Tag: Defensive tackles

Wisconsin top transfer target includes Badgers in final schools

Wisconsin top transfer target includes Badgers in top five schools

Wisconsin top remaining defensive tackle transfer target Joshua Donald included the Badgers in his list of finalists on Saturday.

Wisconsin made the list along with Houston, Kansas State, Boise State and Tulane. The veteran tackle has visits scheduled for three of the five: Wisconsin, Kansas State and Houston.

Donald registered 32 total tackles, 5 1/2 tackles for loss, three sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in his sole season at Appalachian State in 2024.

Prior to that stint, Donald played at Southern University from 2022-23. His 2023 campaign included 11 tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack in nine games, that after logging eight tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack in 2022.

Donald is part of an extensive list of Wisconsin’s top remaining transfer targets.

As of Dec. 22, five defensive linemen have offered their pledge to join Luke Fickell’s program. That list includes Louisville edge rusher Mason Reiger, Tulane defensive lineman Parker Petersen, Western Michigan defensive lineman Corey Walker, UT-Martin defensive lineman Charles Perkins and Grambling State defensive lineman Michael Garner.

Given the pool of finalists, Wisconsin’s chance of landing Donald is relatively high. His commitment will be one to monitor as the Badgers continue to bolster their roster entering 2025.

BREAKING: Wisconsin starting defensive lineman to enter the transfer portal

BREAKING: Wisconsin loses starting defensive lineman to the transfer portal

Wisconsin starting defensive lineman Curtis Neal announced his intention to enter the transfer portal on Tuesday morning.

Neal becomes the sixth Badger to enter the portal so far, joining QB Cole LaCrue, OLB Leon Lowery, CB Amare Snowden, CB Jonas Duclona and DB Justin Taylor. Similar to his former teammates, Neal’s announcement follows Wisconsin’s closing loss to Minnesota.

“After much thought and reflection, I’ve decided I’ll be entering my name in the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining,” Neal wrote on X. “This has not been an easy decision, as my time here at Wisconsin has been nothing short of incredible. Thank you Badger Nation!”

The defensive lineman signed with the Badgers as a three-star recruit in the class of 2022. He committed to the program in December 2021, roughly one year before Luke Fickell assumed head coaching responsibilities.

Neal was a bright spot on the Badgers’ defensive this season. As a redshirt sophomore, he registered 30 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and one sack in 2024.

From 2022-2024, Neal totaled 46 tackles and five tackles for loss in 29 career games in Madison. He now leaves a major void on Wisconsin’s defensive line. This is unquestionably the Badgers’ most significant transfer portal loss so far.

Neal will certainly not be the last Badger to enter the transfer portal. For updates on Wisconsin’s full list of incoming and outgoing transfers, bookmark our 2024 transfer portal tracker.

Wisconsin class of 2025 defensive tackle commit named Ohio D-4 Defensive Player of the Year

Wisconsin class of 2025 defensive tackle commit named Defensive Player of the Year

Wisconsin class of 2025 defensive tackle commit Drayden Pavey was named Ohio D4 Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday.

Pavey, who pledged his commitment to UW on Oct. 22, earned the nod after a dominant senior season with Taft High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. The class of 2025 prospect registered 87 total tackles, 52 solo tackles 11.5 sacks, 24 tackles for loss and one fumble recovery in 11 games during his final high school season.

The 6-foot-3, 305-pound recruit flipped to the Badgers roughly three months after initially committing to Purdue. He became Wisconsin’s 24th commitment of its 2025 cohort, a bunch that On3 currently considers the eighth-best in the Big Ten.

247Sports currently ranks the three-star defensive tackle as the No. 737 overall player in the class of 2024, the No. 85 player at his position and the No. 29 recruit from his home state of Ohio. Pavey is the fourth defensive linemen in Wisconsin’s class of 2025 alongside three-stars Torin Pettaway, Wilnerson Telemaque and Xavier Ukponu.

Pavey’s spectacular output at Taft should certainly encourage Badger fans. Given the program’s struggle to secure defensive line commitments early in the 2025 recruiting window, Pavey looks like he’s the real deal.

Titans’ T’Vondre Sweat already hard at work trying to ‘prove the people wrong’

Titans second-round pick T’Vondre Sweat wasted no time getting to work with the goal of proving doubters wrong.

The Tennesse Titans took massive defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat in the second round of the 2024 NFL draft. The pick was met with both praise and skepticism, with some questioning if Sweat was drafted too early.

There are concerns about Sweat’s weight as well as a highly publicized arrest that occurred weeks before the draft. However, all signs point to Sweat learning from his mistakes, and general manager Ran Carthon is unconcerned.

Regardless, some people doubt whether Sweat will work out in the NFL. The defensive tackle is aware of the noise and has wasted no time putting in the work to try and prove people wrong.

Kevin Washington, the director of player development for Texas, recently posted a video on Instagram of Sweat working out at the Texas facility. In the video, Washington asks Sweat why he’s working since he’s already been drafted.

“I’m out here working because I’ve got to prove the people wrong, man,” he said. “But you know what, I’m going to continue to do my work in silence.”

In 2023, Sweat racked up 45 tackles, eight tackles for loss, and two sacks. Sweat showed an ability to not only stuff the run at an elite level but also to get after the quarterback.

Sweat should have ample opportunity to silence the doubters in his rookie season. The huge defender is in line for a starting role next to Jeffery Simmons on the Titans’ defensive front.

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Defensive tackle options abound for Texas in the transfer portal

There’s no shortage of talent at defensive end in the transfer portal.

The transfer portal is open and several teams are set to battle for the top players at multiple positions. Texas, along with several others, finds itself in need of a defensive tackle addition. They have options.

We noted that Texas could be in the running for Arizona transfer defensive tackle Bill Norton. That becomes increasingly likely the more we learn from the recruitment. He’s set to visit the Texas spring game. There are a couple of other impact players in the portal as well.

TCU’s Damonic Williams is in the transfer portal after a dominant two seasons in Fort Worth. Some speculate that Texas is one of the top two contenders for the top defensive lineman, but with Williams set to visit Oklahoma’s spring game I wouldn’t hold my breath about the Longhorns chances.

A couple of smaller school tackles have entered the portal as well. Stephen F. Austin’s Brandon Lane and Kent State’s CJ West are a couple of the defensive lineman looking for a change of scenery.

Defensive tackle is the Longhorns’ one apparent weakness, but they have plenty of options to address that positional need. The likelihood is that they sign Norton, but we’ll keep an eye on how Texas recruits the position.

What Condition the Position is in: Assessing Raiders level of need at DT ahead of free agency

What Condition Raiders Position is in: Defensive tackle

With free agency under a month away, it’s time to check in on the Raiders’ defensive tackle position to give it a condition of either Strong, Stable, Unstable, Serious, or Critical.

Starters: Jerry Tillery, ?
Backups: Byron Young, Nesta Jade Silvera, Marquan McCall
Free Agents: Bilal Nichols, Adam Butler, John Jenkins

The past two drafts the Raiders have used four draft picks on the defensive tackle position and have little to show for it. They got no starters out of it and one of the four (Young) was on the active roster all of last season. Veterans Bilal Nichols and John Jenkins started every game last season with Jerry Tillery appearing in all 17 games, starting six.

Condition: Critical

Three of the four interior defensive lineman who were regular parts in the rotation last season are set to be free agents. Only Tillery remains and he wasn’t even a regular starter due to his deficiencies against the run. Adam Butler played well enough to earn a return. If they bring him back, they would still need to add one more talented interior lineman. If they don’t, they would need a couple.

Ranking the AFC West defenses

We ranked AFC West defenses from top to bottom. The results may (not) surprise you.

We have gone through and ranked each team at each position group on the defense. So, now we put them all together to come up with a complete ranking of the overall defenses in the AFC West.

Raiders falling behind rest of NFL in valuing defensive tackles

NFL teams have figured out that defensive tackle is a valuable position. Then there’s the Raiders…

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Today Quinnen Williams became that latest pocket crashing defensive tackle to cash in with a big time extension.

This offseason alone has seen massive paydays for some dominant interior defensive linemen. Williams is merely the most recent. Here’s the full list:

Quinnen Williams: four-year, $96 million
Jeffery Simmons: four-year, $94 million
Daron Payne: four-year, $90 million
Dexter Lawrence: four-year $90 million
Javon Hargrave: four-year, $84 million
Ed Oliver: four-year, $68 million

Others expected to get the bag this offseason include Chris Jones, Christian Wilkins, and DJ Reader.

That would be nine defensive tackles getting major money. And it shows how much the NFL values dominant defensive tackles.

Then there’s the Raiders…

When’s the last time you saw the Raiders place much of any real value on the defensive tackle spot? The closest you will see these days is picking through the free agent scrap heap. Something they didn’t even do this offseason, sticking with the latest underachievers in Bilal Nichols and Jerry Tillery.

Five of the defensive tackles who either have received a big new deals or who are about to get one were selected in the first round of the 2019 draft — Williams, Simmons, Lawrence, Oliver, and Wilkins.

All but Williams were on the board when the Raiders wasted their fourth overall pick on Clelin Ferrell.

On that note, does anyone remember the last time the Raiders spent a first round pick on a defensive tackle? That would be 1997 when they selected Darrell Russell at number two overall. That’s 26 years, folks.

Since then the highest Raiders drafted DT’s to play for the team have been second rounders PJ Hall (57 overall) in 2018 and Lamarr Houston (44 overall) in 2010.

That means the last time the Raiders made a big investment of any kind in a defensive tackle was 2009 when they acquired Richard Seymour in trade with the Patriots. They got 3.5 years out of him before he hung up his cleats in 2012.

That’s more than a decade I’ve been screaming from the rooftops that the Raiders needed to make the interior defensive line a priority and they simply have not.

The best defensive tackles they had the past ten years was the group they fielded in 2021, when they took fliers on a bunch of castoffs and got lucky with a couple of them. And wouldn’t you know it, they had their best overall defense (14th in yards allowed) in a decade and made the playoffs. Then they let all of them leave the following offseason. And back to the 28th ranked defense.

It’s as if dominant defensive tackles make a big difference in the play of a defense. Crazy, right?

Not sure what needs to be said to convince the Raiders of what the rest of the league seems to have already figured out.

Report: Saints expected to sign Jets DT Nathan Shepherd

ESPN’s Dianna Russini reports that the New Orleans Saints are expected to sign New York Jets free agent defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd:

The New Orleans Saints are expected to sign former New York Jets defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd, as first reported by ESPN’s Dianna Russini. The fifth-year pro impressed Saints scouts at the Senior Bowl back in 2018 but ended up being picked by the Jets in the third round of the NFL draft; he played on the veteran minimum salary last season and shouldn’t factor into the compensatory picks formula for 2024 unless the Saints are giving him a big raise.

Shepherd, 29, is listed at 6-foot-3 and 315 pounds and posted an impressive Relative Athletic Score coming out of Fort Hays State, so he fits what the Saints have been looking for along the interior line. He also served a six-game suspension for violating the league PED policy in 2019.

He’s coming off his best year in run defense and racked up 17 pressures (with a couple of sacks) as a pass rusher per Pro Football Focus. He’s a good replacement for Shy Tuttle as a veteran presence inside, but the Saints need to keep investing resources at defensive tackle. Right now Shepherd and practice squad holdover Prince Emili are their only players at the position.

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A DT prospect for the Saints in every round of the 2023 NFL draft

A defensive tackle prospect for the Saints in every round of the 2023 NFL draft, from Siaka Ika to Zacch Pickens and Dante Stills:

What is the biggest priority for the New Orleans Saints this offseason — after quarterback, of course? Maybe it’s running back. Maybe it’s defensive tackle. Every player in that position group who got on the field for the Saints last year is headed for free agency, and odds are they won’t able to hold onto everyone. Whether it’s David Onyemata, Shy Tuttle, Kentavius Street, or Malcolm Roach moving on, the Saints should be looking to pick a defensive tackle at some point in this year’s draft.

And the 2023 draft class runs deep. There are players who have something to offer in all seven rounds of the event. Let’s survey some of those options: