Draft as many of these 7 DTs as possible

[LEBills]

22 hours ago, BigAl2526 said:

I see no differentiation based on specific DT position.  3 techs (which comprise almost all listed players on both lists) are almost always going to have the better stats and more speed, but the presence of a big strong 1 tech helps a lot of that statistical production on the part of the 3 techs happen.  There is no stat for tying up blockers and drawing double teams. 

 

It's no secret, I've been drumming for a 1 tech in the draft.  I the lists that the OP compiled, I think Farmer, West, Harmon and Tyliek all have 1 tech potential, Tyliek especially.  Only West was primarily a NT in college, and that was in a 3-4 defense.  I understand he switched to 3 tech in a 4-3.  West and Tyliek both have short arms, which is a negative, though some players have overcome that disadvantage.

The players on this list are just those that the NFL has deemed the most valuable which does happen to be overwhelmingly the best pass rushers. 
 

Quite simply, run stuffing without pass rush is a part time player and so is not normally drafted in the top 3 rounds or considered extremely valuable. 
 

4 of the 13 that did not qualify and would be considered top tier 1 tech players. 2 of them Harrison and Williams were small school undrafted players. Then there are Linval Joseph and Ngata who may be a bit undervalued by this. 
 

One of the things that isn’t quite fleshed out there is all the 1 techs on either list is bench press. All of them had at least 34 bench press reps and weighed over 328 pounds - basically strong MFers. I can’t find anyone like that in this class that tested like that. Their certainly will be serviceable run stuffing 1 Techs found in this draft but I would focus on that position on day 3.

 

[LEBills]

On 4/18/2025 at 8:19 AM, LEBills said:

I went through all DTs selected to the All-pro team and/or Pro Bowl from 2013-2025 to see if I could find any similarities in their background pre-draft.

 

In that timeframe 37 different players were selected. Of that group 25 (67%) of the individuals selected met one of the two following criteria. However, since many of the players were nominated multiple times, those who hit this criteria made up over 82% of the total selections.

 

Production: At least 5 sacks recorded in a single college season by their true Junior year AND a RAS greater than 7

 

Speed: A Sub 5.0 40 and/or a sub 1.7 10 yard split while weighing more than 295 pounds

 

 

So who meets these criteria in this draft class?

 

Production:

Josh Farmer, Florida State

CJ West, Indiana

Walter Nolen, Ole Miss*

Tyleik Williams, Ohio State*

 

Speed:

Derrick Harmon, Oregon

Darius Alexander, Toldeo

TJ Sanders, South Carolina

CJ West, Indiana
 

Commentary:

The most important factor in success is obviously draft capital. So in this class and past draft classes, I focused on those drafted by the end of day 2.
 

First, what a DT class this is! The previous record for DTs who met one of these criteria was 5 players each in 2019 and 2018 (8 of those 10 are making over 10 million per year on their current contracts). 
 

Now there are obviously players who succeed that didn’t meet those criteria so scouting is still needed. But for your best shot at finding a star, this is the group to focus on in my opinion.

 

* = no RAS

^ = small school prospect

Way to go Beane, Sanders is going to be a good one.