2026 Draft: Akheem Mesidor Scouting Report

Measurables

First Team All ACC (2025)
Jon Cornish Award Finalist (2025, Top Canadian Collegiate Football Player)
Honorable Mention All ACC (2024)
Lott IMPACT Trophy Watchlist (2022, IMPACT: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, and Tenacity)
Honorable Mention All Big12 (2021)
First Team Freshman All American (2020)
Second Team All Big12 (2020)

Bigger DE but still has strong quickness and agility.
Reliable hands in pass rush, constantly moving with good power in his strikes and accurate swipes. Technician with bull rush speed to power, rip move, ghost move, and long arm move, alongside a wide array of counters. Knows how to sequence his rushes and can create pressure from a variety of paths.
Can bait tackles with his movement speed to prepare for attacks outside shoulder before slashing inside or vice versa with his strong acceleration.
Strong bend with torso and ankle flexibility to win on the outside corner.
Can play inside or outside, both as a 3 Technique Defensive Tackle or as a Defensive End. Can also be a strong stunt and loop player to attack a variety of matchups.
Strong pursuit in the Run and knows how to penetrate through gaps for negative plays with his speed and power from a variety of alignments.

Is age just a number? Mesidor will be 25 years old on draft day and will be 28 or 29 be the time his rookie deal is up.
Tends to win more with finesse than power as Tackles with strong anchors can hold him back on power moves. Needs more strength to win consistently there on certain matchups.
Has some issues in staying balanced. Can lose his feet under him when winning a rep and fall into the backfield rather than keeping his feet and being able to pursue ball carriers or QBs.
Undisciplined in Edge contain, tries to crash inside and opens up cutback lanes/outside scramble opportunities. When he determines to set
Block shedding is a struggle in run game, balance issues and strength concerns come into play with his anchor.
Don’t drop him into coverage, 6 catches of 7 targets and 39 yards allowed in coverage in 2025. Lacks coverage instincts to protect zone reliably.
Injury history: Missed 2023 with a foot injury, had surgery in 2024. Recovered since but will need to be monitored at Scouting combine.