BEST RATED TACKLING DEFENSIVE LINEMEN 2027 NFL Draft

2027 BEST RATED TACKLING DEFENSIVE LINEMEN

The tackling grade scores how reliably a defender finishes plays: tackles made against tackles missed, with extra weight for stops behind the line and penalties for whiffs that turn into long gains. For a defensive lineman it is mostly about finishing in the backfield. Aaron Donald (Pittsburgh) and Chase Young (Ohio State) rarely let a ball carrier out of their grasp.

The table ranks this year’s draft-eligible defensive linemen by tackling grade, alongside pass rush, run defense, coverage and overall rating.

2027 Defensive linemen ranked by TACKLING

RANK Player Pos Team TACKLING PASS RUSH RUN DEFENSE Rating
1

Jordan
Ross

DE
/ED
LSU   Mascot
LSU Mascot
88 85 86
84.9
2

Bryce
Young

DL
/ED
Notre Dame   Mascot
Notre Dame Mascot
87 75 78
78.5
3

Boubacar
Traore

DL
/ED
Notre Dame   Mascot
Notre Dame Mascot
87 88 79
85.2
4

Anto
Saka

DE
/ED
Texas A&M   Mascot
Texas A&M Mascot
84 75 73
84.6
5

Leroy
Jackson

DL
North Carolina   Mascot
North Carolina Mascot
83 60 79
76.2
6

Trey
White

LB
/ED
Texas Tech   Mascot
Texas Tech Mascot
82 70 71
73.2
7

Matayo
Uiagalelei

DE
/ED
Oregon   Mascot
Oregon Mascot
81 94 78
85.9
8

Langston
Hardy

DL
/ED
Wake Forest   Mascot
Wake Forest Mascot
81 74 91
78.6
9

Eddrick
Houston

DE
Ohio State   Mascot
Ohio State Mascot
80 63 70
68.4
10

Justin
Scott

DT
Miami   Mascot
Miami Mascot
80 71 88
86.2
11

Colin
Simmons

LB
/ED
Texas   Mascot
Texas Mascot
78 96 78
91.3
12

Jalen
Thompson

DL
/ED
Arizona State   Mascot
Arizona State Mascot
78 88 79
78.0
13

Mateen
Ibirogba

DE
Texas Tech   Mascot
Texas Tech Mascot
78 74 67
81.2
14

Quintavius
Johnson

LB
/ED
Georgia   Mascot
Georgia Mascot
77 77 77
75.0
15

John
Walker

DT
Ohio State   Mascot
Ohio State Mascot
77 77 77
75.0
16

Qua
Russaw

LB
/ED
Ohio State   Mascot
Ohio State Mascot
77 77 77
75.0
17

Devan
Thompkins

DE
/ED
Alabama   Mascot
Alabama Mascot
77 83 74
84.8
18

Elias
Rudolph

DL
/ED
UNLV   Mascot
UNLV Mascot
76 60 65
64.4
19

Zina
Umeozulu

LB
/ED
Texas   Mascot
Texas Mascot
76 65 76
70.0
20

Hero
Kanu

DT
Texas   Mascot
Texas Mascot
75 75 75
75.0