2020 Draft Board: Defensive Tackles

**Note: changes have been made since the draft happened. I spent May and June adjusting my process by setting strict parameters and adding all combine participants from 2008-2017. Those two improvements caused major changes to my factors and table, which means some players that were on my draft board have been removed, some players that were removed from my draft board have been put back on it, and some players have seen a drastic shift in the round grades they were originally given.

Continuing my Draft Board next we look at the Defensive Tackles. Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with this position. I think there is plenty of talent. It was also the first position that I did where I was able to highlight a couple of players with factors that led to a full success rate as a pro previously, I annotated factors along those lines as “sure-fire star factor”. You’ll have to continue down the page if you want to find out who they are.

Players Removed:

I was able to eliminate 6 Defensive Tackles for various reasons. The ones with the "E" next to their name received my “Empty” label, the ones with a "D" received my “Depleted” label, if you are wondering what those labels mean check the Draft Boards for the QBs, RBs or WRs. They are:

Benito Jones (E)

Josiah Coatney (E)

Malcolm Roach (E)

Neville Gallimore (E)

Raekwon Davis (D)

Rashard Lawrence II (D)

The Table

After I eliminated players, I created a table to determine the Draft Round I would attach to each remaining player. I used their college stats and combine results to determine the chances of them being drafted in the first three rounds by setting a low extreme and high extreme for each stat. If they had more low extremes than their draft grade fell, more high extremes and it rose.

My Draft Board

My Top 5:

1) Javon Kinlaw (South Carolina)

Analysis: He’s the only one with a first round projection mainly because he didn’t do any of the athletic tests at the Combine. With Pro Days being cancelled I’m unable to determine if I should keep him here or move him down, so I’m sticking with what I originally determined. His tackles (32.5) and tackles for loss (7.5) averages were not all that impressive, but a 5.0 average for sacks from an interior D-Lineman (especially one that weighed in at over 320 pounds) is very impressive. Size with the ability to get pressure on the Quarterback is a lethal combination.

2) Derrick Brown (Auburn)

Analysis: His averages: 53 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 3.8 sacks. All of that was wonderful to see and affirmed to me that as long as he tested well, he should absolutely be one of the first D-Tackles taken. His forty was perfect (5.16), but I got a little worried when it came to his 8.22 3 Cone Drill.

3) Khalil Davis (Nebraska)

Analysis: Alright, so this is where things may get a little weird for some people. Davis is number three on my list because he’s the first and only D-Tackle to on a factor that led to 100% success in D-Tackles from the 2008-2017 drafts. Part of his combine performance was par with Geno Atkins and Fletcher Cox, that’s good company to be in at this position. His stats were pretty good as well: 42.5 total tackles, 9.3 tackles for loss, and 5.5 sacks. I would have a big star next to Davis if I was a GM.

4) Leki Fotu (Utah)

Analysis:  His stats may not look like much, but he was the stout Nose Tackle in the middle of that stellar Utah defense. Not to mention he ran a 5.15 forty at 330 pounds, which is crazy. I’d look for him to outplay his draft position.

5) Justin Madubuike (Texas A&M)

Analysis: His stats matched Khalil Davis’ stats almost to a ‘T’, with the exception of a bump on tackles for loss with 11. He had a fantastic forty (4.83) and his 3 Cone Drill of 7.37 was the best among the players I consider Defensive Tackles that were at the Combine.

Sleeper: James Lynch (Baylor)

Analysis: The first big thing that’s going to stand out if you look at what Lynch has done is his averages of 14 Tackles for loss and 9 sacks. He led all the Defensive Tackles invited to the Combine in both categories (in sacks it wasn’t even close). Then he showed up to the underwear Olympics and ran his forty in 5.01. My biggest concern is that he only weighed in at 289 while posting 29” in the Vertical and 111” in the Broad Jump. I’d like to see a little more explosion at a lighter weight.