2025 Draft: Defensive Tackles

[manxman2601]

I'm curious as to why Kenneth Grant of Michigan only got an East-West game invite rather than senior bowl one. You don't often see first round projected prospects going to the East-West game.

 

[manxman2601]

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Love this kid's play style and potential. Excellent find. Young and improving. This is the kind of player I'd like to draft this year, knowing it's going to take a season or two until we're fully online and ready to threaten for a super bowl.

Pretty good introduction to players:

Senior Bowl 2025 EDGE/IDL Primer: What You Need To Know

The 2025 Senior Bowl is starting soon. Here's everything you need to know about the EDGEs and IDLs in attendance.

www.thedraftnetwork.com

 

[manxman2601]

Love this kid's play style and potential. Excellent find. Young and improving. This is the kind of player I'd like to draft this year, knowing it's going to take a season or two until we're fully online and ready to threaten for a super bowl.

Pretty good introduction to players:

Senior Bowl 2025 EDGE/IDL Primer: What You Need To Know

The 2025 Senior Bowl is starting soon. Here's everything you need to know about the EDGEs and IDLs in attendance.

www.thedraftnetwork.com

We only have a week to wait and we'll be in a much better position to analyse these prospects. I'm really looking forward to seeing the three 'undersized' EDGE players in Donovan Ezeiruaka, Josaiah Stewart and David Walker who don't really fit the NFL profile at 6-1 to 6-2 but all are getting a lot of hype.

 

[manxman2601]

Nash Hutmacher, DL, Nebraska.

He's 6'4" and 310lbs and a current wrestler at Nebraska. Terrell Williams says he wants violent high motor players which suit Hutmacher and his Nebraska stablemate Ty Robinson to a tee. Hutmacher's quickness is on display here.




A strong Day 3 option.

Hutmacher (0) and Ty Robinson (9) combine for the sack

 

[p8ryts]

He's got that impish Artie Donovan look. Makes me want him more.

 

[bakes781]

More praise here

 

[manxman2601]

More praise here

It's annoying that there's not much video of him on Youtube.

 

[bakes781]

It's annoying that there's not much video of him on Youtube.

Also doesn't help that there's a Jordan Phillips DT currently in Buffalo lol

 

[WaterfallJumper]

It's annoying that there's not much video of him on Youtube.

I watched Maryland game recaps and focused on him when he got snaps. Solid young player. Good potential.

 

[manxman2601]

Was trying to decide between CJ West of Indiana and Jordan Phillips at DT for my latest mock (went Carter over Graham in round one) and it’s a tough choice. Both excelled at the Shrine game, both are of a similar size but I think this stat has, at least for now, won me over to West.

 

[manxman2601]

Also doesn't help that there's a Jordan Phillips DT currently in Buffalo lol

Try searching for CJ West on Youtube. you get loads of West Wing videos (for those too young to remember, one of the lead characters in that show was called CJ).

 

[Wilfork#75]

My guy in this draft class is Alfred Collins from Texas. 6’5” 320lbs and he plays everywhere from the 0-5 tech. If this were 2006 Bill Belichick would take him #1 overall as a two-gap 3-4 DE. Right now he is projected as a mid-late 2nd round pick and maybe has the highest floor of any IDL prospect in this draft.

The thing that immediately stands about about Collins is his run defense. He is strong at the point of attack, he is stout and he plays with excellent gap integrity. He holds up extremely well against double teams and uses his long arms to disengage, shed blocks and make tackles. With his length and his anchor, good luck moving him off his spot in the run game.

The next thing that stood out to me was his instincts, intelligence and effort. He is so quick to diagnose screen plays and short passes. There are so many examples of him turning to chase in a flash and making plays down the field. He is the sort of player teammates will rally around with his efforts and big plays (just look at his game sealing forced fumble against Arkansas).

The other area in which Collins is elite is batted passes and disrupting passing lanes. He is so long and quick to react that he is constantly getting his hands up and affecting passes. He reminds me a bit of a young JJ Watt in that regard, where even though it won’t show up in the stat sheet, his ability to disrupt QB passing angles makes a huge impact.

As a pass rusher, Collins output hasn’t matched his physical traits yet. He has all the tools to be disruptive, it just hasn’t translated to numbers yet. With proper coaching I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up being the best IDL player in this draft. He reminds me a lot of Derrick Brown from the Panthers.

 

[manxman2601]

My guy in this draft class is Alfred Collins from Texas. 6’5” 320lbs and he plays everywhere from the 0-5 tech. If this were 2006 Bill Belichick would take him #1 overall as a two-gap 3-4 DE. Right now he is projected as a mid-late 2nd round pick and maybe has the highest floor of any IDL prospect in this draft.

The thing that immediately stands about about Collins is his run defense. He is strong at the point of attack, he is stout and he plays with excellent gap integrity. He holds up extremely well against double teams and uses his long arms to disengage, shed blocks and make tackles. With his length and his anchor, good luck moving him off his spot in the run game.

The next thing that stood out to me was his instincts, intelligence and effort. He is so quick to diagnose screen plays and short passes. There are so many examples of him turning to chase in a flash and making plays down the field. He is the sort of player teammates will rally around with his efforts and big plays (just look at his game sealing forced fumble against Arkansas).

The other area in which Collins is elite is batted passes and disrupting passing lanes. He is so long and quick to react that he is constantly getting his hands up and affecting passes. He reminds me a bit of a young JJ Watt in that regard, where even though it won’t show up in the stat sheet, his ability to disrupt QB passing angles makes a huge impact.

As a pass rusher, Collins output hasn’t matched his physical traits yet. He has all the tools to be disruptive, it just hasn’t translated to numbers yet. With proper coaching I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up being the best IDL player in this draft. He reminds me a lot of Derrick Brown from the Panthers.

I was watching Voch Lombardi speaking about Collins and he liked his abilities but said he doesn't know how to play football - he basically just goes out to beat his man but is situationally unaware. I've linked the video below for anyone interested (the Collins stuff starts at 1:05).

The way I'm thinking about this draft is, and the way our roster is, that I'm willing to sacrifice some ceiling to ensure we get high floor prospects. Collins and Deone Walker have very high upsides but I think they also have very low floors and that worries me. In most other years I'd be with you on Collins but for this year, I love the upside but don't like the risk.

 

[bakes781]

My guy in this draft class is Alfred Collins from Texas. 6’5” 320lbs and he plays everywhere from the 0-5 tech. If this were 2006 Bill Belichick would take him #1 overall as a two-gap 3-4 DE. Right now he is projected as a mid-late 2nd round pick and maybe has the highest floor of any IDL prospect in this draft.

The thing that immediately stands about about Collins is his run defense. He is strong at the point of attack, he is stout and he plays with excellent gap integrity. He holds up extremely well against double teams and uses his long arms to disengage, shed blocks and make tackles. With his length and his anchor, good luck moving him off his spot in the run game.

The next thing that stood out to me was his instincts, intelligence and effort. He is so quick to diagnose screen plays and short passes. There are so many examples of him turning to chase in a flash and making plays down the field. He is the sort of player teammates will rally around with his efforts and big plays (just look at his game sealing forced fumble against Arkansas).

The other area in which Collins is elite is batted passes and disrupting passing lanes. He is so long and quick to react that he is constantly getting his hands up and affecting passes. He reminds me a bit of a young JJ Watt in that regard, where even though it won’t show up in the stat sheet, his ability to disrupt QB passing angles makes a huge impact.

As a pass rusher, Collins output hasn’t matched his physical traits yet. He has all the tools to be disruptive, it just hasn’t translated to numbers yet. With proper coaching I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up being the best IDL player in this draft. He reminds me a lot of Derrick Brown from the Panthers.

Here you go

 

[Wilfork#75]

I was watching Voch Lombardi speaking about Collins and he liked his abilities but said he doesn't know how to play football - he basically just goes out to beat his man but is situationally unaware. I've linked the video below for anyone interested (the Collins stuff starts at 1:05).

The way I'm thinking about this draft is, and the way our roster is, that I'm willing to sacrifice some ceiling to ensure we get high floor prospects. Collins and Deone Walker have very high upsides but I think they also have very low floors and that worries me. In most other years I'd be with you on Collins but for this year, I love the upside but don't like the risk.

I think after 2023 that evaluation would probably be spot on, but I think he made huge strides during the 2024 season. The thing the Texas coaches have praised him for the most this past year was his improved consistency. He has always had immense physical gifts but it’s taken until 2024 for him to put it all together. A perfect example of this is his missed tackles percentage dropping from 11% to just 3% in 2024.

I also think the validity of those criticisms is dependent on where he lines up and what his role is. He isn’t a very good penetrating DT at the moment and I don’t think he is well suited to play off the edge like Texas had him at times. His pass rush needs a lot of work but his consistency in the run game is much improved. I feel like his two-gapping is excellent, he is using his hands better and he has done a much better job finding the ball. Putting him in a more defined role with quality coaching and I think the sky is the limit.

They did make a valid point about his inconsistent pad level which is something he will have to clean up, but you can’t teach those physical gifts

 

[manxman2601]

I think after 2023 that evaluation would probably be spot on, but I think he made huge strides during the 2024 season. The thing the Texas coaches have praised him for the most this past year was his improved consistency. He has always had immense physical gifts but it’s taken until 2024 for him to put it all together. A perfect example of this is his missed tackles percentage dropping from 11% to just 3% in 2024.

I also think the validity of those criticisms is dependent on where he lines up and what his role is. He isn’t a very good penetrating DT at the moment and I don’t think he is well suited to play off the edge like Texas had him at times. His pass rush needs a lot of work but his consistency in the run game is much improved. I feel like his two-gapping is excellent, he is using his hands better and he has done a much better job finding the ball. Putting him in a more defined role with quality coaching and I think the sky is the limit.

They did make a valid point about his inconsistent pad level which is something he will have to clean up, but you can’t teach those physical gifts

What we don't know is much about the coaches and how well we'll be able to coach draftees up although Terrell Williams coming from being a defensive line coach would fill me with hope on that score.

 

[bakes781]

Another giant tweener...

 

[manxman2601]

More praise here

All aboard the Jordan Philips hype train



Love his lateral agility which could be useful in our defense which I suspect will feature a bunch of complex stunts.

 

[manxman2601]

Another mid-late round DT we should get familiar with is:

Darius Alexander, Toledo 6'3.5", 304lbs, 34" arms

Had a very good day 2 at the Senior Bowl

Vs Jalen Rivers



Vs Ersery



Can play the 3 and 5 tech.