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 29 defensive linemen with a draftable grade on Draftanomics's 2027 board, tier by tier.
The top shelf is bare: no defensive lineman in the 2027 class earns a blue-chip grade.
William Echoles leads a 5-deep first-round group — the meat of the DL board — starting at a projected No. 9 overall. There is a real step down from there — Boubacar Traore sits 19 projected picks behind Rhodes. Kade Pieper is the argument in this tier — No. 18 on our board against a consensus No. 55.
Boubacar Traore leads a 8-deep Day 2 group — the meat of the DL board — starting at a projected No. 50 overall. The break below is soft: Kameryn Fountain projects just 9 projected picks after Deal, so the tier line is a label more than a wall. Bear Alexander is the argument in this tier — No. 71 on our board against a consensus No. 158.
This is where the class lives: 16 defensive linemans carry a Day 3 grade, with Kameryn Fountain out of USC at the front of the line at No. 111 overall. LJ McCray is the tier's dissent — the room ranks him No. 38, our board waits until No. 201.