Akheem Mesidor Prospect Profile
Background
Akheem Mesidor was born in Ottawa, Ontario, the son of Haitian immigrants, and bounced between several high schools in the Ottawa area before relocating to Clearwater Academy International in Florida for his senior year. He committed to West Virginia as a three-star recruit, earned True Freshman All-America honors with five sacks in 2020, then transferred to Miami in 2022, where he posted seven sacks in his first season with the Hurricanes. Chronic foot injuries limited him to two games in 2023, and he returned in 2024 to start all 13 games before his 2025 breakthrough under the tutelage of Hall of Famer Jason Taylor, working as a full-time edge rusher for the first time. He posted 63 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, and 12.5 sacks, including five sacks across four College Football Playoff games, while earning First-Team All-ACC honors and helping Miami reach the national championship game. He declared for the 2026 NFL Draft as a sixth-year senior having accumulated 35.5 career sacks across three programs.
Physical Attributes
There was no physical testing for the 6'3" 259 lb Mesidor. I would have been really intrigued to see what he could have done from that standpoint because he looks quick and fast on the field. The burst he comes off the line with helps him get easy wins against linemen. He also shows a ton of agility, having a great euro step move that can take him from one shoulder of a lineman to the other in the blink of an eye. Strong lower half and good upper body strength as well. Very flexible and keeps all of his power from any angle.
Data and Tape Analysis
If you are unfamiliar with my EDGE radar charts, you can find more information here
Akheem Mesidor is a fun player to watch. He attacks with such ferocity that I can't imagine how difficult it must be to play against him. The radar chart is a very good approximation of who Mesidor is as a player, but let's look into it further.
A plus and minus of Mesidor's game is that you know if he will win his rep very early into the play. The outcome is decided when he contacts a lineman. Often, it is a win for Mesidor. His jump and speed make it so that quick wins come easily to him. And they are not just one kind of win. He runs the hoop around tackles with phenomenal speed and flexibility, often using a dip and rip technique. Like a bat out of hell, he splits the gap between linemen and goes nearly untouched into the backfield. Leaning on his previous life as a DT, Mesidor effectively uses clubs to keep hands off him. The way he executes these moves makes it obvious he has one of my favorite traits: he hates being touched.
The other side of outcomes being decided early is that if a lineman gets hands on him, he struggles to escape them. Once Mesidor loses leverage, the opposing player completely takes him out of the play, and he has no recourse for trying to get back into it. Not that he gives up on the play, one of Mesidor's best traits is his motor, but it just does not look like he has a solution to the situation he is trying to fight out of.
My one gripe against his ratings is the run defense grade. Slightly slow play recognition makes Mesidor prone to over pursuing. He can end up behind the play before he knows it a little too often for my liking. Though that high motor comes into play here because until that whistle blows he will fight to get back in play. And when he recognizes it is a run, he does a good job keeping the edge and choosing his situations to move into a new running lane. And the ability to get skinny between blockers shows here as he can knife between two of them and make a play on the ball carrier.
Grade and Outlook
Mesidor's age is one of the biggest questions of the draft, in how teams will treat it. 25 for a rookie is quite old, and it means that you probably will not get too much more development out of him. That being said, it looks like he could already bring quality play to an NFL team in need of pass-rushing juice. If he can keep up his tendency for quick wins, he will easily pay back the team that drafted him throughout his rookie deal / the prime of his career.
Grade: 6.2 (Late 1st Rounder / Early 2nd Rounder)