2025 NFL Draft: What Oregon's Burch Brings to the Table

With the NFL Draft just over three weeks away, the pre-selection process is beginning to ramp up. One of the best position groups that has gotten attention is the edge rushers and with a need at the position, the Kansas City Chiefs will have a close eye on the group and potential fits within defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo's unit.

Possessing the No. 31 selection in the draft as well as a handful of Top 100 picks, Kansas City will have plenty of opportunities to take a new pass rusher to add to a group that features cornerstones George Karlaftis, Mike Danna, Felix Anudike-Uzomah, and Charles Omenihu. The need for more competition and depth is high, and it's a great year to add to the room.

Oregon Ducks edge rusher Jordan Burch is a potential Night Two target for the Chiefs. A former five-star recruit from Columbia, South Carolina, Burch committed to play for the Gamecocks, where he spent three years before transferring to Oregon in his redshirt junior season, earning an honorable mention PAC-12 and then third-team All-Big Ten in 2024.

Let's take a closer look at what Burch can bring to the table at the next level.

Strengths

If Burch was entering the draft 10-15 years ago, he would be considered a highly-regarded prospect with his size, movement skills, length, and power. At 6-foot-4, 279 pounds, this is a big-framed defender that can play from reduced alignments and be an effective edge rusher. Burch started his career as a interior defensive lineman, so his skill set resembles a bit of a tweener in the trenches.

Burch has an impressive pass rush skill set. He knows how to set up blockers and then attack with a range of moves that allow him to win quickly off the edge and generate soft edges to the quarterback. He brings a combination of refinement and power that creates some knockback ability at the point of attack and will chase down passers that are flushed out of the pocket.

Against the run, Burch will take on blockers well, especially pullers in gap-blocking, power systems where he can disrupt vertically. He has shown to be a force defender where he can put ball carrier into conflict at or after clearing the mesh point. This is a strong edge setter who can stack and shed on occasion.

Weaknesses

As previously mentioned, Burch is a little bit of tweener. His size flashes a potential interior player in odd fronts but his rushing ability as a base end makes him more suited for edge work in even fronts with some reduced assignments on third downs. That will be up to teams to decide how to utliize him.

Burch has good, but not elite, get-off from the line of scrimmage, so he won't consistently stress edge blockers with speed. His flexibility is sufficient at best, and he does not offer great twitch in space to rattle the cage with quickness.

In the run game, he runs into issues where he will play with inconsistent pad level. His hands will get wide and will stall his rushes in the process. There are also times when he gets caught up in the eye candy at the mesh point and struggles to differentiate between the run and pass in play-actions or play fakes in general.

What Burch Brings to the Table

Again, there will be questions about Burch's fit at the next level. He does not have the athletic capabilites to be a successful stand-up edge defender and is slightly too small to handle close-quarter contact in reduced alignments unless he allows him to tee off from a 3-technique or 4. The best place to play Burch is as a base end in an even front that will allow him to play with consistent half-man relations.

Burch's combination is rush moves, power, sufficient explosion off the line, and vertical run defending skills make him a potential fit in Kansas City's defensive front. His play style is similar to Omenihu where he can work inside when needed and the addition of burch could allow for some opportunities to utlize four down base ends in NASCAR packages. This would be a quality target for the Chiefs in the middle of Day Two.

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