Consensus board vs. draft day: the full DT class, charted.
The Steal
Mo Hurst was ranked DT2 on the consensus board (#19 overall) but lasted until pick 140, where the Las Vegas Raiders took him in Round 5. A 121-spot fall, the largest gap between consensus and draft day of any DT in the class. Behind him, Tim Settle (+77) and Kendrick Norton (+56) also outlasted their rankings.
The Conviction Pick
The Las Vegas Raiders took P.J. Hall at pick 57, 106 spots ahead of his #163 consensus rank. That's the league's strongest disagreement with the public board at the position. Teams showed similar conviction on Breeland Speaks (91 spots) and Justin Jones (73 spots).
The Cliff
After Da'Shawn Hand went at pick 114, the next DT didn't come off the board for 25 picks. That's the sharpest drop in the class.
The Spend
Teams spent 24 picks on DT, 5 of them in the first two rounds. That's above the position's average of 23.3 since 2018.
The Bet
The Kansas City Chiefs spent more draft capital on DT than any other club: picks 46, 75 and 198, 59% of their total draft investment.
The One Who Slipped
Hercules Mata'afa, ranked #114 on the consensus board, went undrafted through all 256 picks.
| Pick | Player | Pos Rank | Consensus | Δ | School | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Vita Vea | DT1 | #12 | 0 | Washington | Tampa Bay |
| 13 | Da'Ron Payne | DT3 | #24 | −11 | Alabama | Washington |
| 29 | Taven Bryan | DT4 | #28 | +1 | Florida | Jacksonville |
| 46 | Breeland Speaks | DT15 | #137 | −91 | Mississippi | Kansas City |
| 57 | P.J. Hall | DT19 | #163 | −106 | Sam Houston St. | Las Vegas |
| 69 | B.J. Hill | DT7 | #77 | −8 | North Carolina State | NY Giants |
| 72 | Nathan Shepherd | DT6 | #62 | +10 | Fort Hays State | NY Jets |
| 75 | Derrick Nnadi | DT8 | #79 | −4 | Florida State | Kansas City |
| 84 | Justin Jones | DT17 | #157 | −73 | North Carolina State | LA Chargers |
| 90 | Deadrin Senat | DT12 | #121 | −31 | South Florida | Atlanta |
| 96 | Harrison Phillips | DT5 | #53 | +43 | Stanford | Buffalo |
| 114 | Da'Shawn Hand | DT10 | #95 | +19 | Alabama | Detroit |
| 139 | RJ McIntosh | DT13 | #126 | +13 | Miami | NY Giants |
| 140 | Mo Hurst | DT2 | #19 | +121 | Michigan | Las Vegas |
| 145 | Bilal Nichols | DT22 | #194 | −49 | Delaware | Chicago |
| 158 | Andrew Brown | DT14 | #128 | +30 | Virginia | Cincinnati |
| 163 | Tim Settle | DT9 | #86 | +77 | Virginia Tech | Washington |
| 180 | Folorunso Fatukasi | DT18 | #159 | +21 | Connecticut | NY Jets |
| 195 | Sebastian Joseph | DT | — | — | Rutgers | LA Rams |
| 198 | Kahlil McKenzie | DT25 | #255 | −57 | Tennessee | Kansas City |
| 223 | Jullian Taylor | DT28 | #296 | −73 | Temple | San Francisco |
| 232 | James Looney | DT23 | #211 | +21 | California | Green Bay |
| 242 | Kendrick Norton | DT21 | #186 | +56 | Miami | Carolina |
| 246 | Josh Frazier | DT | — | — | Alabama | Pittsburgh |
| Undrafted (UDFA) | ||||||
| — | Hercules Mata'afa | DT11 | #114 | — | Washington State | — |
| — | Trenton Thompson | DT16 | #146 | — | Georgia | — |
| — | Poona Ford | DT20 | #181 | — | — | — |
| — | Lowell Lotulelei | DT24 | #220 | — | Utah | — |
| — | JoJo Wicker | DT26 | #273 | — | Arizona State | — |
| — | John Atkins | DT27 | #287 | — | Georgia | — |
| — | Abdullah Anderson | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Antonious Sims | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Bijhon Jackson | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Billy Hirschfeld | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Bruce Hector | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Christian LaCouture | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Conor Sheehy | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | David Moa | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | De'Asian Richardson | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | DeQuinton Osborne | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Drew Bailey | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Du'Vonta Lampkin | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Eddy Wilson | DT | — | — | Purdue | — |
| — | Filipo Mokofisi | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Frank Herron | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Gaelin Elmore | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Greg Gilmore | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Haston Adams | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Henry Mondeaux | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Jamar King | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Jay Woods | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Jay-Tee Tiuli | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Johnny Dwight | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Josh Fatu | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Kellen Soulek | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Kevon Perry | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Khairi Clark | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Larry Tharpe Jr. | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Matt Elam | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Michael Hill | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Mike Ramsay | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Nick Thurman | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Nifae Lealao | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Niles Scott | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Scott Pagano | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Steven Richardson | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Taylor Stallworth | DT | — | — | South Carolina | — |
| — | Tomasi Laulile | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Tony Mekari | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Tracy Sprinkle | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Zay Henderson | DT | — | — | — | — |
| — | Zaycoven Henderson | DT | — | — | Texas A&M | — |
Pre-draft projections are from the Wide Left Consensus Big Board compiled by Arif Hasan, an aggregation of published analyst boards.