2011 NFL Draft: Power Ranking the Top 10 Defensive Tackles
Any NFL team that has a weakness in their interior defensive line is clearly looking forward to the 2011 NFL Draft. This specific draft class is blessed with an exceptionally deep defensive line, and you will be hearing one defensive linemen being called off after another as we march our way through the first two days in New York City.
In this article we are going to be power ranking the top 10 defensive tackles in the country. There is a debate on some of these players regarding whether they are going to be a defensive tackle in the NFL, or if they will move over to be a defensive end. Clearly, every team that drafts a defensive tackle won't be playing the same exact scheme that the tackle played in college, so they will need to learn some new techniques.
In conducting research for this presentation, it is pretty clear that there is a universal meeting of the minds as to who the top three defensive tackles are, and that things start getting jumbled as we go from number four to number 10. My list is no different, but after watching all of the Senior Bowl practices and the game, the East-West Shrine Bowl game, and all of the NFL Scouting Combines, I have my reasons for ranking these guys where I do.
We will also include some honorable mentions, as these guys might be capable of helping out your favorite NFL team, but since they are probably headed for Day 3 of the draft, they will be a less expensive option than the typical NFL free agent veteran.
Honorable Mention
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Is there a bigger amount of disparity among defensive tackles than is the case with Muhammad Wilkerson of Temple? At the website FFtoolbox.com, they have Wilkerson ranked as the No. 31 prospect in the entire draft, and as the fourth best defensive tackle. On Scouts Inc. top 32 draft picks, Wilkerson is ranked as No. 15 overall, but as a defensive end.
That is just one example of how defensive linemen can be difficult to properly include in a list like this. Either way, Wilkerson is a serious talent and will be disrupting NFL offenses soon enough. Because of the positional confusion we are giving Wilkerson his due here, but are omitting him from the list, for the reasons stated.
Other honorable mentions include: Jerrell Powe of Mississippi, Kenrick Ellis of Hampton and Terrell McClain of South Florida. These guys will be coming off the big board anywhere from late in Day 2 to early in Day 3 of the draft.
2010 Pro Bowl NFL Defensive Tackles
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What do Haloti Ngata, Vince Wilfork, Kyle Williams, Jay Ratliff, Justin Smith and Darnell Dockett have in common? Okay, none of them appeared in the Super Bowl this year. But the best answer is that they comprised the list of defensive tackles in the Pro-Bowl Game. They all had solid seasons and are players that the incoming class of rookie defensive tackles can aspire to become.
10) Christian Ballard, Iowa
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Christian Ballard of Iowa begins our top 10 list. Ballard is one of the more athletic defensive tackles in the draft, as he is able to use his quickness and agility to beat offensive linemen. To the extent that those assets will help him prevail in the NFL remains to be seen.
Ballard picked up 5.5 sacks in 2009, but that number dropped to three sacks in 2010. Good motor but can be overpowered. He is a touch under 6' 5" and weighs 305. He should be drafted somewhere in the second round.
At the NFL Scouting Combines, Ballard turned in the best scores for all defensive tackles at the vertical jump (31.5") and at the 40 yard dash (4.75) which further reinforces how athletic he truly is.
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9) Jarvis Jenkins: Clemson
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Jarvis Jenkins was part of a dominating defensive line, along with Phil Taylor of Baylor, for the South team at the Senior Bowl. The two became fast friends, and it will be interesting to see who turns out to have the better career.
When I interviewed C.J. Spiller after he was drafted by the Buffalo Bills, I asked him who he thought would be following him to the NFL from Clemson. His reply was: defensive end Da'Quan Bowers, safety DeAndre McDaniel, and their two corners, Marcus Gilchrist and Byron Maxwell. Clearly, Spiller didn't know that he would be hit with that question, but it is curious why he did not mention Jenkins, since he was going to be a senior player in 2010. It is possible it was an oversight, so I shouldn't read too much into it.
Jenkins has a solid build, going 6' 4" and weighing in at 310 pounds. But in 114 career tackles at Clemson, he only forced one fumble. You would like to see your bigger defensive tackles being capable of separating the ball more than once. In addition, he never generated more than one sack in any season, in fact he had exactly one sack in all four years.
Due to the limited production, he is slotted at the nine spot on our list.
8) Drake Nevis: LSU
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Drake Nevis was a productive defensive tackle at LSU. Nevis is of the smaller size variety of defensive tackles, if you consider 6' 1" and 289 pounds small. Nevis had to rely on his quickness and agility to be effective at the college level, but that doesn't necessarily convert to success in the NFL.
During his career at LSU, Nevis registered 140 tackles, came up with 10 sacks, three forced fumbles and one interception.
Nevis led LSU with 13 tackles for loss last year, which demonstrates how disruptive he can be. Nevis ran a 5.06 in the 40, which shows that he can really move well for a big man.
7) Jurrell Casey: USC
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Jurrell Casey of USC had a reasonably productive college career. The junior managed to come up with 133 tackles, nine sacks, three forced fumbles, one interception and at least 15 tackles for a loss.
Casey is 6'1" and weighs 305. He ran a 5.06 in the 40 yard dash. At this point in time, Casey is projected to be anywhere from a late second-round to an early third-round draft choice.
6) Stephen Paea: Oregon State
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Stephen Paea was the bench press champion at the NFL Scouting Combines in Indianapolis. Whenever they show a repeat of his bench press, I find myself rooting for him to hit that 50th rep, even though I know he calls it quits at 49.
That type of performance has helped keep Paea's value as high as it is on team draft boards. Unfortunately Paea hurt his knee during the week of practice at the Senior Bowl, and had to miss the game. He wasn't all the way back at the Scouting Combines, but at least could do the bench press.
As things stand now, Paea could literally go anywhere from the end of the first-round to the top half of the second-round. Paea is a 6' 1" tackle and weighs roughly 311 pounds. He had 127 tackles, of which almost 25 were for a loss. He had 13 sacks and two forced fumbles. Paea uses his strength to help collapse the pocket, and his quickness and athleticism to finish off plays.
5) Phil Taylor: Baylor
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Phil Taylor has turned his career around. Maybe not far enough to satisfy all of the talent evaluators, but he has been headed in the right direction. When you start out being dismissed from Penn State, that is not the kind of thing that is easy to recover from.
But we are talking about a very large nose tackle here. Taylor is 6' 3" and weighs 350. He is difficult to move, so will be very helpful for teams that have trouble controlling the line of scrimmage versus the run. Because he is a much larger tackle than Nevis or Paea, he is not as quick or athletic. He tires more easily and is not a great pass rusher. What he does excel at is in helping to stuff the run.
As the game wears on, Taylor starts to stand up more, and becomes easier to block and control. If he is placed in a rotational basis that allows him to stay fresher, he could then be more effective later in games. His value seems to go up and down, from a late first-round to as low as a late second-round.
4) Marvin Austin: North Carolina
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Had Marvin Austin not sat out the past year due to a suspension, he probably would have cracked the top three tackles. As it is, I have him at No. 4 due to a strong showing once the college season ended.
Despite his NCAA suspension this past year, Austin to his credit stayed in good shape. He showed up in good shape for the East-West Shrine Game, and then followed that up with a solid showing at the Scouting Combines.
Austin had 103 tackles in his three seasons at North Carolina. He came up with nine sacks, one forced fumble and one interception. Austin is a strong man, at 6' 3" and 305 pounds. He did 38 reps on the bench press and had a 9' 4" broad jump. While he could be a late first-round pick, expect to see him come off the boards in the second-round.
3) Corey Liuget, Illinois
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Corey Liuget ended his junior year at Illinois trending in the right direction. Consider the following statistics: tackles went up from 26 to 36 to 63 last year. Sacks also went up from one to two to five. Tackles for loss also went up from five to eight to 12.5.
With 125 tackles, one forced fumble, and eight career sacks, Liuget is a dynamic force at defensive tackle. He stands 6' 2" and weighs 298 pounds. Liuget is thought to be athletic, agile and strong. His skills will lend themselves to teams needing to generate a stronger pass rush from their interior linemen.
It is expected that Liuget will be off the big board somewhere in the mid to late first-round.
2) Nick Fairley, Auburn
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Nick Fairley, Auburn University defensive tackle, was the Lombardi Award winner in 2010 as the top lineman or linebacker in the country. Yet despite being the Most Valuable Defensive Player in the NCAA National Championship Game against Oregon, there is still a long raging debate going on regarding Fairley. Is he the product of a great one-year wonder career or is he in fact the real deal?
After a two year stay in a community college, Fairley went on to finish his college days with two years at Auburn. Those two years show a very dramatic rise in production across the board. Consider the following: tackles went up from 28 to 60, tackles for loss from 3.5 to 24, sacks from 1.5 to 11.5 and quarterback hurries from seven to 21. That is a serious jump up in production.
Fairley has a big frame and is 6' 4" and weighs 291. It looks like he can put on even more weight, but that remains to be seen. He is rumored to be a dirty player, but that has a way of working itself out in the NFL, where teams can police their own.
Fairley should probably go in the top 10 at the draft, but if he doesn't, teams will be more willing to draft him due to the prospect of higher ceiling. Whether or not he remains hungry and motivated once he signs his big contract is one of the mysteries of the draft.
1) Marcell Dareus, Alabama
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Starting with the NCAA National Championship game of Alabama versus Texas in 2010, Marcell Dareus has been making a name for himself. Dareus knocked out Texas QB Colt McCoy with one blow from his massive arms.
Dareus goes 6' 3" and weighs 319. He runs the 40 in 4.92 which is very good for his size. For a very nice overview of his strengths and weaknesses, here is a good link to NFL Soup, which breaks down Dareus' game quite well.
As far as the draft goes, you could make a case for him going to any of the top three teams: Carolina, Denver or Buffalo. If he gets past the Bills with the third pick, I would be very surprised, as would Cincinnati. Dareus may not perform to the level that Ndamukong Suh did in his rookie year with the Detroit Lions, but he will be a annual force for whatever team drafts him.
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