Draft Breakdown by Position - DEFENSIVE Line

As I try to develop into a Nose tackle by having Wendy's for lunch, there's no denying that I won't be playing for the Dolphins this year, yet again. And since Jason Ferguson will be closer to 40 than 30 this year, we need to draft, trade, or shop for a nose tackle. It's unlikely that Paul Soliai will suddenly develop into a stud NT this offseason (stranger things have happened), and even Ferguson took a couple of years to get his act together, so it seems like Nose Tackle should be priority number one or two. On the flipside, it would seem that we were doing okay at the defensive end spots, but there will be some serious talent available on the first day there too and the Trifecta may draft for value.

Here are the studs:

DT:

1. BJ Raji (6), yes SIX!! Brand new ranking.
2. Peria Jerry (24)
3. Fili Moala (35)
4. Evander "Ziggy" Hood (56)
5. SenDerrick Marks (65)
6. Ron Brace (68)

DE:

1. Everette Brown (10)
2. Brian Orakpo (12)
3. Michael Johnson (29)
4. Tyson Jackson (31)
5. Paul Kruger (37)


One of the strange things going on in football today is that the NFL players keep getting bigger, while the College players keep getting smaller. Case in point, when you look at the top 10 or so defensive ends in the draft, it's highly probable that NONE of them will be drafted to play the end position in the NFL. They will possibly drop in the draft for this reason, because despite common belief that 'you can never have too many pass rushers', the reality is, you can only take so many linebackers to the game, and for teams that have proven LB core, but need a 3-4 DE or even a 4-3 DE, most of these guys may be passed over for bigger bodies. It's a bit unusual this year that most of the top DTs are big bodies that will play DT in the NFL.

Otherwise I would expect most college DTs to be 3-4 DE's in the NFL, and thus most 4-3 college DEs to turn into 3-4 OLBs.