VICTop 5
Arki Butler
Premier Game Breaker
Sandringham Dragons (VIC Metro)
Scouting profile
2026 AFL National Draft
Kai Edwards: 2026 AFL Draft profile
Spring-Heeled Aerial Hybrid
2026 NATIONAL DRAFTTop 60 · EDITORIAL RANGESA
- Position
- Key Forward/Ruck
- Listed height
- 195 cm
- Club / region
- Glenelg (SANFL U18 / SA)
- Projected range
- Top 60 (editorial)
SOTARAMAFL SCOUTING VIEW
Kai Edwards scouting report
Kai Edwards is the 2026 draft crop’s "spring-heeled aerial hybrid." Towering at an imposing 195cm, the Glenelg standout has rocketed into South Australia’s National Championships squad on the back of his unique structural versatility. While Edwards has made his name as a highly dangerous, mobile key forward, his ability to seamlessly pinch-hit into the ruck has made him a massive tactical asset. Blessed with a breathtaking vertical leap, he routinely rises over opposing tall networks to win his share of hitouts. Far from just a stationary tall, Edwards turns heads with his agility on the deck; he handles the ball cleanly below his knees, stays completely upright through heavy contact, and serves as an incredibly polished, low-trajectory field kick on the move
Edwards can give an attacking group flexibility by providing an aerial target and another option when the ruck needs support. The challenge is to make the movement between those tasks clear enough that he remains part of the next passage. We would look for his presentation, handling and follow-up effort to become increasingly consistent, allowing his versatility to add to a dependable main role.
AFL player comparison
Brody Mihocek
Brody Mihocek serves as a fantastic, structurally sound template for Edwards' relentless work-rate and elite forward presentation. At 195cm, Edwards gives you a few extra centimeters of height, but he plays with that identical, ultra-reliable "link-the-lines" forward intelligence that has defined Mihocek’s career. Like Mihocek, Edwards is an incredibly honest competitor who refuses to be taken out of a contest. He thrives on repetitive hard leads up to the wings to unlock cramped defensive zones, possesses strong, vice-like hands on the chest under heavy contact, and works just as hard defensively on the counter-attack. When combined with his unique capacity to drop into the ruck without losing his forward-half leading efficiency, he profiles as the ultimate structural glue for a modern attacking system.
Scouting text, projected ranges and comparisons are SotaramAFL editorial assessments, rather than confirmed club decisions or predictions of career achievements.
Where could Kai Edwards fit in the 2026 AFL Draft?
The simulator currently places Kai Edwards in the Top 60 group. Compare the role and scouting assessment with the players available at your club’s selection, then test an alternative in your own mock draft.
Match statistics and combine testing
The scouting view is written for this website. Published measurements and their sources appear in the athletic profile below where available; a missing result is not a zero or proof of non-participation.
PROSPECT INTELLIGENCE / 2026
The athletic profile
The numbers. The draft context. The bigger picture.
0/ 5core tests published
SOTARAMAFL SCOUTING VIEW
Top 60 projected band
74 profiles share this band · editorial snapshot, 19 October 2026
Pick 1Pick 30Pick 60
Highlighted span: picks 1–60. A range, not an exact ranking or consensus score.
Dots show known results from the same event and protocol. Higher on the bar means faster or higher. This leader-biased sample does not represent the whole draft class.
Compare with a named historical mark. These are benchmark gaps, not all-time rankings or percentiles. National and state conditions can differ.
No verified measurements to plot yet
We will add the bars when attributable results are available. Missing data is not a low score and does not establish whether a player tested.
20m sprint —Agility —2km time trial —Standing vertical jump —Running vertical jump —
How to read this profile
Rankings use only published results collected for the same test and event, with competition ranking for ties. The denominator is the number of known results, not all participants. Preliminary and unofficial figures are shown without ranks or historical comparisons. Reaching-hand, side-specific and counter-movement protocols stay separate.
Scouting bands are the site's existing editorial view; no numerical skill ratings have been inferred from prose. Historical marks use the AFL's records reference. The 2km event began in 2017; no 3km, beep-test or Yo-Yo conversion is used. Harry Sharp's 2020 mark is a historical reference across differing event conditions. Finlay Yeo's WA agility result may surpass the national benchmark without changing that benchmark's event scope.
Research reviewed 26 October 2026. Read coverage and source discrepancies →
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Listed measurements and club connections come from the public simulator pool. See sources, methodology and corrections.