2020 NFL Draft: Top Ten IDP Rookie Defensive Linemen
This year boasts a fascinating class for linemen. There’s a stud out on his own at the top and then a load of players who might be able to break out. Identifying one of the hits as opposed to a miss is really going to set good rookie hauls out from poor ones after the 2020 season is (hopefully) done.
Based on what we currently know, here’s a breakdown of the top names to be targeting.
1. Chase Young, DE WAS
Young is a stud prospect and he’s almost certainly going to also be a stud as a professional.
He is every bit the prospect that either Joey Bosa, Nick Bosa or Myles Garrett were. And all those players were effective from day one. In fact: all three of those players managed multiple sacks in their first NFL game.
Young is far and away the top lineman in this class and will be drafted accordingly. To secure him, you should expect to pay at least an early second-round pick – and some people will pick him in the late first.
2. K’Lavon Chaisson, DE JAX
Chaisson is very much a gamble. His reputation is largely based on potential and athleticism rather than production. He played just two years of high-school football and he had a grand total of nine sacks in three years as a college player. On top of that, he’s behind an established star in Yannick Ngakoue (although Ngakoue is unlikely to play for Jacksonville again).
Having said all that, Chaisson is a spectacular athlete and has shown flashes of mouth-watering potential. If he walks into Ngakoue’s role then he could end up being similarly productive.
There is a ton of potential with Chaisson – but he is a risk. You should only draft him if you can afford a gamble. Anyone looking for a reliable DE they can start weekly as a rookie should look elsewhere.
3. Yetur Gross-Matos, DE CAR
The Panthers tried to rebuild their defense in the 2020 draft by selecting seven players on that side of the ball. Gross-Matos was the second name they called at 38th overall. The edge group on the team is curious. Brian Burns goes into his second season hoping to prove he can be a three-down player. Stephen Weatherly was brought in as a free agent and will round the roster out. Efe Obada has flashed potential but is still a project. So it’s entirely reasonable to suppose that Gross-Matos leads the unit in playing time even as a rookie, which means IDP potential.
Like many others on this list, Gross-Matos is not a finished player – but he has tools. His frame is a similar size to Chandler Jones. He is gifted athletically and he was a productive college player.
He’s available in the mid-to-late third round of most rookie drafts and offers good value there.
4. AJ Epenesa, DE BUF
Epenesa has the look of a good NFL player who might not be the sack-threat we crave from IDPs. It’s not so much his size (he has a similar frame to Carlos Dunlap) as his game. It’s built almost entirely on power and brute force with little to no quick-twitch burst or bend.
That’s not to say he isn’t good (he’s as strong as a horse and it translates onto the field), but you should not be expecting multiple double-digit sacks from his career. So getting into the top 24 DEs in your league might rely on scoring systems that reward lineman tackles more.
Epenesa is being drafted in the mid-third-round through to the early-fourth in most drafts. Grabbing Gross-Matos a few spots earlier is probably a better investment.
5. Javon Kinlaw, DT SF
Kinlaw is the top interior lineman in this class. Derrick Brown might be a better NFL prospect but Kinlaw is the better pass rusher – and the name of the game is mostly sacks. He’s much more of a specialist and in San Francisco, he’ll be surrounded by better talent than Brown which will leave him a cleaner shot at attacking his gap more often.
However, you should not expect a direct DeForest Buckner replacement in terms of production. Buckner showed an amazing ability to play huge volume and we don’t know if Kinlaw can replicate that. He is the clear top interior pass rusher in this class though and worth investing in – in leagues that require DTs.
He’s going anywhere from the late-third to the early fifth in rookie drafts – it’s very dependent on league settings.
6. Darrell Taylor, DE SEA
Taylor walks into a crowded but uncertain Seahawks situation. He’ll be battling lots of players for snaps and we know the Seahawks will put the best players on the field – regardless of draft capital or contract.
Having said that, Taylor has every chance of winning playing time. Benson Mayowa, Branden Jackson and Rasheem Green are pros rather than stars. And what LJ Collier is is anyone’s guess.
Taylor is a good prospect, but there are many things that could happen which would prevent him from having any IDP value. With that in mind, he’s a good choice for leagues with deep rosters (definitely 50 or more) or taxi squads.
Taylor has gone as high as the late fourth round but is generally available in the fifth or sixth, so his price reflects the gamble.
7. Julian Okwara, DE DET
Okwara has been strangely unheralded since the NFL draft. He was selected 67th overall by a team that clearly needs a specialized pass rusher. But he is routinely available at the bottom of the fifth round in rookie drafts.
Trey Flowers has one full-time DE spot locked down for the Lions but there’s no reason we don’t see Okwara register significant playing time as he battles his big brother Romeo for snaps. He is unlikely to be a reliable every-week option for you – but he is well worth a gamble as the number seven lineman.
8. Derrick Brown, DT CAR
Poor Brown. He was selected seventh overall by a team many thought were locked-on Isaiah Simmons fans then disrespected by the IDP world to the tune of seven other linemen being valued over him.
While Brown is likely to be very good at what he does, it’s just not that valuable for IDP purposes. He can bend offensive linemen in half, but unless he gets to the QB regularly he won’t have much value in most leagues. Similar to Marcell Dareus, he’s a very good prospect who will likely have a season or two where he manages high sack numbers – but cannot be counted on to do it often.
He’s going over a wide range in rookie drafts – sometimes as high as the early fourth based on his high name recognition value, and sometimes as low as the sixth round. You’re likely better off letting one of your league mates pick him.
9. Terrell Lewis, EDGE LAR
Alabama edge players tend to come in two flavors. They’re either huge slabs of man who would be equally at home playing guard (Da’Shawn Hand) or undersized, twitchy edge benders who often do not translate to pro football (Tim Williams).
Lewis is on the second spectrum.
He has speed and explosion and length, but he’s never been productive and there’s a good chance he joins the long list of undersized pass rushers who just can’t compete with NFL tackles.
However, he does walk into a good spot playing OLB for the Rams as there’s very little competition for playing time at the moment.
He can be had in the sixth-round of most rookie drafts, although in True Position leagues where he does not have the OLB designation to contend with he might go a little earlier.
10. Marlon Davidson, DT ATL
Davidson is a good player – but right on the upper limits of what you expect an edge rusher to be in the NFL. It’s just hard to have the speed to consistently be an impact pass rusher when you’re up near 300 pounds.
He’ll likely play a more interior role in Atlanta (remember they used a three-man front for much of last season) which hurts his value. But as a fairly early pick, he should at least see the field.
He’s going very late in rookie drafts. A late sixth should be enough unless you’ve got a Falcons fan in your league.
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