Danny Shelton
Nose Tackle
Washington
6-2, 339
Danny Shelton is one of those rare NTs that you consider taking in the first round. He is extremely powerful, explosive, and disruptive against both the pass and the run. He is putting up gaudy sack numbers (7.5) for a 340 pound interior lineman and is relentless in pursuit against the run with over 70 tackles and 13 TFL (all seriously ridiculous production for a NT)
Just to compare, the most tackles Dontari Poe ever had in one season was 41, 8 TFLs, and 2 sacks. Phil Tayor had 28 total, 7 TFLs, and 2 sacks, and BJ Raji had 42 tackles, 15 TFLs, and 7 sacks. One thing that you notice in watching Shelton is he absolutely destroys players hes supposed to destroy on smaller schools with lesser talent, which is something you never saw from Dontari Poe playing in the C-USA. But along with having his best statistical games against the lower competition he plays all out against the better teams too. The Huskies had some tough matchups with Stanford, Oregon, Arizona, Arizona St, and UCLA and Danny Shelton was disruptive in all of those games.
Danny Shelton obviously carries his weight very well and would be a great fit on either a 43 or 34 interior line. He would be a stout run defender right off the bat but offers a lot of versatility in how you use him with his ability to explode through the line and move laterally for a guy his size. He needs a little refinement as a pass rusher, but at 6-2 hes still low enough to get under the pad level of offensive linemen and with some work on his technique and hand usage I think he will be a very disruptive player at the next level.
I could see him going anywhere from top 15 to mid second round, but he is an immediate fill in for almost any scheme. I could see him being a replacement for Suh in Detroit, could see him going to a team like atlanta, or any 34 team falling in love with him and his ability to move around the line.
Not sure he will be firmly on the steelers radar with Mcclendon playing pretty well, but hes definitely the caliber of NT you consider in the first round.
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