Will
Echoles.
Will
Echoles.
Ole Miss· #52· Jr· Houston, Mississippi· 6'3"· 315 lb(School-listed)
"Power from a 305-pound lineman is expected, but the ankle fluidity to bend the edge is what separates prospects. Echoles thrives on violent initial contact and a rare ability to absorb blocks while maintaining balance. To become more than just a run-stuffing force, he must diversify his pass-rush arsenal. His projection is that of a solid, versatile starter."
Echoles is a leverage player before he is anything else. At 6-foot-3 and 315 pounds he wins the first two feet of every rep with pad level and hand placement, stacking a center or guard, locating the ball and then discarding the block toward it. Ole Miss lined him up as a shade nose and a 1-technique, and the tape shows a defender who is comfortable eating two blockers when the fit requires it and equally comfortable slanting into a single gap.
The run defense is the calling card and the numbers back it up. He plays with a wide base, rarely gets turned, and he finishes: 11.5 tackles for loss in 2025 is an unusual figure for a player whose primary job description is holding the point of attack. His pursuit is better than expected for his size, and 68 tackles from a nose alignment is not padding — it is a player who is around the football on early downs.
Even front that plays him as a shade nose or 1-technique on early downs and asks him to control two gaps when the fit requires it.
Year 1: starting run-down interior lineman. Ceiling: every-down anchor whose rush plan grows into six-plus sacks a season. The run tape is already a starting NFL grade; the counter move decides the round.
- Patriots#8
- Cardinals#9
- Panthers#7
- Cowboys#10
Calculated: team's projected pick × position of need
The career arc has been steep. He played eight games as a true freshman in 2024 for nine tackles, two tackles for loss and half a sack, then started as a sophomore and made first-team All-SEC with 68 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, five sacks and five passes defensed in 15 games. He enters 2026 on the Bednarik, Nagurski and Outland watch lists with legitimate first-round buzz around him.
The open question is the pass rush. Five sacks is real production, but a good share of it came from push and effort rather than from a plan: the bull rush is heavy, the counter is thin, and against a guard who anchors he can stall in place. He is also still growing into the conditioning demands of a full snap count, and the fourth-quarter reps do not always look like the first-quarter ones.
The projection is an every-down interior starter in a front that values gap control, with the pass-rush grade deciding whether he is a top-fifteen pick or a mid-second-rounder. He fits best as a 1-technique or shade nose in an even front, or as a 3-4 defensive end in a two-gap scheme. If the 2026 tape adds a real counter move to the anchor, the first-round talk stops being buzz.
- 01
Pad level
He wins the first two feet of every rep by playing under the blocker's hands, and that leverage is what makes a 315-pounder hard to move.
- 02
Gap control
He stacks and holds his assignment against double teams instead of getting washed, which is the trait a run defense is built on.
- 03
Block shedding
He locates the ball while engaged and discards the blocker toward it, and that is how a nose finished with 11.5 tackles for loss.
- 04
Production at a thankless spot
Sixty-eight tackles and first-team All-SEC honors from a shade nose alignment is genuinely rare output.
- 05
Pursuit for his size
He runs down plays outside the tackle box more often than his listed weight suggests he should.
- 01
Thin rush plan
The bull rush is his only reliable win, and when a guard anchors he stalls instead of countering to either shoulder.
- 02
Pass-rush output
Five sacks came largely from push and effort, and the pressure rate does not yet match the run-defense grade.
- 03
Conditioning
His fourth-quarter reps lose the pad level that defines the first quarter, and the snap count needs to grow with the role.
- 04
Short track record
One season as a starter is the entire body of evidence, and the 2024 tape is eight games of rotational freshman work.
RAS · Relative Athletic Score
Kent Lee Platte methodology · ras.football
/ Combine Feb '27 · Pro days Mar '27
Will's RAS will publish once the official testing drops.
The Relative Athletic Score needs the 40, vertical, broad jump, shuttle and 3-cone — numbers that don't exist until the NFL Combine or pro day. Until then we grade the DL on percentiles vs. his positional cohort (see athletic radar below).
These are our own pre-testing estimates based on frame, tape and reported track/GPS speed. They are not Combine or pro day results and should never be quoted as such.
— No athletic data recorded
Loading seasons…
A player who wins with quickness and agility from the interior, though he can be neutralized by double teams if he doesn't win the first step.
Represents the ceiling if Echoles refines his hand technique and learns to consistently use his length to control blockers.
The outcome if his pass rush arsenal doesn't expand and his pad level issues limit him to being a two-down defender.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Will Echoles?
- Will Echoles is a DL prospect from Ole Miss (Jr), born in Houston, Mississippi. The Draft Bomb has him ranked #8 on the 2027 NFL Draft big board. The Mississippi Mr. Football who became first-team All-SEC as a sophomore: 68 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and five sacks from a 315-pound interior spot that most teams treat as a two-down job.
- How tall is Will Echoles? What does he weigh?
- Echoles is listed at 6'3", 315 lbs.
- What round is Will Echoles projected in the 2027 NFL Draft?
- The Draft Bomb projects Echoles as a Round 1 pick, ranked #8 overall and #1 among DLs on our 2027 big board.
- Which NFL player does Will Echoles compare to?
- Our likely comp is Dre'Mont Jones, with Cameron Heyward as the ceiling and Roy Robertson-Harris as the floor. The comps card on this page carries the reasoning for each one.
- Where can I read a full Will Echoles scouting report?
- Right here — this page is The Draft Bomb scouting report on Will Echoles: the thesis, strengths, weaknesses, NFL comparisons, RAS athletic score, film breakdown and the scout's verdict.
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