After going over the position rankings on offense yesterday, here are my rankings for the prospects on defense in the 2016 draft class:
Defensive End
1. Joey Bosa* – Ohio State 6’5″ 275 lbs
2. DeForest Buckner – Oregon 6’7″ 290 lbs
3. Shaq Lawson* – Clemson 6’3″ 270 lbs
4. Emmanuel Ogbah* – Oklahoma State 6’3″ 275 lbs
5. Noah Spence* – Eastern Kentucky 6’3″ 261 lbs
6. Jonathan Bullard – Florida 6’3″ 283 lbs
7. Shilique Calhoun – Michigan State 6’5″ 252 lbs
8. Kevin Dodd* – Clemson 6’4″ 275 lbs
9. Carl Nassib – Penn State 6’7″ 273 lbs
10. Shawn Oakman – Baylor 6’8″ 269 lbs
Others to keep an eye on: Aziz Shittu* – Stanford, Anthony Zettel – Penn State, Jason Fanaika – Utah, D.J. Pettway – Alabama
Defensive Tackle
1. A’Shawn Robinson* – Alabama 6’3″ 312 lbs
2. Andrew Billings* – Baylor 6’1″ 310 lbs
3. Robert Nkemdiche* – Ole Miss 6’3″ 296 lbs
4. Jarran Reed – Alabama 6’3″ 311 lbs
5. Kenny Clark* – UCLA 6’2″ 310 lbs
6. Sheldon Rankins – Louisville 6’2″ 304 lbs
7. Austin Johnson* – Penn State 6’4″ 323 lbs
8. Adolphus Washington – Ohio State 6’4″ 297 lbs
9. Chris Jones* – Mississppi State 6’5″ 308 lbs
10. Vernon Butler – Louisiana Tech 6’4″ 325 lbs
Others to keep an eye on: Sheldon Day – Notre Dame, Javon Hargrave – South Carolina State, Maliek Collins – Nebraska, Luther Maddy – Virginia Tech, Willie Henry – Michigan
Outside Linebacker
1. Myles Jack* – UCLA 6’1″ 245 lbs
2. Jaylon Smith* – Notre Dame 6’3″ 240 lbs
3. Darron Lee* – Ohio State 6’1″ 235 lbs
4. Leonard Floyd* – Georgia 6’3″ 232 lbs
5. Joshua Perry – Ohio State 6’4″ 253 lbs
6. Su’a Cravens* – USC 6’1″ 225 lbs
7. Jordan Jenkins – Georgia 6’3″ 257 lbs
8. Kyle Fackrell – Utah State 6’5″ 244 lbs
9. Deion Jones – LSU 6’1″ 220 lbs
10. Eric Striker – Oklahoma 5’11” 228 lbs
Others to keep an eye on: Joe Schobert – Wisconsin, Dadi Nicholas – Virginia Tech, Victor Ochi – Stony Brook, Kamalei Correa* – Boise State, Yannick Ngakoue* – Maryland, Travis Feeney – Washington
Inside Linebacker
1. Reggie Ragland – Alabama 6’1″ 259 lbs
2. Kentrell Brothers – Missouri 6’1″ 249 lbs
3. Scooby Wright III* – Arizona 6’0″ 246 lbs
4. Tyler Matakevich – Temple 6’0″ 233 lbs
5. Ben Brown* – Mississippi State 6’1″ 238 lbs
6. Dominique Alexander* – Oklahoma 6’0″ 224 lbs
7. Blake Martinez – Stanford 6’2″ 239 lbs
8. Antonio Morrison – Florida 6’1″ 232 lbs
9. Nick Vigil* – Utah State 6’2″ 230 lbs
10. Jared Norris – Utah 6’1″ 239 lbs
Others to keep an eye on: Reggie Northrup – Florida State, Jake Ganus – Georgia, Joe Bolden – Michigan, Cassanova McKinzy – Auburn
Cornerback
1. Jalen Ramsey* – Florida State 6’1″ 202 lbs
2. Vernon Hargreaves III* – Florida 5’11” 199 lbs
3. Mackensie Alexander* – Clemson 5’10” 195 lbs
4. Eli Apple* – Ohio State 6’1″ 200 lbs
5. Kendall Fuller* – Virginia Tech 6’0″ 197 lbs
6. Artie Burns* – Miami (FL) – 6’0″ 193 lbs
7. William Jackson III – Houston 6’1″ 195 lbs
8. Will Redmond – Mississippi State 5’11” 186 lbs
9. Deiondre’ Hall – Northern Iowa 6’2″ 192 lbs
10. Rashard Robinson* – LSU 6’2″ 182 lbs
Others to keep an eye on: Xavien Howard* – Baylor, Zack Sanchez* – Oklahoma, Eric Murray – Minnesota, Cyrus Jones – Alabama, Briean Boddy-Calhoun – Minnesota, KeiVarae Russell* – Notre Dame
Free Safety
1. Jalen Mills – LSU 6’0″ 194 lbs
2. Darian Thompson – Boise State 6’2″ 215 lbs
3. Tyvis Powell* – Ohio State 6’3″ 209 lbs
4. Deon Bush – Miami (FL) 6’1″ 201 lbs
5. Keanu Neal* – Florida 6’1″ 216 lbs
6. DeAndre Houston-Carson – William & Mary 6’1″ 197 lbs
7. Sean Davis – Maryland 6’1″ 201 lbs
8. Jordan Lomax – Iowa 5’10” 204 lbs
9. T.J. Green* – Clemson 6’2″ 205 lbs
10. Clayton Fejedelem – Illinois 6’0″ 200 lbs
Strong Safety
1. Vonn Bell* – Ohio State 5’11” 205 lbs
2. Jeremy Cash – Duke 6’1″ 212 lbs
3. Jayron Kearse* – Clemson 6’4″ 220 lbs
4. Karl Joseph – West Virginia 5’11” 197 lbs
5. Elijah Shumate – Notre Dame 6’0″ 210 lbs
6. Miles Killebrew – Southern Utah 6’2″ 219 lbs
7. Kevin Byard – Middle Tennessee State 5’11” 216 lbs
8. Trae Elston – Ole Miss 5’11” 195 lbs
9. Michael Caputo – Wisconsin 6’1″ 205 lbs
10. Tevin Carter – Utah 6’1″ 215 lbs
Special Teams
Kicker
1. Roberto Aguayo* – Florida State 6’0″ 204 lbs
2. Marshall Morgan – Georgia 6’2″ 194 lbs
3. Ka’Imi Fairbairn – UCLA 6’0″ 183 lbs
4. Ross Martin – Duke 5’9″ 183 lbs
5. Brad Craddock – Maryland 6’0″ 192 lbs
Punter
1. Tom Hackett – Utah 5’11” 195 lbs
2. Riley Dixon – Syracuse 6’4″ 220 lbs
3. Drew Kaser – Texas A&M 6’2″ 206 lbs
4. Will Monday – Duke 6’4″ 212 lbs
5. Alex Kinal – Wake Forest 6’4″ 209 lbs
* – denotes underclassmen
– MPT
UNDRAFTED 