Dylan Stewart

Dylan Stewart already has 11 career sacks and six forced fumbles -- and he can't even enter the NFL Draft until 2027. He's one of the best edge rushers in college football, and South Carolina has him for a while.

LB · South Carolina · Jr. · #6

6′5″ · 250 lb · Washington, DC

CFB Index 68 · #141 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceNational watchReturning to South Carolina for 2026

On production he ranks #141 of 583 LBs; on reputation he is on a national watch list. The gap between those two numbers is the story.

Next upSat Sep 19 · 4:15 pm ETvs Mississippi StateWilliams-Brice StadiumSouth Carolina by 3.5

The numbers

sacks · 2025

11.5 TFL · 31 tackles · 6 hurries

Best game: 1 sacks, 1 TFL, 1 tackles, at Texas A&M

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Signed as a 5-star recruit to South Carolina in 2024.
Named Preseason All-America in 2026.

The full story, with sources

How he plays

Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

Tackles for loss: 98th percentile.

The full scouting read

The story

Stewart announced himself as a unanimous Freshman All-American and just kept coming: 56 tackles, 11 sacks and six forced fumbles across his first 24 games, the production of an edge rusher who's both fast off the ball and disruptive once he arrives. At 6-5, 245, he pairs explosive bend with a knack for the strip. He's officially back, and because of his age, he isn't draft-eligible until 2027 -- meaning a top-three returning edge talent is locked in for a defining junior year, paired with the return of quarterback LaNorris Sellers. The forward stakes are

Resolves 2027-01-20.

PENDING

: the tools and the early production already make him one of the most dangerous pass rushers in the sport.

The record

A falsifiable call from this player's outlook. Not yet gradeable.

What we said

the long runway produces a double-digit-sack, All-America season

Graded as: at least 10 defensive SACKS in 2026.

What happened

Resolves 2027-01-20.

PENDING

SOURCES

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2 seasons under Shane Beamer — 13-12 over that span.

2024South Carolina9-4HC: Shane Beamer · Run-heavy

2025South Carolina4-8HC: Shane Beamer · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

68Quality starter #141 of 583?

High confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles for loss (98th percentile). Strength: qb hurries (95th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Tackles for loss#62 / 2975 · 98th pct

11.5

QB hurries#117 / 2975 · 95th pct

Sacks#169 / 2975 · 93rd pct

4.0

Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct

Solo tackles#1178 / 2975 · 59th pct

Tackles#1302 / 2975 · 55th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	3.2	1.2	0.5	0.2
Road4g	3.0	1.0	0.2	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	4.2	1.4	0.5	0.2
Weeks 8+4g	1.5	0.8	0.2	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Shane Beamer

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2026

National watch / fringe AA

In the All-America conversation, short of a selector's first team.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

2026 outlook

Outside shot to repeat All-SEC

Based on 2025: #20 of 76 SEC LBs

How the All-SEC estimate is computed

22% estimated, 95% confidence interval 19–25%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Selector Grid · 2026

AP—

FWAA—

AFCA—

WCFF—

SN—

SI—

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	South Carolina	31	18	11.5	4.0	2	--	--
2024	South Carolina	23	17	10.5	6.5	1	--	--
Career		54	35	22.0	10.5	3	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2025

W 38–10

vs South Carolina State

2 TFL · 1 SACKS · 3 SOLO

Dominant 28-point win at home against South Carolina State.

With M. Love — 49 AVG · 56 LONG · 5 NO · V. Swain — 1 SOLO · 2 TD · 1 TOT

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 24-11vs Virginia Tech	7	2	1.5	1.0	—	0	Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 2	W 38-10vs South Carolina State	3	3	2.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 3	L 7-31vs Vanderbilt	3	2	1.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 4	L 20-29@ Missouri	4	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 35-13vs Kentucky	3	2	2.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 10-20@ LSU	5	3	2.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	L 22-29vs Alabama	1	1	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	L 14-30@ Ole Miss	2	2	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 30-31@ Texas A&M	1	1	1.0	1.0	—	1
Wk 14	L 14-28vs Clemson	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		31	18	11.5	4.0	—	2

How he plays

Play style

Stewart is a bend-and-burst edge rusher -- the modern speed-rush archetype. The trait that pops on tape and in the numbers is the corner: explosive get-off and the flexibility to flatten to the quarterback, which is how a player produces 11 sacks this early. The six forced fumbles add the finishing element -- he doesn't just get there, he rips the ball out. At 6-5, 245 he's still filling out, which is the exciting part: the speed rush is already elite, and the power and counters that come with a stronger frame would make him complete. He's a quarterback's nightmare off the edge with a runway most stars don't get.

Our classifier reads him the same way: fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

10 games

31Tackles

18Solo

11.5TFL

4Sacks

2Pass def.

0INT

31 tackles. 2 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 11.5 TFL.

Week 11 sack
Week 21 sack
Week 31 PD
Week 51 sack
Week 121 sack · 1 PD

Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.

2026 Outlook

South Carolina

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive end · South Carolina

Returning around him

3 South Carolina players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: +2 net (27 in / 25 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

South Carolina · Last season: 4-8 (AP #11) · Talent rank #15 · 2026 recruiting class #14

DNA match

Player DNA

Thumper

Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Cam'Ron Stewart’s 2025 season.

Cam'Ron Stewart

56%match

Temple · 2025

All-AAC

Mason Reiger

Louisville · 2022

52%

JJ Weaver

Kentucky · 2021

49%

Reggie Johnson

Middle Tennessee · 2025

47%

PJ Ramsey

Air Force · 2023

All-Mountain West

46%

Differs from Cam'Ron on

Class year (lower)

Hurry rate (higher)

PD rate (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Nik Bonitto's sophomore season at Oklahoma (2021).

Nik Bonitto

69%match

Oklahoma · 2021

All-Big 12NFL Rd 2 · Pk 32

Taylor Wein

Oklahoma · 2025

All-SEC

68%

George Karlaftis

Purdue · 2021

1st-team All-AmericanNFL Rd 1 · Pk 30

62%

J.T. Tuimoloau

Ohio State · 2022

61%

Amontrae Bradford

Georgia Tech · 2025

61%

Matches Nik on

Tackle volume

PD rate

Hurry rate

Differs from Nik on

Height (higher)

Sack rate (lower)

Player DNA

Players who play like Dylan Stewart

Wendell Gregory

Oklahoma State · 2025

40%

The defensive line · South Carolina

#6Dylan StewartDE · Jr.11.5 tackles for loss · 2025
#39Caleb HerringDE · Sr.6 tackles for loss · 2025
#13Tomiwa DurojaiyeDL · Sr.4.5 tackles for loss · 2025
#27Drew CollinsDE · So.3.5 tackles for loss · 2025
#97Kelby CollinsDL · Sr.3 tackles for loss · 2025

12 more on the roster · South Carolina team page

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Dylan Stewart

Country hotter than the fans

The story

The record

202411 games

202510 games

2026

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

National watch / fringe AA

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Thumper

Players who play like Dylan Stewart

The defensive line · South Carolina