The defensive tackle position is home to some of the best pure talent in this draft. There are five tackles in this class who could go in the first round and make an immediate impact as rookies
Here are our top 20 defensive tackles in the 2018 NFL Draft.
XNOJOE’S Top 20 Defensive Tackles
1. Vita Vea, Washington, 6-4 337
2. Da’Ron Payne, Alabama, 6-2 311
3. Maurice Hurst, Michigan, 6-1 292
4. Taven Bryan, Florida, 6-5 290
5. Harrison Phillips, Stanford, 6-3 307
6. B.J Hill, N.C State, 6-3 311
7. Poona Ford, Texas, 6-0 300
8. R.J McIntosh, Miami (Fla), 6-4 286
9. Derrick Nnadi, Florida State, 6-1 317
10. Nathan Sheppard, Fort Hays State, 6-4 315
11. Joshua Frazier, Alabama, 6-3 321
12. Trenton Thompson, Georgia, 6-3 288
13. Steven Richardson, Minnesota, 6-0 300
14. Folorunso Fatukasi, UConn, 6-4 318
15. Tim Settle, Va Tech, 6-3 321
16. Michael Hill, Ohio State 6-2 295
17. Rasheem Green, USC, 6-4275
18. Lowell Lotulelei, Utah, 6-2 315
19. Breeland Speaks, Ole Miss, 6-3 288
20. Kentavius Street, N.C Street, 6-2 280
Thoughts on the Class
This class is as deep as I have at the defensive tackle position in my 20 years of covering the NFL Draft.
Vita Vea is flat out dominant. He gets off the ball with speed, has strong hands and elite quickness. He covers a lot of ground quickly and can make plays all along the line of scrimmage. Vea has the potential to be a perennial all pro for a long time.
Da’Ron Payne is a quick twitch, explosive shade tackle who wins with get off. Payne is short and stout. He is tough to block one on one because he is so compact and powerful. He can play inside the guard or head up on the center and be effective.
Poona Ford is one of my favorite players in this draft. He has a motor and does a great job of jumping the snap. Ford is virtually unblockable one on one because he plays with great leverage and power. Ford is a three down player in my opinion.
Now that Mo Hurst has been cleared of any potential health issues related to his heart, he is a top twenty pick in my opinion. His ability to win off the snap is as good as any tackle in this class. Hurst has a strong upper body and he consistently stacks and sheds defenders with ease. He was dominant at Michigan.
3-4 teams are going to love Harrison Phillips. He has experience playing in the scheme at Stanford but his strength and his ability to two gap and anchor down are the best of any tackle in this draft.
N.C State’s B.J Hill is scheme versatile in that he can play the 5 technique in the 3-4 or the 3 technique in the 4-3. Hill times the snap count well, has strong hands and can shed and disengage consistently. He has a motor and plays with an edge. Teams will love that about him.
Florida’s Taven Bryan has the most upside of any tackle in this class. At 6-5 290, he offers scheme versatility but he is also a terrific athlete who plays with speed and power. Bryan needs to play with a better pad level but if he can figure it out technically, he can be dominate.
Fort Hays State’s Nathan Sheppard is one of the sleepers of this entire draft. He is massive at 6-4 315. Hays dominated the D2 level but he is going to need to prove he can do it in the NFL. The raw physical skills are there. Hays is a late day two, early day three prospect.
This class is chock full of short, armed, compact, quick twitch tackles that could play in base nickel packages but also rush the passer in dime. sub packages. Again, this speaks to the depth of this class.