2025 NFL Draft consensus position rankings: Defensive tackle

The draft experts from our 32 NFL team sites ranked their top DTs and we collected the data for you.

The 2025 NFL Draft class at defensive tackle in monstrous both in their individual size, but also in the amount of talent at the position. So many DTs deserve to go in this year’s draft and it’s a very deep position.

There are so many defensive tackles that are going to be drafted, we expanded our list up to 20 players this year, and we blurbed the top 10 below. A group of SB Nation’s draft analysts from our 32 NFL team communities ranked their top OTs in the draft.

2025 NFL Draft consensus rankings at defensive tackle

20. Cam Jackson, Florida State
19. Ty Hamilton, Ohio State
18. Jordan Phillips, Maryland
17. J.J. Pegues, Mississippi
16. Ty Robinson, Nebraska
15. Aeneas Peebles, Virginia Tech
14. C.J. West, Indiana
13. Jamaree Caldwell, Oregon
12. Joshua Farmer, Florida State
11. Shemar Turner, Texas A&M

The top 10 defensive tackles in the 2025 NFL Draft

10. Omarr Norman-Lott, Tennessee

Norman-Lott has an uphill battle, both figuratively and literally at 6’1-7/8” and 291 bounds. He’s undersized, but has the arm length and hand size of somebody three inches taller and 20 pounds heavier.

The question for Norman-Lott is how will he win at the next level consistently at his size? How often will he play? Tennessee had a heavy rotation, and that meant Norman-Lott only played 225 snaps in 2024. He still managed four sacks and seven quarterback hits to go along with six tackles for loss and an elite pass rush win rate of 18.9 percent.

It all makes for Norman-Lott to be a fascinating prospect. There are transferrable traits Norman-Lott possesses that make me think he’ll perform closer to DT5 than DT10. I’d say he has first-round quickness, hand usage/placement, and a motor.

You’d take that type of player in today’s NFL every day of the week.

9. Deone Walker, Kentucky

If you’re new to Kentucky football, Walker was the 6’7-3/8”, 331-pounder. He’s a mammoth of a man. If you’re first guess was a man this size playing high and getting tired quickly, come collect your prize. But if you watch a cut-up of Walker when he wins, you’d blame us for not having him higher.

Fun fact: Walker is second in the class in quick-pressure percentage. He has value, and it shows up often when he’s on the field. Inevitably, sustaining your motor, being disciplined, and controlling your body at that size will be a challenge.

Whatever tier you lump Walker in, he’s poised to be the best of the bunch. I’d take his hand usage over a handful of players listed above him. That’s a sign a player knows what he’s doing.

8. T.J. Sanders, South Carolina

Sanders isn’t the most nimble big man, which makes his role pretty clear at the next level: Have him shoot gaps and use his first step to cause havoc.

Sanders could fall victim to being asked to do too much at the next level. He’s not super adept and running the different types of games that most NFL defenses are asking their tackles to do. His initial quickness doesn’t always lead to power. In fact, it can mean he either stands straight up or runs out of his gap.

Still, Sanders has just enough juice to make you think he can produce for you somewhere in the top 75 of the NFL Draft.

7. Alfred Collins, Texas

Collins more than looks the part at 6’5-5/8,” and 332 pounds. His height, weight, wingspan, and arm length all put him above the 90th percentile. But the rest of his combine shows up when you watch Collins, specifically his vertical (13th percentile) and broad (fourth percentile) jumps. Collins is moved too easily for a player his size.

But you can also see him stand up opposing lineman, overwhelm, tight ends, and line up everywhere along the defensive line. Collins seems like a solid rotational piece capable of becoming a starter if he gets stronger and develops more than a spin move.

6. Darius Alexander, Toledo

The widest range in our top 10, Alexander received a ninth-place vote and a fourth-place vote. He looks like he’s 330 pounds, and even plays like it at times, so seeing him come in at 305 pounds with 52nd percentile hands was surprising. You can see his power and athleticism over the course of a game. Unlike most collegiate players, Alexander has a signature pass rush move. His issue is getting hung up after that move doesn’t work. Still, Alexander stood out during MAC play, a sign of a promising player.

5. Tyleik Williams, Ohio State

Williams does not move like a human who weighs 334 pounds. His play strength resembles a sumo wrestler. Williams consistently resets the line of scrimmage and will forklift a guard out of the way if need be. But he’s far more than your typical nose tackle who eats up space. Williams has high-level first-step quickness, is aware of finding the ball, and, best of all, is the one usually making the play.

The primary reason you wouldn’t take Williams in the first round or top 50 picks is due to the number of plays you can get out of him. His ceiling might be 25-30 in an NFL game. At Ohio State, he came off the field. When Williams did get a chance to consistently rush the passer, he’d occasionally win, but more often than not, he did not look like a player with a plan to rush the passer.

That leads to Williams sitting clearly in a tier behind the top four selections, who all had at least one top-three vote. The highest Williams reached was fourth.

4. Derrick Harmon, Oregon

Harmon is an interesting test case. He more than tripled his number of quarterback hits from the previous two seasons in 2024, despite playing around the same number of snaps. That could explain some of the variance in our voting, where he landed multiple second-place votes but also multiple fifth-place selections.

But when you watch Harmon, he comes off like a player that’ll be in the league a decade from now. He has a good feel for the game. He senses the double-team coming, can hold his ground against different combination blocks, and wins enough of his 1-on-1s where you can’t help but picture Harmon getting a third contract.

3. Kenneth Grant, Michigan

Grant might be the defensive tackle in this class that we all look back on two to three years from now and wonder why he wasn’t unanimously a top-15 pick, and one of our voters had him at second in their voting.

For every exposure to Grant playing too high and getting thrown outta the club, there’s a play where the 331-pounder is the quickest player along the trenches and knifes his way into the backfield for a positive outcome for Michigan.

The athleticism is there, as are the flashes of winning multiple ways. But as of today, Grant may not be far enough along as a pure pass rusher for a team willing to pull the trigger on him early.

If you’re drafting Grant, it’ll take time. That’s not always a bad thing.

2. Walter Nolen, Mississippi

Nolen is all power. There’s no fluff in his game. He displaces blockers with easy and high-end upper body strength. He has a reputation for not being much of a pass rusher, but Nolen is third in the class in true pressure rate. He’s a dominant run defender who will jolt back whoever you put in front of him. He causes chaos in the backfield, and that generally leads to good things for the defense. We have not seen the best of Nolen yet, which is why he’s so high on our list and earned one first-place vote from our panel.

But there’s a buyer-beware sign with Nolen. He will disappear for periods of a game. The former five-star recruit and top player in high school has been to seven schools in eight years, and sent a cryptic message after transferring from Texas A&M.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see Nolen end up being the best player in the class. But his floor is a rotational depth piece who never gets it going as a pass rusher. I’m willing to bet Nolen’s talent and play style shine at the next level, and he’s closer to a star than a sub off the bench.

1. Mason Graham, Michigan

Our nearly unanimous top pick, he was second on only one ballot. Graham played through injuries in 2024, but that didn’t prevent him from being productive. There are few flaws to Graham’s game. His first step, hand usage, and agility for a big fella are all elite.

Graham is the lone defensive tackle in the class who goes multiple stretches in a game where he looks unblockable, thanks in large part to his first step. Graham has also shown the ability to use and win with a variety of moves. His instincts against the run are superb, and his heavy hands help Graham hold up, despite being undersized in some matchups.

There are enough plays where Graham’s lack of arm length/wingspan shows up, which could prevent him from being the best of the best at the next level, but he’s a sure-fire top-five pick in this draft whose worst-case scenario is an above-average starter.

All of the SB Nation 2025 NFL Draft positional rankings

• Quarterback
• Running back - coming soon
• Wide receiver
• Tight end - coming soon
• Offensive tackle
• Interior offensive line - coming soon
• Defensive tackle
• EDGE rusher - coming soon
• Off-ball linebacker - coming soon
• Cornerback - coming soon
• Safety - coming soon
• Special teams - coming soon