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The NFL Draft is approximately five days away. The combines are done and the pro days are wrapping up. Now is the time to really start closing in on researching what your team will do.

Every year there are players that have 1st round talent that drop to the 2nd round, and conversely, guys that shouldn’t go in the 1st round that teams reach to take.

In today’s article I will be going over 21 round one talents on the defensive side of the football that should hear their name called on day one of the NFL Draft.

Defensive Linemen:
Quinnen Williams – Alabama
Ed Oliver – Houston
Jeffery Simmons – Mississippi State
Christian Wilkens – Clemson
Rashan Gary – Michigan
Dexter Lawrence – Clemson
Jerry Tillery – Notre Dame

Williams, Oliver, and Simmons are the elite DL in this draft. Al three in a normal draft, given good healthy would be a top 3-5 pick in the draft. Williams is a tremendous athlete at his size. He ran a 4.83 forty at 303 pounds. He will be selected top 4. Oliver was rumored to be #1 overall at this exact point last year.

He is a similar athlete to Aaron Donald. He is not the same type of pass rusher as Donald, but he is very good and will go top 10. Jeffery Simmons is an elite athlete that would be also selected in the top 10 if it wasn’t for him tearing his ACL. Despite that, he should still go in the 1st, and likely top 20.

Wilkens was the leader of a Clemson team that made it to 4 straight College Playoff appearances, 3 championship games, and 2 championship trophies. His floor is the 19th pick to Tennessee Titans. Gary is the wildcard of the 1st round. He could go top 10 or he could drop to the late teens.

His elite size and athleticism have not matched his production and teams want to know why. Lawrence is a mammoth man at 6’4 342 pounds. He will likely go in the 20s with a chance of dropping to very early in the 2nd. Tillery could go very late in the 1st to a team like the New England Patriots, but more likely early 2nd.

Edge Rushers:
Nick Bosa – Ohio State
Josh Allen – Kentucky
Montez Sweat – Mississippi State
Clelin Ferrell – Clemson
Brian Burns – Florida State

Bosa can play as a 3-4 OLB or a 4-3 DE. He decided to leave his team early to get ready for the draft. He is heavily linked to the San Francisco 49ers at #2. Allen is an elite athlete who had a monster Junior year. He is ticketed for the Jets or Raiders at the 3rd or 4th pick. Sweat is one of my favorites in this draft, but a heart condition will have team cautious.

He could go as high as 6th and his floor is the top 20. Ferrell fits more as a 4-3 DE and was the main pass rusher on the Clemson Tigers that I spoke about earlier. Burns is an elite athlete who just needs to show he can play at the same speed at 250 lbs as he did at 230 lbs.

Linebackers:
Devin White – LSU
Devin Bush – Michigan
Mack Wilson – Alabama

To me, there is not a huge difference between Devin White and Devin Bush. Both are very fast ILBs that are both elite athletes and bring the type of speed and instincts that could benefit any team running a 3-4. Both should be able to start right away. White should go 6th to Tampa Bay Buccaneers or 8th to the Detroit Lions.

Bush will go top 12, even though some have him dropping to Pittsburgh Steelers at 20th. I just don’t see it. Wilson is bigger than White and Bush, but not near the same athlete those 2 are. He is more likely a 2nd round pick, despite clearly being the 3rd best LB in the draft.

Cornerbacks:
Greedy Williams – LSU
Byron Murphy – Washington
DeAndre Baker – Georgia
Lonnie Johnson – Kentucky

Williams is the best athlete of the bunch, but has simple issues that he shouldn’t be having at this point. He doesn’t have great hands and depends on his athleticism too much. Against top tier WRs, that’s gets you burned. Murphy is very technically sound. His length isn’t great, but he’s a safe pick.

Baker won the award for best college CB last year. He also is a bit smaller, but another solid player. Johnson is someone who I don’t expect to go in the 1st, but he’s getting a lot of buzz for it recently. It’s anyone’s where these CBs go, and in what order. Williams has been linked to the Atlanta Falcons and Murphy to the Raiders.

Safeties:
Johnathan Abrams – Mississippi State
Deionte Thompson – Alabama

This is not a great year for the safeties, but Abrams seems to be the best of the bunch. He answered a lot of questions with his 4.45 forty at the combine. Speed was his biggest knock. He is a hard hitter that needs to work on his coverage. Fits perfectly as a SS.

Thompson at one point was listed as the top S in the draft, but hasn’t had the best pre-draft lead up. Because of the lack of good safeties, there may be a team that still take the chance on him early, but mostly likely, he’s a day 2 pick.

This has been seen as a defensive heavy draft by most observers. The front 7 group is as talented as they’ve had in the last 5-10 years. There are always debates on whether a player is really worth a 1st round pick or not, but it only takes 1 team to like you enough to be taken in the 1st round.

That’s what makes the draft so interesting. Player dropping, players falling, and when the draft is over, it doesn’t matter if you are the 1st pick or pick #199 (Tom Brady), it’s all about hard work, and opportunity. Enjoy the draft.

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