Just like the offensive line controls the game on the offensive end, the defensive line controls the defense. The game of football is won between those two battles. Most defensive linemen go into groups such as 4-3 defensive ends, 3-4 defensive ends, 4-3 defensive tackles, and big nose tackles. This year there is a lot of depth for the defensive linemen. The big guys are very big and the top guys are very versatile to fit in multiple types of defenses.
The consensus #1 defensive player in the draft is Leonard Williams of USC. The 6’5 302 defensive end/defensive tackle had had comparisons that range from Richard Seymour to Calais Campbell, either way he’s going to be good. Unless your name is JJ Watt, 3-4 defensive ends do not go in the top five, but that is exactly where Williams is ticketed to go. Williams has been mentioned as going as high as 2nd overall to the Titans.
Behind Williams, there is a long list of big defensive tackles that are ticketed to also go in the 1st round. Oregon’s Arik Armstead came in at 6’7 292 pounds, Washington’s Danny Shelton, rated the #2 nose tackle and #2 defensive tackle in the draft, came in at 6’2 343 pounds and has been compared to Haloti Ngata. Both Florida State defensive tackles, Eddie Goldman and Mario Edwards Jr, came in at 6’4 336 pounds and 6’3 279 pounds respectively. Three more ends that should hear their names go pretty early are Jordan Phillips of Oklahoma, Malcom Brown of Texas, and Ellis McCarthy of UCLA.
Below is a list of all the heights, weights, arm lengths, and hand lengths of all the Defensive Linemen from the 2015 NFL Combine.
| Name | School | Height | Weight | Arm | Hand |
| Anderson, Henry | Stanford | 6’6 | 294 | 33 1/2 | 9 3/4 |
| Armstead, Arik | Oregon | 6’7 | 292 | 33 | 10 1/2 |
| Barnes, Tavares | Clemson | 6’4 | 282 | 33 1/8 | 8 1/2 |
| Bennett, Michael | Ohio State | 6’2 | 293 | 33 5/8 | 10 1/4 |
| Blackson, Angelo | Auburn | 6’4 | 318 | 33 3/4 | 9 3/4 |
| Brown, Malcom | Texas | 6’2 | 319 | 32 1/2 | 10 |
| Chickillo, Anthony | Miami (FL) | 6’3 | 267 | 33 1/2 | 10 1/8 |
| Clark, Frank | Michigan | 6’3 | 271 | 34 3/8 | 10 1/8 |
| Cooper, Xavier | Washington State | 6’3 | 293 | 31 1/2 | 9 3/8 |
| Covington, Christian | Rice | 6’2 | 289 | 33 1/4 | 10 |
| Crawford, Corey | Clemson | 6’5 | 283 | 34 1/2 | 9 1/4 |
| Davis, Carl | Iowa | 6’5 | 320 | 34 5/8 | 11 |
| Davidson, Tyeler | Fresno State | 6’2 | 316 | 34 | 10 3/4 |
| Delaire, Ryan | Towson | 6’4 | 254 | 32 1/2 | 10 3/8 |
| Dubose, B.J. | Louisville | 6’4 | 284 | 33 | 9 3/4 |
| Edwards Jr., Mario | Florida State | 6’3 | 279 | 33 1/4 | 10 7/8 |
| Emanuel, Kyle | North Dakota State | 6’3 | 255 | 31 | 9 3/8 |
| Flowers, Trey | Arkansas | 6’2 | 266 | 34 1/4 | 10 |
| Golden, Markus | Missouri | 6’2 | 260 | 31 1/8 | 10 1/2 |
| Goldman, Eddie | Florida State | 6’4 | 336 | 33 1/8 | 10 1/8 |
| Hardison, Marcus | Arizona State | 6’3 | 307 | 33 1/2 | 10 3/8 |
| Harold, Eli | Virginia | 6’3 | 247 | 33 | 9 3/8 |
| Hodges, Zach | Harvard | 6’2 | 250 | 34 1/4 | 9 7/8 |
| Hunter, Danielle | LSU | 6’5 | 252 | 34 1/4 | 10 1/2 |
| Ifedi, Martin | Memphis | 6’3 | 275 | 33 7/8 | 10 |
| Jarrett, Grady | Clemson | 6’1 | 304 | 32 3/8 | 10 |
| Lott, Derrick | Tennessee-Chatt | 6’4 | 314 | 33 5/8 | 9 1/8 |
| Mbu, Joey | Houston | 6’3 | 313 | 35 | 9 1/4 |
| McCarthy, Ellis | UCLA | 6’5 | 338 | 34 1/8 | 9 7/8 |
| Nunez-Roches, Rakeem | Southern Miss | 6’2 | 307 | 32 5/8 | 10 1/8 |
| Odighizuwa, Owa | UCLA | 6’3 | 267 | 33 3/4 | 11 |
| Orchard, Nate | Utah | 6’3 | 250 | 33 3/4 | 10 1/4 |
| Orr, Leon | Florida | 6’5 | 323 | 34 1/8 | 9 3/8 |
| Parry, David | Stanford | 6’1 | 308 | 31 | 9 7/8 |
| Phillips, Jordan | Oklahoma | 6’5 | 329 | 34 3/4 | 9 3/8 |
| Philon, Darius | Arkansas | 6’1 | 298 | 32 3/8 | 9 1/2 |
| Reed, Cedric | Texas | 6’5 | 269 | 33 3/8 | 9 3/4 |
| Richardson, Bobby | Indiana | 6’3 | 283 | 34 5/8 | 11 |
| Russell, Ryan | Purdue | 6’4 | 269 | 33 3/8 | 10 1/4 |
| Shelton, Danny | Washington | 6’2 | 339 | 32 | 10 1/4 |
| Simon, Deon | Northwestern State | 6’4 | 321 | 33 | 10 1/2 |
| Smith, Preston | Mississippi State | 6’5 | 271 | 34 | 10 5/8 |
| Smith, Za’Darius | Kentucky | 6’4 | 274 | 32 5/8 | 10 |
| Surratt, J.T. | South Carolina | 6’1 | 304 | 32 | 10 1/8 |
| Trail, Lyndon | Norfolk State | 6’7 | 269 | 34 7/8 | 10 1/2 |
| Trinca-Pasat, Louis | Iowa | 6’1 | 290 | 31 7/8 | 10 1/8 |
| Tull, Davis | Tennessee-Chatt | 6’2 | 246 | 31 1/4 | 9 3/4 |
| Wagenmann, Zack | Montana | 6’3 | 247 | 33 1/2 | 9 1/2 |
| Walton, L.T. | Central Michigan | 6’5 | 319 | 32 1/4 | 10 1/4 |
| Williams, Leonard | Southern Cal | 6’5 | 302 | 34 5/8 | 10 5/8 |
| Wright, Gabe | Auburn | 6’3 | 300 | 32 5/8 | 10 3/4 |
