Defensive line DL
Sacks + TFLs + Senior Bowl. Athletic testing weighted higher for IDL than EDGE.
Likeliest career, by the outcome model.
How many defensive linemen land in each career bucket as the model's single most likely finish. This is a different question from the board grades below — a prospect can be a Day 3 grade and still have “starter” as his likeliest outcome. The tails (elite, bust) are where the model separates; the middle two buckets sit close to a coin flip.
The board.
All 20 defensive linemen with a draftable grade on Draftanomics's 2024 board, tier by tier.
No blue-chip defensive lineman this cycle — Jer'Zhan Newton is the class's best, and he carries the next grade down.
The first-round tier runs from Jer'Zhan Newton at No. 15 down to Laiatu Latu at No. 30. The drop to Braden Fiske is 17 projected picks: a step, not a cliff. The room is higher on Laiatu Latu than we are: consensus No. 11 to our No. 30.
This is where the class lives: 6 defensive linemans carry a Day 2 grade, with Braden Fiske out of Florida St. at the front of the line at No. 47 overall. Then the board falls off a cliff — 60 projected picks between Booker and Khristian Boyd, the next name down. Austin Booker is the argument in this tier — No. 81 on our board against a consensus No. 113.
Khristian Boyd leads a 10-deep Day 3 group — the meat of the DL board — starting at a projected No. 141 overall. The room is higher on McKinnley Jackson than we are: consensus No. 151 to our No. 230.