During the spring months, NFL teams have their advance scouts visiting colleges for junior days and looking at the tape of the last season to put together a watch list for the next NFL Draft. The preseason watch lists are shared with the teams that are part of National Football Scouting or the Blesto scouting service. Looking at one of the preseason watch lists for NFL teams, Auburn defensive lineman Keldric Faulk had the second-highest grade of any defensive prospect behind only Ohio State safety Caleb Downs.
Faulk worked his way onto the field for the Tigers as a freshman and had a solid debut. He totaled 35 tackles with 3.5 tackles for a loss, one sack, and one pass broken up. As a sophomore in 2025, Faulk was a beast for the Tigers with a lot of disruption to go with production. He totaled 45 tackles with 11 tackles for a loss, seven sacks, one forced fumble, and one pass broken up.
The 6-foot-6, 270-pound Faulk has excellent size and showed the ability to line up at defensive end and inside at defensive tackle. On top of his skill set and production, sources say that Faulk is a great kid and comes from a good family. Sources have said that Faulk has worked really hard in the 2025 offseason, seeking out pass rush specialists and working with pro rushers like Von Miller to continue to develop his rush plan and arsenal for the NFL. After the 2024 season, Faulk showed loyalty, turning down huge amounts of NIL money to stay with Auburn. With his play on the field and his intangibles, teams across the league could fall in love with him during the 2026 NFL Draft process.
The preseason grades are not set in stone, and scouts will forget them soon. In the 2018 preseason, Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray and Alabama defensive tackle Quinnen Williams were not on the preseason watch list. Yet Murray became the No. 1 overall pick, and Williams went third a few months later. There have been other late-round projections, such as Joe Burrow, who ended up skyrocketing during the season. Other players had high preseason projections but were mid- or late-round picks months later. Thus, the value is more of a watch list over grades of players’ abilities. But entering the 2025 season, Faulk is the second-highest-graded defensive prospect, and I have him going off the board before Downs in my latest 2026 NFL Mock Draft.
