, so he will almost surely be required to play with wide angles baked into his alignment in order to play outside in.
There are not many close-quarters situations he projects well in as a run-game defender, and his lack of elite explosiveness paired with his smaller upper body radius means he’s going to have to catch lightning in a bottle to be a true asset against the run.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Powell-Ryland projects as a designated pass rusher at the NFL level. His rush IQ is advanced, and he offers precise hands that should give him the chance to win at the NFL level.
However, it will take a perfect situation of scheme and complementary talent for him to earn higher snap volumes and not just be a rotational rush weapon.
Grade: 71.00/100.00, Fifth Round Value
Big Board Rank: 177
Position Rank: EDGE25
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