Marshall Edge Mike Green is a Second Round Gamble

I was trying to talk myself into giving Marshall edge Mike Green a first-round grade in the 2025 NFL Draft.

That’s a bad sign.

Pass rushers are a premium and usually, I’m all over these guys, but I can’t shake the fact I just can’t buy into what he put on tape.

Green is a tough evaluation.

That’s because of his high sack total (17) in 2024 and he does “flash” what it takes. When prospects flash ability it can be for different reasons, mainly because they don’t love the game enough and/or they just don’t have the skillset it takes to produce consistently.

To begin with, I was leery of the 17 sacks in the Sunbelt Conference against only one top-25-ranked team. Nothing against that conference, but college football is college football, and the NFL is the NFL.

It’s troubling to me because Green produced 4.5 sacks in 2023.

So I continued digging.

Sure, some of it can be explained by his snap count (Pro Football Focus)…

2023: 341 snaps

2024: 719 snaps

Okay, but it still didn’t sit well with me.

By that logic, that should have put his sack total around 9.0 sacks this past season, not 17 before payday.

So what’s the deal?

Another bad sign was I liked Green less and less the longer I watched him. I also liked him better in 2023 than in 2024. That’s another bad sign.

Two of my main issues with Green are complacency and technique. There are times Green looks like a world beater and other times he completely disappears on film. That’s not a huge deal, because that describes all of the premiere edge defenders on film in this draft class to one degree or another. However, when that’s coupled with raw technique, it becomes more of a problem.

He just got tied up with blockers against the pass and running plays too often.

Ohio State game

An even bigger concern I have is Ohio State is the only top-25 team Green has faced in the past two seasons, and in that game, the lights looked too bright for him, and that’s a big deal considering his next stop is the NFL.

That’s the impression I got watching that game, especially in the first half.

Green looked more ‘tentative,’ than I saw him in 2023. He didn’t look like he thought he belonged on that field. He came alive in the second half a little bit more with a well-timed spin move that produced a sack. However, that was his only real highlight and the Buckeyes are about as close to an ‘NFL audition,’ as possible.

NFL projection

Some team may reach for Green in the first round because of what we just saw in the Super Bowl, but it would be a reach.

I like Green when he’s ‘on,’ but the aforementioned concerns are too much for me when I do the math.

Is he capable?

Yes.

That’s why he showed up at the Senior Bowl and did this in the video clip below.

My question is where was this DOMINANT RUN OVER PEOPLE POWER the past two seasons?

Nowhere to be found, which just served as another confirmation.

#15 Mike Green 6-foot-4, 248 pounds

Daniel Kelly’s Final 2025 NFL Draft Grade: Second-Round (I wouldn’t select him)

Projected by 31.5% of the NFL Draft Community to be a first-round pick as of February 23, 2025 (nflmockdraftdatabase.com)

2023 game film evaluated: Georgia Southern, NC State, and UTSA (click to view games watched to form this evaluation)

2024 game film evaluated: Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Georgia Southern, and Georgia State

2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Naturally strong and athletic prospect with a sputtering motor against a softer overall schedule. Raw opportunistic rotational defender. Long arms. Inconsistent first step. Good straight-line speed. Flashed short-area burst. Flexible. Fluid pocket adjustments. Plays with inconsistent hand placement and pad level. Flashed ability to lock out at the point of attack. Inconsistent intensity. Shows some emotion. Somewhat disciplined, but also somewhat slow reacting to play flow. Flashed spin, rip, change of speed, swim, slap-and-go, and bull rushes. Likes pressing inside gaps. Vested in run defense. Inconsistent shed.

Final words

I can’t warm up to Green.

Daniel Kelly is a former NFL Scout with the New York Jets. He was hired on the regime which featured Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Scott Pioli, Mike Tannenbaum, and Dick Haley. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief for First Round Mock, and has written for Sports Illustrated (Lions, Jets, and 49ers), NFL Draft Diamonds, and Yardbarker, as well as a featured guest on ESPN Radio and Fox Sports Radio. For more information about him visit his website at whateverittakesbook.com. Follow on Twitter @firstroundmock.