#96

Edward Vesterinen

Senior defensive lineman for West Virginia. 2025: 2 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, 30 tackles.

DL · West Virginia · Sr. · #96

6′3″ · 282 lb · Helsinki

CFB Index 32 · #313 of 420 edge rushersLow confidenceReturning to West Virginia for 2026

How he plays

Wins his gap play after play.

Tackles for loss: 83rd percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

sacks · 2025

5.5 TFL · 30 tackles · 2 hurries

Best game: 2 sacks, 2 TFL, 4 tackles, vs Pittsburgh

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for West Virginia. 2025: 2 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, 30 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to West Virginia in 2021.

His career, year by year

Edward Vesterinen

DL · West Virginia · Sr · #96

Wins his gap play after play. Five seasons at West Virginia, three different head coaches: Neal Brown, Chad Scott and Rich Rodriguez. The receipt on tape: 5 tackles, 0.5 TFL against Texas Tech, Week 14, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021West Virginia6-7HC: Neal Brown · Balanced

2022West Virginia5-7HC: Neal Brown · Balanced

2023West Virginia9-4HC: Neal Brown · Run-heavy

2024West Virginia6-7HC: Chad Scott · Run-leaning

2025West Virginia4-8HC: Rich Rodriguez · Run-heavy

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

32Below cohort / limited sample #313 of 420?

Medium confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles for loss (83rd percentile). Concern: passes defended (18th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Tackles for loss#477 / 2975 · 83rd pct

5.5

Sacks#487 / 2975 · 80th pct

2.0

QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct

Tackles#1362 / 2975 · 53rd pct

Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct

Solo tackles#1735 / 2975 · 40th pct

Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th 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
Home5g	2.8	0.7	0.4	0.0
Road5g	3.2	0.4	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	3.0	0.6	0.4	0.0
Weeks 8+5g	3.0	0.5	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Rich Rodriguez

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

32 · #313 of 420 edge rushers

Three-star recruit. Now #313 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big 12

Based on 2025: #27 of 35 Big 12 DLs

How the All-Big 12 estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. 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.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	West Virginia	30	12	5.5	2.0	--	--	--
2024	West Virginia	2	1	0.5	0.0	--	--	--
2023	West Virginia	28	10	4.5	3.0	--	--	--
2022	West Virginia	10	4	2.5	1.0	--	--	--
2021	West Virginia	7	1	0.5	0.5	--	--	--
Career		77	28	13.5	6.5	--	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2025

W 31–24

vs Pittsburgh

4 TOT · 1 SOLO · 2 SACKS

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 7 at home.

With O. Straw — 45 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 52 LONG · N. Marchiol — 192 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 57.4 · -4 rush yds (10 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 2	L 10-17@ Ohio	5	0	0.0	0.0	—	Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 3	W 31-24vs Pittsburgh	4	1	2.0	2.0	—	2 sacks
Wk 4	L 10-41@ Kansas	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 5	L 14-48vs Utah	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 6	L 24-38@ BYU	4	2	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 9	L 17-23vs TCU	2	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 10	W 45-35@ Houston	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 11	W 29-22vs Colorado	2	2	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 12	L 23-25@ Arizona State	5	4	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 14	L 0-49vs Texas Tech	5	3	0.5	0.0	—
Total		30	12	5.5	2.0	—

How he plays

Play style

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

10 games

30Tackles

12Solo

5.5TFL

2Sacks

0Pass def.

0INT

30 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 5.5 TFL.

Week 32 sacks

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

West Virginia

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · West Virginia

Returning around him

Transfer portal: -17 net (34 in / 51 out)

2026 Award watch

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

West Virginia · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #49 · 2026 recruiting class #25

DNA match

Player DNA

Two-Gap Base

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jayson Ademilola’s 2021 season.

Jayson Ademilola

90%match

Notre Dame · 2021

Charles Looes

Rice · 2024

87%

Josh Black

Syracuse · 2021

86%

Moro Ojomo

Texas · 2022

NFL Rd 7

85%

C.J. Brewer

Coastal Carolina · 2021

All-Sun Belt

84%

Matches Jayson on

Sack rate

Height

Hurry rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Tyler Onyedim's graduate season at Texas A&M (2025).

Tyler Onyedim

85%match

Texas A&M · 2025

NFL Rd 3 · Pk 2

Devin Lee

South Florida · 2025

80%

Dion Washington

Boise State · 2025

79%

Rene Konga

Louisville · 2025

All-ACC

79%

Anthony Franklin

Stanford · 2025

77%

Matches Tyler on

Class year

TFL rate

Sack rate

Player DNA

Players who play like Edward Vesterinen

Kyle Lewis

Army · 2024

91%

Kemari Copeland

Virginia Tech · 2025

89%

Ashton Gillotte

Louisville · 2024

88%

Wilfried Pene

Virginia Tech · 2023

85%

Kori Roberson

SMU · 2023

84%

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

20217 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Two-Gap Base

Players who play like Edward Vesterinen