Top 5 interior defensive linemen in college football
As the 2020 college football season winds down, 2021 NFL Draft talk will heat up. Here are the top five interior defensive linemen in college football, a group of future NFL Draft prospects.
Just missed the cut: Dante Stills (West Virginia) & Khyiris Tonga (BYU)
1. Alim McNeill (NC State)
McNeill immediately stepped into action for the Wolfpack since arriving in Raleigh and he’s been an absolute rock in the middle of that defense. In 2019, he recorded 7.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks as mostly a true 0-technique, but he has been even better this season. His ability to anchor down and swallow double-teams with great leverage and the ability to completely control centers is unbelievable and he can just pull big linemen to the side when he sees the ball-carrier approaching. While he rarely is left wit one-on-ones in the pass game and is asked to take a lot of wide angles, he has had more than solid production in that regard, mostly by hitting the arm-over. He also had a pick-six earlier this year against Virginia, where he tipped it to himself and basically put the game on ice. While I sometimes would like to see him not get as locked in with the center as a run defender (and that may be a coaching staff), for him it’s about showing a more diverse pass-rushing arsenal.
2. Darius Stills (West Virginia)
He may not be massive in terms of pure weight, Stills has a really wide frame at 6’1”, 285 pounds. In 2019 he recorded 12 TFLs and six sacks, to go with a couple of PBUs and fumbles forced each, which earned him first-team All-Big 12 honors. This guy is a true upfield penetrator, who flashes in the backfield time and time again, by slicing through his gap and affect run plays, before they can even get going. With the amount of natural power he shows, he can overpower offensive linemen in their pass sets at a high rate. Stills has a violent club arm and he can kind of dip or rip underneath those blockers. He also runs a bunch of stunts and twists along that Mountaineer front and despite spending the majority of his playing time in-between the guards, he is out there for almost every single snap. Watching this man absolutely destroy upbacks on the punt block team is one the biggest joys of my life. At this point, Stills is just a little with the way he shoots upfield and in the pass-game, once that primary move stalls, you don’t see a whole lot more from Stills, with no dependable counters at this point.