Updated 2025 DT preview … The 2024 draft was an interesting one for the DT position. Only two DTs were selected in the opening round and only one – Byron Murphy of Texas who was selected 16th overall by Seattle – was taken before the 25th pick. At the same time, though, DT was very much a position of choice in the second round as 7 players at the position were selected in the round. In fact, the DTs haven’t gotten a whole lot of respect at the very top of the board in the recent as just 4 players at the position have been taken with top 10 picks in the past decade. That number may grow this year, though, as Mason Graham, who quietly anchored Michigan’s national championship defence last year, is currently considered to be a potential top 10 candidate on the majority of boards around the league at this time. However, while Graham is one strong dude with a relentless motor, he also doesn’t necessarily add a lot to the pass rush such that in the end, Kentucky’s Deone Walker, a 6-5, 340-pound monster with shocking quickness and athleticism, could ultimately be the first DT off the board this coming April, especially if he can build on last season’s 7.5 sack campaign. And just by way of comparison, Graham had 3 sacks.
At the same time, like this past draft, there appears to be a strong contingent of second-tier prospects at the position with either late first or early-to-mid second day potential. That group includes Walter Nolen, the one-time top HS recruit in the country who will be at Mississippi this fall after transferring from Texas A&M, Graham’s Michigan linemate Kenneth Grant, Tyliek Williams of Ohio State, Georgia’s Nazir Stackhouse, Rylie Mills of Notre Dame, Jaheim Oates of Alabama, Jamaree Caldwell of Oregon, and Southern Cal’s aptly named Bear Alexander. Dontay Corleone of Cincinnati also could be very high on that list, but his football future was clouded somewhat when he was hospitalized with blood clots on his lungs this summer. He’s reportedly back at practice with the Bearcats, although it also does not appear as if he has been fully cleared to play yet. Here is our current, updated ranking for this year’s DT prospects.
