Defensive tackle DT
Sacks + TFLs + Senior Bowl. Athletic testing weighted higher for IDL than EDGE.
Likeliest career, by the outcome model.
How many defensive tackles 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 22 defensive tackles with a draftable grade on Draftanomics's 2018 board, tier by tier.
Only Daron Payne carries a blue-chip grade at defensive tackle — the Alabama product projects No. 4 overall. Barely a seam here — Vita Vea comes off just 7 picks later. The model is planting a flag on Daron Payne, 13 spots ahead of where the room ranks him (No. 17).
The first-round tier is a pair: Vita Vea out of Washington at No. 11, with Maurice Hurst Jr. at No. 19 behind him. The drop behind Hurst is the story — Harrison Phillips does not come off the board for another 29 picks. And the floor is solid: the bust model, reliable for defensive tackles, clears everyone here.
The Day 2 tier runs 7 deep, opening with Harrison Phillips out of Stanford at No. 48 and closing with Tim Settle at No. 96. There is a real step down from there — Kahlil McKenzie sits 14 projected picks behind Settle. Taven Bryan is the tier's dissent — the room ranks him No. 25, our board waits until No. 75.
Kahlil McKenzie leads a 12-deep Day 3 group — the meat of the DT board — starting at a projected No. 110 overall. One caution flag: the bust model — a group it reads well at defensive tackle — puts Joshua Frazier at 46 percent.