Consensus board vs. draft day: the full DT class, charted.
The Steal
Andrew Billings was ranked DT5 on the consensus board (#25 overall) but lasted until pick 122, where the Cincinnati Bengals took him in Round 4. A 97-spot fall, the largest gap between consensus and draft day of any DT in the class. Behind him, Jonathan Bullard (+40) and Willie Henry (+36) also outlasted their rankings.
The Conviction Pick
The New England Patriots took Vincent Valentine at pick 96, 136 spots ahead of his #232 consensus rank. That's the league's strongest disagreement with the public board at the position. Teams showed similar conviction on Adam Gotsis (102 spots) and Quinton Jefferson (79 spots).
The Cliff
After D.J. Reader went at pick 166, the next DT didn't come off the board for 36 picks. That's the sharpest drop in the class.
The Spend
Teams spent 26 picks on DT, 11 of them in the first two rounds. That's above the position's average of 23.3 since 2018.
The Bet
The New Orleans Saints spent more draft capital on DT than any other club: picks 12 and 120, 51% of their total draft investment.
The One Who Slipped
Nile Lawrence-Stample, ranked #200 on the consensus board, went undrafted through all 253 picks.
| Pick | Player | Pos Rank | Consensus | Δ | School | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | DeForest Buckner | DT1 | #6 | +1 | Oregon | San Francisco |
| 12 | Sheldon Rankins | DT2 | #13 | −1 | Louisville | New Orleans |
| 27 | Kenny Clark | DT9 | #33 | −6 | UCLA | Green Bay |
| 29 | Robert Nkemdiche | DT6 | #28 | +1 | Mississippi | Arizona |
| 30 | Vernon Butler | DT7 | #30 | 0 | Louisiana Tech | Carolina |
| 37 | Chris Jones | DT10 | #42 | −5 | Mississippi State | Kansas City |
| 43 | Austin Johnson | DT11 | #54 | −11 | Penn State | Tennessee |
| 44 | Jihad Ward | DT14 | #75 | −31 | Illinois | Las Vegas |
| 46 | A'Shawn Robinson | DT3 | #16 | +30 | Alabama | Detroit |
| 49 | Jarran Reed | DT4 | #19 | +30 | Alabama | Seattle |
| 63 | Adam Gotsis | DT21 | #165 | −102 | Georgia Tech | Denver |
| 67 | Maliek Collins | DT16 | #83 | −16 | Nebraska | Dallas |
| 72 | Jonathan Bullard | DT8 | #32 | +40 | Florida | Chicago |
| 80 | Adolphus Washington | DT13 | #73 | +7 | Ohio State | Buffalo |
| 89 | Javon Hargrave | DT15 | #76 | +13 | South Carolina State | Pittsburgh |
| 96 | Vincent Valentine | DT27 | #232 | −136 | Nebraska | New England |
| 103 | Sheldon Day | DT12 | #72 | +31 | Notre Dame | Jacksonville |
| 116 | Hassan Ridgeway | DT17 | #88 | +28 | Texas | Indianapolis |
| 120 | David Onyemata | DT31 | #269 | −149 | Manitoba | New Orleans |
| 122 | Andrew Billings | DT5 | #25 | +97 | Baylor | Cincinnati |
| 132 | Willie Henry | DT18 | #96 | +36 | Michigan | Baltimore |
| 137 | Dean Lowry | DT22 | #169 | −32 | Northwestern | Green Bay |
| 147 | Quinton Jefferson | DT26 | #226 | −79 | Maryland | Seattle |
| 152 | Matt Ioannidis | DT19 | #127 | +25 | Temple | Washington |
| 166 | D.J. Reader | DT20 | #141 | +25 | Clemson | Houston |
| 202 | Anthony Zettel | DT23 | #185 | +17 | Penn State | Detroit |
| Undrafted (UDFA) | ||||||
| — | Nile Lawrence-Stample | DT24 | #200 | — | Florida State | — |
| — | Darius Latham | DT25 | #225 | — | Indiana | — |
| — | Antwaun Woods | DT28 | #253 | — | USC | — |
| — | Luther Maddy | DT29 | #259 | — | Virginia Tech | — |
| — | Connor Wujciak | DT30 | #263 | — | Boston College | — |
| — | Aziz Shittu | DT32 | #271 | — | — | — |
| — | Lawrence Thomas | DT33 | #283 | — | Michigan State | — |
| — | Greg Milhouse | DT34 | #298 | — | — | — |
| — | Brennan Scarlett | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Chris Mayes | DT | — | — | Georgia | — |
| — | Cory Johnson | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | David Dean | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Delvon Simmons | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Destiny Vaeao | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Devaunte Sigler | DT | — | — | Jacksonville State | — |
| — | Farrington Huguenin | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Joel Heath | DT | — | — | Michigan State | — |
| — | Justin Zimmer | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Kyle Peko | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Kyle Rose | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Martavius Foster | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Terrell Lathan | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Trevon Coley | DT | — | — | — | — |
Pre-draft projections are from the Wide Left Consensus Big Board compiled by Arif Hasan, an aggregation of published analyst boards.