Too Deep 96 #3-#6 Game-Wreckers Anonymous

Abdul Carter, Derrick Harmon, Mason Graham and Walter Nolen bring the quarterback pain from all angles.

The Too Deep 96 series continues with a look at the top players in a deep draft along the defensive front.

#3 Abdul Carter, Edge, Penn State

Abdul Carter is to Micah Parsons as the 2025 Mercedes AMG S 63 E Performance Sedan is to the 2021 model: some new features, less wear and tear, but recognizably the same (awesome) vehicle.

Like Parsons, Carter started his Nittany Lions career as an off-ball linebacker. Carter moved to the edge to replace Chop Robinson, who is more of a Honda Accord EX in this already-straining analogy.

Carter welcomed the switch. “This is the most fun I’ve ever had playing football,” Carter said back in October. “To be able to play free, be on the edge, rush the passer, do what I do best, I’m having a lot of fun.” Carter, like Parsons (who remained more of an all-purpose linebacker until he reached the NFL), thrived at his new position.

Carter can win in his first three steps; he was able to turn the corner on Ohio State’s Donovan Jackson (a Day Two prospect, albeit one playing out of position at left tackle) several times. Carter’s best pass-rushing move, however, is a stutter-step and swim combo just as he engages blockers. It operates almost like a crossover dribble, and he used it to glitch through opponents against USC and Minnesota. Carter still lines up at middle linebacker now and then, usually as part of a third-and-long blitz package, and he broke up at least two passes when lurking in zone coverage.

Carter’s off-ball background also makes him useful against the run: he triggers quickly when he sees a handoff, can force the ball carrier to change direction through penetration and can seal off cutback lanes. Run-right-at-him tactics can be effective, as Carter is often a stand-up defender who will lose the leverage against drive-blocking tackles. But if the offense is scheming to contain the edge rusher, the edge rusher has won.

Carter sits atop some media draft boards, and while I cannot imagine placing him ahead of a unique individual like Travis Hunter, it’s hard to find any meaningful flaws in Carter’s game. He’s in the same class as Parsons and Will Anderson (a BMW M8 Gran Coupe), and he’ll have an impact as soon as he rolls out of the showroom.

But Hunter, to conclude this extended conceit, is the Millennium Falcon.

Stat Note: Carter led the nation with 46 hurries and finished second to Donovan Ezeiruaku of Boston College with 66 pressures. Carter did play more games than most collegians, of course. His pressure rate of 19.6% ranked sixth among Power-5 conference defenders with 25-plus pressures.

Quote of Note: “His play shows out a lot, but he's one guy that leads by example. He'll show you how it's done. He loves the game. And he shows that every day,” – Penn State teammate Kevin Winston on Carter.

#4 Derrick Harmon, Defensive Tackle, Oregon

Harmon is bigger than fellow top defensive tackle prospects Walter Nolen or Mason Graham. He recorded more pressures (38) than Nolen (18) or Graham (30). In fact, he led all defensive tackles in the nation in pressures.

Harmon’s pressure rate (11.0%) was higher than those of Nolen (5.4%) or Graham (9.4%). He played on a defensive front with fewer other wrecking balls. That means that he did not have to share those pressures with as many fellow 2024 first-round draft picks, but it also meant more double-teams and offensive attention every Saturday. Furthermore, Harmon was on the field for more snaps than his peers: again, more pressure opportunities, but also more fatigue at a position where 300-pounders usually get lots of breathers.

Harmon came up big in big games. He recorded three pressures and a sack in the B1G Championship against Penn State. In Oregon’s regular-season win over Ohio State, he wrestled a fumble out of Quinshon Judkins’ arms. Harmon recorded two TFLs in the Rose Bowl. He flat-out takes over games against B-tier opponents (six pressures against Boise State, five against Washington).

Harmon’s only weakness is tackling: six broken tackles (a high figure for an interior lineman), and lots of plays on tape where he doesn’t quite locate a ballcarrier cruising past him and fails to make a play on him. Harmon also wasn’t an all-everything recruit like Nolen or Graham, and he wasn’t very productive for three seasons at Michigan State before portalling.

Otherwise, Harmon has most of the same strengths as his peers – initial quickness, lateral quickness, the ability to win leverage and hand-to-hand battles – but in a larger, more productive package.

This draft class is loaded with outstanding defensive tackles. The teams at the top of the draft board, however, won’t be looking for a mere starter. They are seeking a Jalen Carter-caliber nightmare who can take over playoff games. Jalen Carter might have been the first-overall pick in 2023 if not for quarterbacks and his driving habits; there is no Carter in this class. But Harmon has more Carter-like traits than either Graham or Nolen. That upside makes him the best of a trio of outstanding interior afternoon-ruiners.

#5 Mason Graham, Defensive Tackle, Michigan

You watch them, they’re game-wreckers. They’re guys that you have to have a game plan for. They make an impact consistent in the game. They beat single blocks. They’re certainly good against double teams. They’re good against the run and the pass. They’re guys that you have spend time and effort for. Anytime you have guys like that up front it makes it easier to cover in the backend. – Oregon coach Dan Lanning, October 2024.

“Them” and “they” in the quote above are Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant, the best defensive tackle tandem in the nation in 2023 and 2024. Every Saturday for the last two autumns they reenacted the elevator fight scene from Captain America: Winter Soldier about 30 times per game, using their close-area combat skills to obliterate opponents’ offensive lines.

Graham, the smaller human but better player of the duo, is built like a fireplug-shaped run stuffer but moves like a smooth edge rusher. He wins leverage battles against blockers, stuns them with a heavy punch and has a swim move to disengage and move past them. He’s a sure tackler in short areas, can collapse the pocket by either bull-rushing or sidestepping his blocker and can pick up second-effort sacks.

Photo from Maize and Blue Nation via Wikimedia Commons.

Graham has just nine career sacks. He doesn’t blow up the stat sheet in other categories, either. He tied for fifth in the nation among defensive tackles with 30 pressures: a fine figure, but not one which suggests “top 10 pick.” Part of the reason was the design of the Michigan defense, which sent waves of defenders from all angles and had Graham lining up everywhere from the nose to the edge. Part of it was the fact that opposing offenses rolled pockets, relied on screens and did everything else they could to keep Graham, Grant and others away from the quarterback.

Graham’s limited statistical output, however, may also point to a sticky scouting report and (relatively) limited upside.

Graham was an elite recruit: the Los Angeles Times High School Player of the Year in 2021. He was the Defensive Player of the Game in the 2023 Rose Bowl. He was one of the stars of a championship team in 2023. By the standards of defensive tackles, he’s famous. Yet he lacks OMG traits and production, and he appears to have leveled off last year. Derrick Harmon and Walter Nolen often looked more like high-impact defenders than Graham in 2024. At times, so did Grant.

Christian Wilkins is a common player comparison for Graham. Wilkins is bigger than Wilkins and was more productive at Clemson. Still, the comparison works, and Graham could be a Pro Bowl-caliber anchor on a defensive line. I prefer Harmon and go back-and-forth between Graham and Nolen, but that’s just quibbling. A team that needs a defensive tackle should be happy to get any of the Big Three.

#6 Walter Nolen, Defensive Tackle, Ole Miss

Scouting reports often note a defensive tackle’s ability to “cross his blocker’s face.” It sounds like jargon, but it’s an important skill. An interior defender who can suddenly shuffle from his blocker’s left shoulder to his right (or vice versa) before that blocker can adjust is likely to then breeze past him. It’s an essential skill for run defense (the defender ends up just where the offense does NOT want him to be) and pass rushing (for obvious reasons). Not many 295-ish pound defenders can do it consistently.

Nolen crosses his blockers’ faces all the time. He often combines his lateral quickness with a deft swim move to further fluster the poor opposing lineman. Sometimes, Nolan bursts through a gap the offense did not think he was even threatening. Occasionally, he splits a double team and ends up with a center and guard both grabbing him as if they were trying to drag him out of a honkytonk.

Nolen ranks ahead of Mason Graham on many media draft boards. I nearly did the same thing. Nolen and Graham have similar measurements. Both were zillion-star recruits coming out of prep. They played for the two best defensive lines in the nation. Nolen was supported by better edge rushers and faced more lower-tier opposition. Those two factors contributed to the sense that he was the alpha shark in weekly feeding frenzies. The presence of Princely Umanmeilen, Jared Ivey, J.J. Pegues and underclassman Suntarine Perkins may also explain why Nolen recorded just 18 pass pressures to Graham’s 30. It’s hard to pressure a quarterback who is already flat on his back.

Ultimately, I ranked Graham ahead of Nolen due to Graham’s 2023 performance. But Nolan may have a smidge more upside. However you rank them, it would be foolish to trade up to select either over the other.

Quote of Note: “Walter might be one of the best D-tackles I've ever seen play. Just in a mix of pass rush and run game ability, and his natural explosiveness and strength is crazy.” – teammate Princely Umanmeilen.

Stat Note: Nolen drew four holding penalties in 2024, tying Florida State’s Decarius Hawthorne for the most in the nation.