There are a lot of different ways to measure the success of an edge defender, but mostly these measurement methods are broken down into some form of statistical measurement, the eye test, or both (more to come on that). For the most part, Iowa football star defensive end AJ Epenesa passes all types of measurement with flying colors. I mean, there’s a reason why he is projected top-5 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
From a statistical perspective, Epenesa crushes it. He led the Big Ten in sacks and forced fumbles while finishing 8th and 9th, respectively, in the nation in both categories.