Defensive Tackle Rankings for the 2024 NFL Draft
My newest and largest big board of the year is out now. I shared my top 200 players in the 2024 NFL Draft, and now I'll be releasing my positional rankings for each position.When discussing the best position groups in this draft class, you typically hear WR, OT, and even CB. But a position group […]
My newest and largest big board of the year is out now. I shared my top 200 players in the 2024 NFL Draft, and now I'll be releasing my positional rankings for each position.
When discussing the best position groups in this draft class, you typically hear WR, OT, and even CB. But a position group that I think deserves to be talked about more, with an abundance of talent from top to bottom, is DT.
Below are my top 15 DT's in the 2024 NFL Draft class.
2024 NFL Draft DT Rankings
1. Dallas Turner, Alabama
2. Jer'Zhan "Johnny" Newton, Illinois
3. Darius Robinson, Missouri
Darius Robinson began his draft cycle with an incredible week at the 2024 Senior Bowl, where many people that I spoke to in Mobile believed he had solidified himself as a 1st round pick. Robinson is a versatile defensive lineman who has the ability to play off the edge or on the interior at the NFL level and is coming off his best collegiate season, where he started all 12 games and set a new career-best across the board with 43 total tackles, 14.0 tackles for loss, and 8.5 sacks.
Whether he lines up at edge or DT at the NFL level will probably depend on which team ends up drafting the talented defensive lineman. But in my opinion, his skill set is best used as a three or five tech on the interior. And I think any team looking to draft him in the 1st round probably views him similarly, with his ceiling as a player rising dramatically on the interior as opposed to the edge.
4. DeWayne Carter, Duke
5. Braden Fiske, Florida State
6. Kris Jenkins, Michigan
7. T'Vondre Sweat, Texas
8. Michael Hall Jr., Ohio State
9. Ruke Orhorhoro, Clemson
10. Mehki Wingo, LSU
11. Brandon Dorlus, Oregon
Like Robinson, Oregon's Brandon Dorlus began this cycle at the 2024 Senior Bowl, where he had a solid week of practice. Dorlus is such a unique film study because there are times when he looks truly unstoppable as a pass rusher and others when he is a non-factor. If his high-end play appeared more often, I think there's a real argument for him to be in the top five on this list, but the lack of consistency hurts his ranking on my board and his draft stock overall.
Dorlus spent all five of his college seasons at Oregon, beginning in 2019, and recorded 106 total tackles, 27 tackles for loss, and 12 sacks. He's coming off arguably his best season, where he led Oregon in sacks and set his career high with five. I think a team will talk themselves into drafting him on day two of the draft due to the flashes of excellence that appear on his tape. If an NFL coaching staff can help him utilize his skill set more consistently, he could end up being one of the best defensive players in this draft class.
12. Maason Smith, LSU
13. Tyler Davis, Clemson
14. Justin Egoigbe, Alabama
15. Fabien Lovett, Florida State
Top 200 prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft
A top 200 big board for the 2024 NFL Draft
