Could 2010 Be the Best Defensive Tackle Draft of All-Time?

Good news for teams in need of a defensive tackle in this upcoming draft: they are stacked.

Very rarely is an NFL Draft dominated by defensive tackles. In fact, there have never been more than 10 defensive tackles taken in the first two rounds of an NFL draft. Depending on which juniors declare eligible this year, we could see up to 12 off the boards.

When looking at the best classes of all time, I looked at the amount of defensive tackles taken, and also the amount of quality players to come out of them. Some of the best classes include...

Three first-round picks, seven second-round picks. Some notable players were
Mike Read and Jerry Sherk. 1970 had the most quantity, but the quality wasn't there. They didn't have the big names that other draft classes had.

Four first-round picks, three second-round picks. Some notable players were Hall-of-Famer Randy White, Gary Johnson, Louie Kelcher, and Doug English.

There were some real quality players and a Hall-of-Famer in this class. Johnson and Kelcher were both three-time All-Pro players, and English made four Pro Bowls.

Six first-round picks, two second-round picks. Some notable players were Richard Seymour, Marcus Stroud, Casey Hampton, Kris Jenkins, and Shaun Rogers.

2001 not only had the most defensive tackles picked in the first round in NFL history, it also was stacked with quality players, most of which are continuing to have NFL success to this day.

2010 could be next on this list, and even top them all. The number of top defensive tackles is there, and the quality of those players has never been seen before in a draft in NFL history before.

I'll start out with the name that everyone knows, but nobody can pronounce, Ndamukong Suh .

Suh has taken over college football this year. There aren't many defensive tackles that have ever had the type of impact that Suh has had.

Suh became the first defensive player since Charles Woodson in 1997 to even be invited to the Heisman ceremony, and Woodson also played offense and special teams that year, too.

Suh's season this year was as dominating as a defensive player has ever had. He is the clear-cut No. 1 player on almost everyone's big board, and will likely be either the first or second player selected in the upcoming draft.

The next defensive tackle who is eying a top 5 draft selection is Oklahoma's Gerald McCoy . He has had an amazing year, overshadowed by Oklahoma's disappointing season and Suh's dominating season.

McCoy has constantly drawn double teams and still put up a productive season. At 6'4 and 300 pounds, he's sure to be a top 5-10 pick to a team that runs a 4-3 defense.

I'll continue with the primarily 4-3 defensive tackles with Jared Odrick of Penn State. Odrick had another solid season, being named to the second-team All-American list. He's likely another first-round pick in April, and a good combine showing could put him in the top 20.

The best of the 3-4 nose tackles is Terrence "Mount" Cody of Alabama. At 6'5, 355, Cody fits his nickname well. For a guy his size, he moves very well.

He was a key factor in Alabama's defense, and really freed things up for linebacker Rolando McClain. Cody also blocked two fourth-quarter kicks in a 12-10 win against Tennessee to assure Alabama's spot in the National Championship game.

Cody was the third defensive tackle on the 1st team All-American team this year. Cody will most likely be an early-mid first-round pick for a team running a 3-4 defense.

Another nose tackle moving up the boards is Tennessee's Dan Williams . Now Williams can also play in a 4-3 defense, but he is getting a lot of attention from teams who run a 3-4 defense, particularly the Miami Dolphins.

Williams is 6'3, 330, and is likely to be the anchor of a defense for a long time in the NFL.

There are two quality underclassmen this season who may or may not come out in the draft. But if they do, they will likely be first-round picks. The first is UCLA's Brian Price .

Price has been talking as if he was going to enter this year's draft, and he is shooting up the draft boards fast. Price was voted by Pac-10 coaches as the Pac-10 defensive player of the year.

He led all defensive linemen with 22.5 TFL this season. He's best suited for a 4-3 defense, has climbed into the late first round, and is continuing to move up.

The second is Marvin Austin of North Carolina. Austin is ranked right around the same area as Brian Price and is also moving up. We don't know if he is going to declare for the draft, but if he does, he's likely a first-round pick.

Austin had two of his best games in his last two games, getting three sacks in them. Austin is in a good position because he can play in both a 4-3 and 3-4 very effectively.

The biggest question mark in the group is Syracuse's Arthur Jones . Jones was set to have another great year in his senior season until he tore his lateral meniscus. He had surgery on it and was forced to miss the remainder of the year.

How Jones comes back from that injury will be very telling to where he will be selected in the upcoming draft. He could be a first-round pick or he could fall into the third or fourth round.

He'll be a 4-3 defensive tackle in the pros, and a lot of people are saying he is a good fit to the Colts late in the first round.

The most intriguing is Allen Bailey of Miami. Bailey is a freakish athlete for his size. He has even played some linebacker this year.

I am almost positive that he'll be going back to school for his senior season, but if he doesn't, expect a team to jump on him earlier than expected because of his workouts.

Now there are the prospects who could be second round picks in the draft. The first is Tyson Alualu of Cal. Alualu is a very strong player, who despite only being 295 pounds, could play in a 3-4 defense in the pros with a little added weight.

It'll be interesting what he weighs in at the combine, that could be telling of where he'll be selected. His on-field production is there, earning a first-team All-Pac 10 selection and recording 7.5 sacks this season.

One of my personal favorite prospects at defensive tackle is D'Anthony Smith . Smith may get overlooked by some scouts because he plays for Louisiana Tech University. Smith is very athletic and very talented. He is also very raw, which will drop him in the draft.

He is a senior, but is still only 21 years old. His production wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't bad either. His numbers don't look as good as his Junior season when he broke out onto the scene, but he was fighting double teams all year long this year.

Smith will participate in the Senior Bowl, and I think he'll move up the boards into the mid-second round with a good showing there.

Lamarr Houston out of Texas is another interesting prospect. Most of his production came against lesser competition (All six of his sacks were either non-conference games or games against Big 12 bottom feeders Baylor and Kansas).

Houston is the anchor of a much improved Texas defense this year, and is a bit of a surprise this year.

What he does in the National Championship game will tell where he goes in the upcoming draft, but a good showing could possibly sneak him into the end of the second round.

2010 may be the last year before a rookie salary cap is implemented into the NFL. So this draft may be one of the bet drafts of all-time with all of the players declaring eligible.

Defensive tackles highlight this impressive draft class both in quality and quantity.