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: Iowa State transfer; SEC interior
Expanded bio coming soon. This prospect is Interior D #26 in the 2026 class.
Background
Texas A&M IDL from Cerritos (CA); Iowa State transfer — fifth-year SEC rotation.
College Production
2020-24 ISU: 20+ career sacks. 2025 TAMU: SEC rotation with 5 sacks.
Scouting Take
Experienced interior rusher with Big 12 + SEC exposure. Frame (6-3, 305) adequate; athletic profile modest.
Draft Projection
Round 7. Interior rotational.
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 Tyler Onyedim as a Day 2/3 replacement option.
- REPORTED Las Vegas Raiders: moved on from Bilal Nichols (3-tech-DT).
Picks held: R1 #1; R2 #36
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
- Penetrating 3-tech in a one-gap attack
Cincinnati Bengals · Tampa Bay Buccaneers · Philadelphia Eagles · Detroit Lions
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
~$4.1M – $4.4M (4-year deal) · Pick range: #201-257 · ~5% guaranteed
Mid-pick band — guarantee % varies pick-to-pick
Best-Case / Worst-Case Landing Spot
Why: IDL 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: IDL 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.
Versatility, Limits & Roster Pathway
Day-3 NFL Roster Pathway
Day 3 DL projection means rotational sub-package work and special-teams snaps are the realistic Year 1 role; pass-rush production carries the most weight.
Derived from height/weight against the 2026 position cohort and the prospect's projected round. Versatility callouts identify alternate alignments NFL teams have historically used for similar size profiles. Limiting-trait notes flag the single most-cited measurable concern; severity reflects how often that flag ends a Day 1 starter projection. Roster-pathway notes describe the realistic Year 1 NFL role for Day 3 picks.
By the Numbers — 2026 Class Context
- Frame: Among 2026 IDL prospects, his 6-3 / 305 lbs frame sits at the 61st percentile in height and 23rd percentile in weight.
- Position class: Tyler Onyedim is IDL #26 of 31 ranked IDLs in the 2026 class. Of those, 15 are projected in the R7/UDFA range.
- School pipeline: Texas A&M has 2 IDLs in the 2026 NFL Draft class (8 total prospects from the school).
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.
Tyler Onyedim’s NFL Archetype: Quinnen Williams
Quinnen Williams (New York Jets)
Closest IDL physical profile in the modern NFL: 6-3/305 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 Interior D Prospects
Closest matches to Tyler Onyedim (6-3 / 305 lbs, #26 IDL) by ranking proximity and physical profile. SIZE MATCH = within 1″ height and 10 lbs; TIER MATCH = within 2 ranking spots.
- Skyler Gill-HowardSIZE MATCH Texas Tech · 6-3/310 lbs · #25 IDL · R7
- James Thompson Jr.SIZE MATCH Illinois · 6-2/305 lbs · #27 IDL · R7
- Zyaire HillSIZE MATCH Michigan State · 6-3/300 lbs · #24 IDL · UDFA
- Damonic WilliamsSIZE MATCH Oklahoma · 6-2/310 lbs · #28 IDL · R7-UDFA
- Rene KongaSIZE MATCH LSU · 6-3/315 lbs · #23 IDL · UDFA
Texas A&M & The 2026 Class
More from Texas A&M
- Tyreek Chappell · CB #28 · UDFA
- Cashius Howell · EDGE #7 · R1
- Albert Regis · IDL #12 · R5-R6
- Chase Bisontis · IOL #2 · R2
- Scooby Williams · LB #25 · UDFA
Other R7 prospects in the 2026 class
Different positions, same projected draft tier as Tyler Onyedim.
- Kaidon Salter · QB · Colorado
- Jam Miller · RB · Alabama
- Zavion Thomas · WR · LSU
- Harrison Wallace III · WR · Ole Miss
- J. Michael Sturdivant · WR · Florida
- Seydou Traore · TE · Mississippi State