NFL Draft
2/13/25
8 min read
2025 NFL Draft: Superlatives For This Year's DL Class
With the 2025 NFL Draft approaching, I’ve started a superlatives series to preview each position group.
This series will cover a wide range of prospects and highlight the players who stand out the most in specific categories. Today, we’re breaking down the loaded interior defensive line class.
QB Superlatives | RB Superlatives | WR Superlatives | TE Superlatives | OL Superlatives | EDGE Superlatives
2025 NFL Draft DL Superlatives
MOST COMPLETE
Mason Graham, Michigan
Mason Graham didn’t qualify for any of the other superlatives, but he’s the best defensive tackle in this class overall and is extremely well-rounded as a prospect.
He’s explosive off the line of scrimmage and has the lateral quickness to cross his opponent’s face and slice into gaps. After he wins leverage he’s able to bend his rush angle from the edge of the block directly to the quarterback. He also channels his burst into a potent bull rush.
As a run defender, Graham has rare technical prowess for a player of his age. He’s a stack-and-shed machine, attacking blocks with precise hand placement and disengaging with violent upper-body torque. His only true flaw as a prospect is his below average anchor, but he offsets that with outstanding footwork, technique, and core strength and is definitely a net-positive in the run game.
There are other players with more upside, but Graham’s floor is higher than any defensive tackle in this class and he has an extremely high likelihood of at least being a quality starter.
Honorable Mention: Tyleik Williams, Ohio State
BEST ATHLETE
Shemar Turner, Texas A&M
Considering the full package of size, length, and movement skills, I think Shemar Turner is the best overall athlete in this defensive tackle class. Turner played his first three years at Texas A&M on the edge, but converted to three-technique for the 2024 season. He’s listed at 6-foot-3, 300-pounds and has verified 33 ¼-inch arms (51st percentile) from summer measurements.
Even after putting on additional weight last offseason, Turner is still a rare athlete. He has elite upfield burst and lateral twitch to shoot gaps and capture angles as a pass rusher. He can sink his hips and bend at the top of the rush like a 260-pound speed rusher. He also has incredible pursuit speed to chase ballcarriers sideline to sideline.
Turner looks like a first round pick off the bus and occasionally looks like one on the field, but he’s very inconsistent and shouldn’t be expected to produce as a rookie. He has a chaotic play style and lacks balance and precision in every aspect of his game.
He hurls into the backfield at max speed with no control of his pursuit angle and left a lot of potential backfield production on the field. In 2024 he missed 23.3% of his tackle attempts. He’s a reckless bull-in-a-china shop pass rusher who occasionally stumbles across something that works, but doesn’t seem to have a deliberate plan of attack. While he has flashes of violent, but coordinated hand usage, he struggles to cleanly execute a pass rushing move more than once or twice per game.
Turner’s lack of technical refinement also shows up in the run game and he ends up on the ground as often as anyone in this class. He’s still a bit undersized for a defensive tackle, but his eyes are a more pressing issue than his anchor. He doesn’t read or anticipate blocks consistently, which allows offensive linemen to establish early control and wash him out of the play.
Despite his lack of polish, however, Turner has a good chance of being selected in the second or third round and I wouldn’t be opposed to taking him that high. You can’t teach his physical traits and there are flashes on tape that show he at least knows what to do. Consistent execution will take some time to develop, but he only has one full year of experience as an interior defender.
Honorable Mention: Jordan Phillips, Maryland
BEST SPEED/FINESSE RUSHER
Omarr Norman-Lott, Tennessee
Omarr Norman-Lott is an electric pass rusher who will be an absolute weapon on third downs. He checks every box for a pass rushing specialist with 33 5/8-inch arms (68th percentile), a diverse set of moves, and elite burst and flexibility.
If there was a “quickest first step” superlative, I’d give the nod to Norman-Lott. He catapults out of his stance and dusts blockers off the line of scrimmage, gaining ground upfield before they can even attempt to recover. He also has outstanding bend at the top of the rush to redirect his angle towards the quarterback. His diverse arsenal of moves keeps blockers guessing and he had multiple wins with a bull rush, swipe, cross-chop, and club-swim.
Norman-Lott was under-utilized at Tennessee, only playing 17.4 snaps per game in 2024, but that shouldn’t raise any red flags in terms of his conditioning. Tennessee had a deep defensive line rotation that was essentially a platoon system, so nobody played anything close to a full-time role. It does make the evaluation a bit more complicated, however, as its hard to feel too confident in a grade that’s based on just 225 snaps.
Honorable Mention: Aeneas Peebles, Virginia Tech
BEST POWER RUSHER
Darius Alexander, Toledo
Darius Alexander is a heavy-handed three-technique with a devastating bull rush. While he isn’t the most explosive athlete and he doesn’t always play with ideal pad level, his initial strike is so powerful that those deficiencies don’t end up mattering.
He secures most of his wins the moment he engages with the block. He fires his hands into the blocker’s frame with authority, creating early knockback and shattering his opponent’s anchor on first contact. With 34-inch arms (78th percentile), he has the reach to strike from a distance and protect his own frame from counter punches. After landing his punch, he locks his arms and fully extends to uproot the blocker and create an entry point into the pocket.
He didn’t face the best competition in the MAC, but he capped off the 2024 season with the best performance of his career against Pittsburgh and had an outstanding week at the Senior Bowl. Barring a disastrous combine workout I would expect Alexander to end up as a day two pick.
Honorable Mention: Walter Nolen, Ole Miss
BEST RUN DEFENDER
Alfred Collins, Texas
Alfred Collins doesn’t offer much as a pass rusher, but he’s one of the best run defenders to enter the draft in the last few years. He has an enormous frame and well-distributed mass to dominate blocks on the line of scrimmage. At the Senior Bowl he measured in at 6055 (93rd percentile), 319-pounds (82nd percentile), with 34 6/8-inch arms (93rd percentile).
Collins is an elite block-shedder who rarely gets moved or sealed at the point of attack. He uses his length to lock out iso blocks and establish separation from his opponent and most offensive linemen can’t even reach his frame when he fully extends. He reads through traffic into the backfield and when the ballcarrier approaches his gap he tosses the block aside like he’s pulling a weed.
When linemen are able to get their hands on his frame, he has a sturdy anchor and rarely loses ground to single blocks. Against double teams he does a great job of corkscrewing his post-leg and holding the point in the A-gap. As a taller player, he needs to be conscious of his pad level to avoid getting out-leveraged. There were a couple plays this year where he tried to swim over a double team, but he stood up and exposed his frame, causing him to get washed out of his gap. This was a rare occurrence, however, and he was incredibly consistent overall.
At 319-pounds, his pursuit range is below average, but he compensates for his lack of speed with exceptional play recognition and a turbo-charged motor. He made more tackles in the alley on screens and outside runs than any defensive tackle I’ve watched this year.
Collins doesn’t show much ability as a pass rusher, but he’s a plug-and-play nose tackle who will immediately upgrade a team’s run defense.
Honorable Mention: Tyleik Williams, Ohio State
