NFL
By: Bill Carroll
Bill Carroll’s New Scout’s Eye View: The 2023 DT Class will be a semi-deep dive into the underappreciated and undervalued players at a position that is all too often, underappreciated and undervalued. Do I nearly salivate when I watch some of Jalen Carter’s plays, yes, yes I do. However, he is neither underappreciated nor undervalued.
The time will come when he will be analyzed and examined, but not here and not now. With no further delay, here’s Bill Carroll’s New Scout’s Eye View: The 2023 DT Class.
10. Blake Van Veldhuizen of Minnesota State University, Mankato, had 32 total tackles this season with 18 solos, 14 assists, of those 6 ½ were behind the line of scrimmage, with 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, a forced fumble and a pass batted down.
9. Ian Marshall of Northern State University, is a 6 ½” 272-pound defensive tackle/end hybrid from Glendale High School and an Oklahoma State transfer, he makes up for what he lacks in size with aggression and explosion. He posted 39 tackles on the year, leading the NSIC in both tackles for a loss, 24 ½ TFL and sacks at 14, he’s third in the nation in tackles for a loss and sacks. In 2022 he broke the Northern State single-season record with his 14 sacks, in addition, he had one fumble recovery and four quarterback hurries.
8. Kalisi Moli of Weber State is another generator of intense interior pressure with a smaller, for a DT, 6′ 1 ½” 281, frame. While he is technically a junior, he is a 5th-year player and has his degree. If he decides to play a 6th year, I may be writing about him again. In 2022 he posted 26 tackles, 4 TFLs, 2 sacks, a fumble recovery, a pass break-up, and 5 QB Hurries.
7. Khristian Boyd of N. Iowa broke through this season as he tallied 32 total tackles in 10 games, with five tackles for loss, one sack, a pair of pass breakups, and two forced fumbles. Unlike most of the players here there is nothing hybrid about Boyd. He is a pure ‘0’ or ‘1’ technique, either head up over the center or on the center’s outside shoulder. He doesn’t shoot gaps he collapses them. He’s 6’3 ½” 317 pounds and despite the fact that he’s a 5th year “junior” he has his degree and I expect he may consider the draft.
6. Caleb Sanders of S. Dakota State is yet another of the “undersized” interior pressure specialists. Also, he both looks and plays like the 3-time, Class 3A state wrestling championship, a qualifier that he was, pinning down a title, at heavyweight in 2018. In 2022 he harvested 24 stops, with 14 solo, 6 TFL, 5 of those were sacks with a pass breakup and a QB hurry.
5. Jonah Tavai of San Diego State is part of a proud Aztec defensive tradition, he is quick enough to play defensive end and stout enough to play defensive tackle. He was extremely productive this year, he had 57 tackles, (30 solo), including 12.5 tackles for loss, nine sacks, a forced fumble and 13 quarterback hurries in his 12 starts this season.
According to Pro Football Focus: Tavai has the second-highest pass-rush grade in FBS (91.9, [minimum threshold of 300 pass opportunities]) and the fourth-highest defensive grade (92.1, [minimum threshold of 450 snaps]). Per PFF, he has the third-most quarterback pressures (61) in the country, the fourth-most hurries (39), and tied for the 13th-most QB hits (12). Beyond the numbers, he imposes his will and his thick squatty form on his opponents.
4. Marley Cook from Middle-Tennessee, is yet another of the players who are in line to graduate but still has remaining eligibility, two years to be exact. Currently, he’s a 4th-year sophomore, thanks to red-shirting and the extra COVID-19 waiver. He is a rare athlete and a two-time state champion in power-lifting, while a high schooler in Mississippi. Cook holds the defensive line’s top lifts in: the bench press (33 repetitions at 225 lbs., with a max of 490), squat (635 pounds), and power clean (385).
He has improved each season; Cook was a rotational player during the 2020 season, and broke out in 2021, posting 14 tackles, including 3½ TFLs and 3 sacks with five QB hurries, while also adding in an interception. In 2022 he corralled 20 ball-carriers, 9 ½, nearly half, behind the line of scrimmage.
3. Brodric Martin from Western Kentucky, by way of North Alabama, is a very different body type from the other players on the list. At 6’4 ¾” 329 he’s much more like Johnathan Hankins or Linval Joseph than he is like Aaron Donald or Cameron Heyward. In 2021 with the Hilltoppers, he had 31 tackles, with 4.5 for loss and 2.5 sacks. He also had a pass breakup, a quarterback hurry, and a fumble recovery. He saved his best for last as in 2022, his swan-song stanza, he tallied 30 stops, half of them were solos, with a forced fumble, a pass break-up, 7 QB hurries, and 1½ sacks. He is mammoth and a run-plugger par excellence.
2. Dom Peterson of Nevada has been a player that I first noted way back in 2018, when as a freshman, he recorded 38 tackles, 6 assists, 10.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks and while that was strong stuff, it was a but a taste of what was to come. In 2019 he exploded with 40 total tackles, he led Nevada with 15 tackles for loss and 9 sacks, both ranked him number two in the conference, in addition he had at least one TFL in all but one game.
Last year he had a very solid, initial, senior year piling up 34 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, six sacks, three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. This season he finished with 34 tackles (19 solo), two forced fumbles, 13 tackles-for-loss, 6 sacks, as well as three fumble recoveries and blocked an extra point. Like many on this list he idolizes Aaron Donald, at 5’11¾” 299 he has rare lower-body pop and power and he’s increased the violence in his hands each year. I see him as scaled down version of Jurrell Casey.
2. Desjuan Johnson of Toledo, had a tremendous season last year. He was named Second-Team All-MAC, he amassed 70 tackles, with 4.5 sacks and a total of 12.5 TFL. All despite the fact that many teams clearly game-planned to account for him and he was colossally productive again in 2022. He had 26 solo tackles and 39 assists this season with 5½ sacks among his 14½ total TFLs, with an interception, and 2 QB hurries. I was so impressed with him in 2021 and he was consistently impactful again in 2022.
1. Dante Stills of West Virginia is a second-generation Mountaineers legend, in 2022 he posted 26 tackles, half of them were solo, nine tackles for losses, 4½ of which were sacks, with 2 forced fumbles, a recovered fumble, 6 QB hurries, a pass break up and a blocked kick, even though he was double or even triple-teamed on some plays.
The 6’3 ¼” 286 pound son of Gary Stills and brother of Darius, has aligned everywhere on the line from 5-technique to 1-technique on occasion. Most of the time, in the past three years, however he played at 4-technique, lined directly over the offensive tackle, between the B Gap and C Gap. I have seen some question his length and athletic ability. I think he’s an above-average athlete, just less than elite in his burst with a bit of balkiness in bend and dipping, but I think he can still become more limber and he seems to know how to counter his lack of length.
This concludes Bill Carroll’s New Scout’s Eye View: The 2023 DT Class. The guard class is next.
