2024 Draft Board: Interior Defensive Lineman
The below information I included in the QB draft board earlier in the week, I'm going to include it for every board, but it will be identical on each. The only thing to note here is that I split the Defensive Tackles up by weight. Anyone over 320 is listed under Nose Tackle, not necessarily the position they'll play as a pro, just how I divvy them up for my formulas.
If you've ever read one of my draft board articles before then you have an idea of what you'll see below, but there is a slight change. If you haven't read them, quick explanation, I use stats, athletic testing, past performance from current pro players, and formulas to try and determine the chances a prospect in the current draft has at succeeding as a pro. In the past I used a "PSR", and an "A Met" and "S Met" to give every player a round grade. Now, it all comes down to a Score. The scores differ by position, so before each draft board I will put what the high score was between the 2020-2023 drafts at that position. And at the bottom you will see a small blurb I wrote up for each position.
High Score for DT: 68.09
My DT Draft Board
| Players | College | Score | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Braden Fiske | Florida State | 55.89 | Day 2 |
| Kris Jenkins | Michigan | 55.59 | Day 2 |
| Logan Lee | Iowa | 51.89 | Day 2 |
| Byron Murphy II | Texas | 51.16 | Day 2 |
| Michael Hall Jr. | Ohio State | 49.86 | Day 3 |
| Brandon Dorlus | Oregon | 49.71 | Day 3 |
| Justin Egboigbe | Alabama | 49.08 | Day 3 |
| Darius Robinson | Missouri | 48.79 | Day 3 |
| Leonard Taylor III | Miami | 48.28 | Day 3 |
| Mekhi Wingo | LSU | 48.00 | Day 3 |
| Ruke Orhorhoro | Clemson | 46.13 | Day 3 |
| Keith Randolph Jr. | Illinois | 46.03 | Day 3 |
| Jordan Jefferson | LSU | 45.47 | Day 3 |
| Gabe Hall | Baylor | 44.96 | Day 3 |
| Marcus Harris | Auburn | 44.20 | Day 3 |
| DeWayne Carter | Duke | 43.03 | Undrafted |
| Jer'Zhan Newton | Illinois | 41.52 | Undrafted |
| Maason Smith | LSU | 38.77 | Undrafted |
| Myles Murphy | North Carolina | 36.88 | Undrafted |
| Jaden Crumedy | Mississippi State | 36.56 | Undrafted |
| Fabien Lovett | Florida State | 36.51 | Undrafted |
| Zion Logue | Georgia | 34.17 | Undrafted |
| Tyler Davis | Clemson | 0.00 | Undrafted |
High Score for NT: 78.94
My NT Draft Board
| Players | College | Score | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| T'Vondre Sweat | Texas | 42.38 | Day 3 |
| Justin Rogers | Auburn | 0.00 | Undrafted |
| McKinnley Jackson | Texas A&M | 0.00 | Undrafted |
Things worth noting:
-I like Byron Murphy, I do, but for the asking price I would much rather spend a second round pick on Fiske or Jenkins. Having said that, if my Vikings decide to stick at 11 and 23, and land Murphy at one of those two picks, I won't be upset, especially since we won't pick again until round 4 at this point.
-Darius Robinson's position versatility, thanks to his size, allowed him to slide into the DL rankings after his poor athletic performance bombed his Edge Rusher stock. He's probably best suited for a defensive end role in a 3-4, but he could start out as an interior pass rush rotation option for a 4-3 defense and develop into a full-time starter.
-Maybe you've noticed by this point, maybe you haven't, but my boards only include players that were invited to the Combine. There are way too many players entering the draft each year for me to run my numbers on all of them without making this a part-time job. Not to mention, I tried looking for that list when I first started doing this and couldn't find it. The reason I'm mentioning this, is that this position might be the most obvious when it comes to missing a player that has some hype going for them. Khristian Boyd (Northern Iowa) has received some attention in the months since the Combine. After the draft happens I run any player drafted that didn't go to the Combine through my formulas so I can give more accurate draft grades. I got ahead of the curve with Boyd. He grades out as a Day 3 pick, with a score of 47.45, and he weighed in at 329 at his pro day so that would have put him at the top of the NT board.
-Logan Lee is my sleeper. He's got a Day 2 grade for me, but he's also not being talked about, so it counts. Given his build and athleticism he reminds me of Denico Autry. Autry has somewhat quietly carved out a very good career, and that feels like the path Lee can follow.