Bigger and Bigger: 2013 NT/DE
 

Seems they get bigger and bigger every year, and this year is no exception.


Is it just me or is the possible 2013 NFL draft class of nose guard prospects out of this world. You got two possible top 15 talents in Lotulelei and Hankins. Then one heck of a ball tackle regardless of where he plays in Short. After that you got massive human beings in McCullers, Jenkins and Barnes. Not to mention Grissom who is sound in his own right as is Jesse Williams. Oh and I forgot Bennie Logan a star in the waiting as a junior as well as underlcassman Nix. Oh and if Kwame Geathers starts to play well you have him as well as an underclassman as well as Campbell who has got himself into great shape. Sure I forgot some and left them off the list as well.


DT/NT
Star Lotulelei Utah (6-4 320)
Jonathan Hankins Ohio State JR (6-3 320)
Kawann Short Purdue (6-3 315)
Bennie Logan LSU JR (6-3 300)
Daniel McCullers Tennessee JR (6-7 370)
Louis Nix III Notre Dame RS SOPH (6-3 325)
John Jenkins Georgia (6-3 360)
Sylvester Williams UNC (6-3 305)
Jesse Williams Alabama (6-4 320)
TJ Barnes GT (6-7 345)
Cory Grissom South Florida (6-2 316)
Anthony McCloud Florida State (6-3 322)
Kwame Geathers Georgia JR (6-6 350)
AJ Francis Maryland (6-5 305)
William Campbell Michigan (6-5 310)
Casey Walker Oklahoma (6-2 309)


Let us not even start with the possible 3/4 DEs all over the nation and standout freakishly tall 4/3 defensive ends. possibly 8 defensive ends at least 6-6 or better, and some of which already play in a 3/4 DE position in college and do great things.


¾ or 4/3 DE
Cornellius Carradine Florida State (6-5 270)
Devin Taylor South Carolina (6-8 270)
William Gholston Michigan State JR (6-7 280)
Sam Montgomery LSU JR (6-5 260)
Trent Murphy Stanford (6-6 260)
Kareem Martin UNC (6-6 260)
Ezekiel Ansah BYU (6-6 270)
Sharrif Floyd Florida (6-3 300)
Joe Vellano Maryland (6-2 285)
Baker Steinkuhler Nebraska (6-6 290)
Damion Square Alabama (6-3 285)
Earl Okine Florida (6-7 290)
Taylor Hart Oregon (6-6 292)
Ed Stinson Alabama JR (6-4 282)
Darryl Cato-Bishop NC State JR (6-4 280)
Jake McDonough Iowa State (6-4 290)
Jacobbi McDaniel Florida State (6-0 290)
Kapron Lewis-Moore Notre Dame (6-4 306)
Craig Roh Michigan (6-5 280)
Izaan Cross Georgia Tech (6-4 300)






Oh and the Sophomore or Freshman prospects that fit the same bill, specifically the 6-8 300 pound Arik Armstead of Oregon not to mention the 6-6 300 pound Tuitt from Notre Dame.


DE/DT
Jadeveon Clowney South Carolina SOPH (6-6 270)
Arik Armstead Oregon FR (6-8 297)
Corey Crawford Clemson SOPH (6-5 280)
Aaron Lynch South Florida SOPH (6-6 265)
Stephon Tuitt Notre Dame SOPH (6-6 300)
Anthony Johnson LSU SOPH (6-3 300)
Darrius Caldwell Illinois FR (6-5 230)
Xavier Cooper Washington State (6-4 300)
Luther Maddy Virginia Tech (6-1 290)
David Irving Iowa State SOPH (6-7 260)





Large tough defensive linemen has been a huge story in the past few drafts, with guys like Cody and Poe getting picked high. Not to mention a guy like Carlos Dunlap who was kind of a dog in college but is not starting on the Bengals, and was selected in the draft I imagine mostly because of that tall 6-6 280 frame.




Here is the past 10 years of 1st round picks that were defensive lineman that were big physical guys with great size. So clearly it is something that is not going to stop. But in recent memory I cannot think of a draft with so many good solid true nose tackles in it as this draft possible could be.

At defensive end, if one has certain measurables, is around 6-6 and about 280-300 and can rush the passer, being a 1st round pick is a huge likelihood if you showed an ability to rush the passer.

And looking back on these classes, looks like this year could be a lot like 2003, where there were so many strong defensive tackles taken in the draft all throughout possibly.

2012
Dontari Poe 11th
Fletcher Cox 12th
Michael Brockers 14th
Quinton Coples 16th
Chandler Jones 21st


2011
Marcell Dareus 3rd
JJ Watt 11th
Corey Liuget 18th
Phil Taylor 21st
Muhammad Wilkerson 30th
Cameron Heyward 31st


2010
Ndamukong Suh 2nd
Gerald McCoy 3rd
Tyson Alualu 10th
Derrick Morgan 16th
Dan Williams 26th
Jared Odrick 28th


2009
Tyson Jackson 3rd
B. J. Raji 9th
Robert Ayers 18th
Ziggy Hood 32nd


2008
Chris Long 2nd
Glenn Dorsey 5th
Sedrick Ellis 7th
Kentwan Balmer 29th


2007
Gaines Adams 4th
Jamaal Anderson 8th
Amobi Okoye 10th
Adam Carriker 13th
Justin Harrell 16th


2006
Mario Williams 1st
Haloti Ngata 12th
Brodrick Bunkley 14th
Tamba Hali 20th
John McCargo 26th
Mathias Kiwanuka 32nd


2005
DeMarcus Ware 11th
Travis Johnson 16th
Erasmus James 18th
Marcus Spears 20th
Luis Castillo 28th
Mike Patterson 31st


2004
Tommie Harris 14th
Will Smith 18th
Kenechi Udeze 20th
Vince Wilfork 21st Arguably one of the best nose tackles ever.
Marcus Tubbs 23rd


2003
Dewayne Robertson 4th
Johnathan Sullivan 6th
Kevin Williams 9th
Jimmy Kennedy 12th
Ty Warren 13th
William Joseph 25th
Tyler Brayton 32nd

Sylvester Williams- DT, North Carolina? And I really like Sharrif Floyd from Florida, who rumor has it will declare for this draft as a JR.

I knew I forgot someone, and on Florida could include Omar Hunter maybe as well as Dominique Easley, too bad both at times are playing defensive end, Floyd and Easley, could be a 3/4 DE however down the road.

2012
Dontari Poe 11th

Every time I see this, I get angry.

I think that Tennessee dude could officially qualify as a giant.

Yeah I never liked how hyped up he was. Is he playing that bad though this year? They have not showed KC on tv yet this year were I am at.

Not even something to argue. Wilfork is a f'n amaaaaaazing player.

How is William Gholston doing this year? He's mean.

What's the scoop on the Vols' Daniel McCullers?? Literally one of the biggest human beings to ever play college football. He looks like a lab experiment.

Is he any good or just a monstrous physical specimen??

That's why I like this board, in late September another poster can tip you how deep the DT/DE spot is for the 2013 draft.

That's an unbelievable amount of upper tier prospects at the DE/DT position.

What's up with that Cooper kid from WSU? Heard he could be a really good one.

He is getting a lot of tackles actually, had 7 in one game they played this year, only one sack as of now. Getting good pressure and collapsing the pocket well which is what to be expected from a massive defensive end. Clearly no Mario Williams, but very solid pickup, if Carlos Dunlap and underachieving college player can succeed in the NFL, Gholston has a chance as well. Probably late 1st early 2nd round pick.


He is huge, suspect exactly how big he is, I have heard anywhere from 6-8 380 to 6-6 333, so will be interesting to see how big is actually is. He can play, gives good effort on the field and is far more productive on a play by play basis than Poe was last year against, and McCullers plays against much better competition. Not going to have the 40 time or numbers Poe had in the workout though. McCullers does not play every defensive snap though, but when he is in there, he gets some push and penetration which is great. Tough choice, come out now but this nose tackle class is so stacked, might be smart to stay in school but then he might lose that hype and potential of a slightly unknown talent coming out early.


From what little I see, he is a good one, nice athlete, big thick kid and gets consistent pressure as a pass rusher, great for someone so young at that size.

NT Sylvester Williams, North Carolina (6’3”, 320, 5.20)

2011: 54 – 7.0 – 2.5, FF, INT, 3 PD
2012: 13 – 7.0 – 4.5

• Very pro-ready body; has the size, bulk, and arm length to hold up in the NFL

• Has played both under tackle (three-technique) and nose tackle for the Tar Heels

• Active hands allow him to shed opposing blocks quickly; impressive anchor

• Initial punch is sufficient to knock smaller offensive linemen backwards

• Keeps his pad level low and generally wins the leverage battle at the line

• Uses the swim move effectively on rushes; also integrates rip and spin moves

• Does a nice job of getting his hands in the air to bat down passes at the line

• Impressive motor and will pursue plays further than most defensive tackles

• Not incredibly quick or fast and may be more of a space-eater in the NFL

• May not be tall or athletic enough to interest teams looking for a 3-4 defensive end

• Has only two years of collegiate experience (didn’t play in 2009 or 2010)

Grade: First or second round

Williams reminds me of Brandon Thompson quite a bit.

Yeah, they're damn near clones. I thought Thompson was a top 50 player last year (right around 50). I think the same of Williams.

Just looking over all those previous draft classes...its amazing how many mediocre/bad players were drafted at the position over the years.

What do you think is the reason for that? Evaluation, integration into schemes, coaching/scheme changes, injury...?

In 03, 04 and 05 there was some huge busts, some were because of injury but a lot were just an over evaluation on a player not that good. Robertson and Sullivan in 03 I think were just projected to become something they never were in college. Jimmy Kennedy was crazy productive in college, kind of like Jonathan Hankins is now on Ohio State, but I think he had injury issues but what NFL player doesn't.

Tommie Harris I would not call a bust, great coming out of college, not as good as he should have been arguably but still productive player I think. But recently not many misses as it was with Robertson and Sullivan in 03.

And I guess Okoye and Anderson in 07 were big busts, Okoye was just like projected because of his great athletic ability but was going to be a 3/4 DE and that never turned out and was a bad fit for him I feel.


Still as long as they have the size, people will take a risk on a player because of the potential and production that size and athletic ability can bring.

A combination of all those things. I can see some players that were impacted by injuries and others that were flat out busts. Just goes to show drafting is an art more than a science.

Tommie Harris was the best DT in the league for 3 years from 2005-2007. As a Bears fan, I biasedly feel he has an argument for the best defensive player in the league for a stretch of the 2006 season before he got hurt.