Draft-Week Buzz
No verified pre-draft news items in the past 30 days for this prospect. See Day 2/3 Team Fits below for projected landing spots and /news.html for the cross-prospect timeline.
Scouting Nugget: SEC
Expanded bio coming soon. This prospect is EDGE Rusher #11 in the 2026 class.
Background
Tennessee EDGE from Chattanooga, TN (home); four-year Vol rotational rusher.
College Production
2022-25 UT: 20+ career sacks, SEC rotation piece who emerged as starter in 2025.
Scouting Take
Long-armed speed-to-power converter; plays with leverage. Lacks elite first-step burst.
Draft Projection
Round 2. Rotational 4-3 DE starter.
Mock-Draft Consensus
| ESPN (Jordan Reid) | PFF Big Board | Jeremiah Top 50 | Consensus Avg | Realistic Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #78 | #63 | — | #70.5 | Picks 50-90 |
30-day trend: Stable
Ranks cross-referenced from ESPN's Jordan Reid top-500, PFF's 2026 Big Board top-200, and Daniel Jeremiah's top-50 (NFL.com). Realistic draft-night range reflects projected team fit and trade scenarios, not just big-board placement.
Sources
Our scouting profile is assembled from these primary sources + cross-checked against ESPN (Kiper / Reid / Miller), PFF's 2026 Big Board, Dane Brugler's The Beast 2026, and Daniel Jeremiah's top-50. See our full methodology and citations.
Day 2 / Day 3 Team Fits
NFL teams that lost a same-position veteran this offseason — and could target Joshua Josephs as a Day 2/3 replacement option.
- VERIFIED Kansas City Chiefs: moved on from Michael Danna (speed-rusher) on 2026-02-23. [verified]
Picks held: R1 #9; R1 #29 via Los Angeles Rams; R2 #40 - REPORTED Miami Dolphins: moved on from Bradley Chubb (speed-rusher).
Picks held: R1 #11; R1 #30 via Denver; R2 #43 - REPORTED Green Bay Packers: moved on from Rashan Gary (power-rusher).
Picks held: R2 #52
Confidence: "VERIFIED" departures cite a publication URL (Spotrac, OverTheCap, ESPN, NFL.com, team transactions page) confirming the move and date. "REPORTED" entries come from public free-agency trackers without a single canonical source we could attach. Fits are archetype-and-position based; we are not claiming the team has expressed interest in the prospect.
NFL Scheme Fit
NFL Scheme Fit
- Hybrid multiple-front pass-rush role
Baltimore Ravens · Detroit Lions · Houston Texans
Scheme matches are bucketed from the prospect's height, weight, and (for WRs) archetype tag against a static lookup of which NFL teams currently run each scheme family.
Rookie Contract & Landing-Spot Outlook
Projected Rookie Contract Value
~$8.0M – $13.0M (4-year deal) · Pick range: #33-64 · ~85% guaranteed
Mid-pick band — guarantee % varies pick-to-pick
Best-Case / Worst-Case Landing Spot
Why: EDGE listed in their top-5 positional needs; runs a scheme that maximizes his profile.
Year-1 arc: Day-1 starter window with cap-controlled rookie-contract production.
Why: EDGE not in their stated top-5 needs; runs a scheme that doesn't naturally amplify his profile.
Year-1 arc: Depth-chart competition + special-teams reps as Year-1 baseline.
Contract band uses the 2026 NFL CBA rookie wage scale projected from the prospect's expected pick range; guarantee % is the slot-default at that pick. Landing-spot best/worst case is derived from TEAMS data (positional needs + scheme overlap minus same-position R1 conflicts) — not a claim that either team has expressed interest.
By the Numbers — 2026 Class Context
- Frame: Among 2026 EDGE prospects, his 6-4 / 260 lbs frame sits at the 81st percentile in height and 85th percentile in weight.
- Position class: Joshua Josephs is EDGE #11 of 27 ranked EDGEs in the 2026 class. Of those, 6 are projected in the R2 range.
- School pipeline: One of 6 Tennessee prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft — but the only EDGE.
Computed factually from the 2026 prospect class roster — height/weight percentiles benchmark this player against every other ranked prospect at the same position. Recruiting arc compares his high-school 247Sports/Rivals composite to his current projected round.
Joshua Josephs’s NFL Archetype: Micah Parsons
Micah Parsons (Dallas Cowboys)
Closest EDGE physical profile in the modern NFL: 6-4/260 lbs. Same frame, same role bucket — NOT a talent or career-arc projection.
Note: this is a physical-profile match — frame, position, role bucket. Not a talent or career-arc projection.
Similar EDGE Rusher Prospects
Closest matches to Joshua Josephs (6-4 / 260 lbs, #11 EDGE) by ranking proximity and physical profile. SIZE MATCH = within 1″ height and 10 lbs; TIER MATCH = within 2 ranking spots.
- Malachi LawrenceSIZE MATCH UCF · 6-3/260 lbs · #10 EDGE · R2
- Gabe JacasSIZE MATCH Illinois · 6-4/255 lbs · #8 EDGE · R1-R2
- Zion YoungSIZE MATCH Missouri · 6-5/255 lbs · #9 EDGE · R2
- Derrick MooreSIZE MATCH Michigan · 6-3/255 lbs · #13 EDGE · R2-R3
- Dani Dennis-SuttonSIZE MATCH Penn State · 6-5/260 lbs · #14 EDGE · R2-R3
Tennessee & The 2026 Class
More from Tennessee
- Jermod McCoy · CB #2 · R1 12-20
- Colton Hood · CB #5 · R1-R2
- Bryson Eason · IDL #13 · R6
- Joey Aguilar · QB #22 · UDFA
- Chris Brazzell II · WR #10 · R2-R3
Other R2 prospects in the 2026 class
Different positions, same projected draft tier as Joshua Josephs.
- Garrett Nussmeier · QB · LSU
- Jadarian Price · RB · Notre Dame
- KC Concepcion · WR · Texas A&M
- Chris Bell · WR · Louisville
- Germie Bernard · WR · Alabama
- Eli Stowers · TE · Vanderbilt