Defensive Positions Top 10 Rankings

With the draft season upon us, it’s time to move on to the NFL Draft. Today we are going to take a quick look at my top 10 rankings for the defensive positions with some honorable mentions who just missed the list, along with the top 5 for nose tackle, kicker and punter. This is just a quick list for each position, but as we get a little farther into the offseason and we get past the combine and into pro days I will update this list with an explanation for each. So without anymore talking, here are my top 10 prospects and honorable mentions for each defensive position.

4-3 DE:

1.       Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina

2.       Kony Ealy, Missoury

3.       Dee Ford, Auburn

4.       Stephon Tuitt, Notre Dame

5.       Trent Murphy, Stanford

6.       Scott Crichton, Oregon State

7.       Chris Smith, Arkansas

8.       Jackson Jeffcoat, Texas

9.       Michael Sam, Missouri

10.   Demarcus Lawrence, Boise State

Honorable Mention: James Gayle, Virginia Tech; Kareem Martin, North Carolina; Morgan Breslin, USC; Marcus Smith, Louisville;

3-4 DE:

1.       Stephon Tuitt, Notre Dame

2.       Dominique Easley, Florida

3.       Will Sutton, Arizona State

4.       Ed Stinson, Alabama

5.       Taylor Hart, Oregon

6.       Kelcy Quarles, South Carolina

7.       Ben Gardner, Stanford

8.       DeAndre Coleman, Cal

9.       Henry Anderson, Stanford

10.   Jeoffrey Pagan, Alabama

Honorable Mention: Travis Raciti, San Jose State

DT:

1.       Aaron Donald, Pittsburgh

2.       Louis Nix III, Notre Dame

3.       Ra’Shede Hageman, Minnesota

4.       Timmy Jernigan, Florida State

5.       Will Sutton, Arizona State

6.       Dominique Easley, Florida

7.       Anthony Johnson, LSU

8.       Kelcy Quarles, South Carolina

9.       DaQuan Jones, Penn State

10.   Ego Ferguson, LSU

Honorable Mention: Ryan Carrethers, Arkansas State; Daniel McCullers, Tennessee; Deandre Coleman, California; George Uko, USC;

NT:

1.       Louis Nix III, Notre Dame

2.       Ra’Shede Hageman, Minnesota

3.       Daniel McCullers, Tennessee

4.       Deandre Coleman, California

5.       DaQuan Jones, Penn State

Honorable Mention: Beau Allen, Wisconsin;

4-3   OLB:

1.       Kyle Van Noy, BYU

2.       Khalil Mack, Buffalo

3.       C.J. Mosley, Alabama

4.       Anthony Barr, UCLA

5.       Ryan Shazier, Ohio State

6.       Telvin Smith, Florida State

7.       Christian Jones, Florida State

8.       Carl Bradford, Arizona State

9.       Trevor Reilly, Utah

10.   Adrian Hubbard, Alabama

Honorable Mentions: Kevin Pierre-Louis, Boston College;

3-4   OLB:

1.       Khalil Mack, Buffalo

2.       Kyle Van Noy, BYU

3.       Kony Ealy, Missouri

4.       Anthony Barr, UCLA

5.       Dee Ford, Auburn

6.       Trent Murphy, Stanford

7.       Scott Chrichton, Oregon State

8.       Jeremiah Attaochu, Georgia Tech

9.       Carl Bradford, Arizona State

10.   Michael Sam, Missouri

Honorable Mention: Trevor Reilly, Utah; Demarcus Lawrence, Boise State; Ron Powell, Florida; Prince Shembo, Notre Dame;

ILB:

1.       C.J. Mosley, Alabama

2.       Christian Jones, Florida State

3.       Yawin Smallwood, Connecticut

4.       Shayne Skov, Stanford

5.       A.J. Johnson, Tennessee

6.       Andrew Jackson, Western Kentucky

7.       Max Bullough, Michigan State

8.       Lamin Barrow, LSU

9.       DeDe Lattimore, South Florida

10.   James Morris, Iowa

Honorable Mention: Chris Borland, Wisconsin; Greg Blair, Cincinnati; Avery Williamson, Kentucky;

CB:

1.       Kyle Fuller, Virginia Tech

2.       Darqueze Dennard, Michigan State

3.       Bradley Roby, Ohio State

4.       Jason Verrett, TCU

5.       Lamarcus Joyner, Florida State

6.       Justin Gilbert, Oklahoma State

7.       Pierre Desir, Lindenwood

8.       Marcus Roberson, Florida

9.       Stanley Jean-Baptiste, Nebraska

10.   Jaylen Watkins, Florida

Honorable Mention: E.J. Gaines, Missouri; Walt Aikens, Liberty; Keith McGill, Utah; Antone Exum, Virginia Tech; Deshazor Everett, Texas A&M; Louchiez Purifoy, Florida; Aaron Colvin, Oklahoma;

FS:

1.       Hasean Clinton-Dix, Alabama

2.       Calvin Pryor, Louisville

3.       Ed Reynolds, Stanford

4.       Dion Bailey, USC

5.       Jimmie Ward, Northern Illinios

6.       Terrence Brooks, Florida State

7.       Kenny Ladler, Vanderbilt

8.       Jemea Thomas, Georgia Tech

9.       Tre Boston, North Carolina

10.   Marqueston Huff, Wyoming

Honorable Mention: Christian Bryant, Ohio State; Ty Zimmerman, Kansas State; Donae Johnson, North Carolina State;

SS:

1.       Deone Bucannon, Washington State

2.       Ahmad Dixon, Baylor

3.       Craig Loston, LSU

4.       Vinnie Sunseri, Alabama

5.       Hakeem Smith, Louisville

6.       Alden Darby, Arizona State

7.       Sean Parker, Washington

8.       Isaiah Lewis, Michigan State

9.       Dezmen Southward, Wisconsin

10.   Brock Vereen, Minnesota

Honorable Mention: Daniel Sorenson, BYU; Nat Berhe, San Diego State;

K:

1.       Cairo Santos, Tulane

2.       Chris Boswell, Rice

3.       Chandler Catanzaro, Clemson

4.       Jeff Budzien, Northwestern

5.       Anthony Fera

Honorable Mention: Vincenzo D’Amato, Cal;

P:

1.       Kirby Van Der Kamp, Iowa State

2.       Cody Webster, Purdue

3.       Pat O’Donnell, Miami

4.       Tom Hornsey, Memphis

5.       Richie Leone, Houston

Honorable Mention: Steven Clark, Auburn;