Every Wednesday from now until preseason I’ll be going through each position group in the NFC South. I’ll rank them from worst to first. Here is a list of the positions already covered:

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

Offensive Tackles

Offensive Guards

Centers

We now turn our attention to the defensive side of the ball and will start with defensive tackles.

Defensive Tackles

Bucs

Vita Vea
Calijah Kancey
Logan Hall
Greg Gaines
Will Gholston

Bucs DTs Calijah Kancey and Vita Vea – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

This was a close battle for the top spot in the NFC South, but I have the Bucs with the best defensive tackle room in the division. This is mostly due to the ascension I see for second-year defensive tackle Calijah Kancey. After missing most of training camp and the first couple of weeks of the season, Kancey burst onto the scene last year with an extremely disruptive season. Among rookie interior linemen he ranked third in pressures.

Kancey gets dinged for his run defense from grading site Pro Football Focus but is much better than they let on. His gap-shooting style and quick-twitch ability help him create plays in the backfield in both run and pass defense. With Kancey I think the arrow is pointinf way up and he may ascend to becoming one of the best pass-rushing DTs in the NFL as early as 2024.

Next to Kancey is Vita Vea, who had a bounce-back season last year after a down year in 2022. Vea’s settled in to being a 30-40 pressure player over the past several seasons, but lacks a full repertoire of techniques to truly take advantage of his superhuman strength. What is left are a few highlight-reel bull rushes and some quality run defense, but Vea is more of a very good-to-great defensive tackle than a truly elite player at the position.

Behind the starting duo the Bucs have Logan Hall, who had an improved sophomore season, but is still suited for a depth role than anything resembling a starter. The former second-round pick still loves going to a swim move as his signature way to win as a pass rusher. Unfortunately for him, because of his shorter arms the attempts rarely land. He can help move the pocket a bit, but Hall most likely will not live up to his draft billing in year three.

Greg Gaines is a serviceable backup nose tackle who helps control the run game and gives Vea needed breathers throughout the game. He is gap and assignment sound but doesn’t offer much as a pass rusher anymore. Much of that can be said about Will Gholston as well, although he is a few years further along in his decline. Gholston is a solid early-down 4i defensive lineman who can help mentor other players but doesn’t have much left in the tank.

The Bucs have two defensive tackles under 30 leading their room. One is an established star while the other is on the rise headed in that direction. With capable, but limited backups behind them the Bucs edge out first place in the NFC South for the top defensive tackle room in the division.

Falcons

Grady Jarrett
David Onyemata
Ruke Orhorhoro
Brandon Dorlus
LaCale London

Bucs RG Cody Mauch, C Robert Hainsey and Falcons DT Grady Jackson – Photo by: USA Today

Some may argue that Atlanta has the best defensive tackle room in the division. Those people would have a good case. Grady Jarrett and David Onyemata present a formidable duo that at least compares with Vea/Kancey and is arguably better overall.

Where I give the edge to Tampa Bay is where it concerns youth. Kancey is just 23 and ascending. Vea won’t be 30 until next year. Both Jarrett and Onyemata are over 31. While Jarrett has been an ironman for most of his career, he is coming off an ACL injury that knocked him out of over half of the Falcons games last year.

There is a reasonable argument to be made that the Falcons’ starting duo is past their prime and declining. And I think the Falcons are making that argument in the form of their 2024 NFL Draft. The team spent a second-round pick on Clemson defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro and then doubled down with the fourth-round selection of Oregon defensive lineman Brandon Dorlus. The draft picks give the Falcons a strong floor with some solid upside.

Jarrett is still a strong pass rusher, but he hasn’t posted a 10% pressure rate since 2020. This is in part because the Falcons have struggled to pair him with an above average edge rusher so opposing offensive lines have been able to key on him, but nevertheless it has limited his impact to a degree.

Onyemata is coming off one of the best years of his career, recording 34 pressures and five sacks (per Pro Football Focus). He paired that upper-echelon pass rush production with good run defense as well, making him one of the best free agent signings you probably forgot about from last year.

Dorlus is a project, as he mainly played an edge rush role at Oregon. But his size and build will force him to the inside where his quickness and athleticism should help him as a rotational rusher. Orhorhoro is a strong, compact athletic rusher with a limited arsenal of pass rush moves. He struggles to maintain his pad level which will lead to inconsistent play his rookie season.

LaCale London is a tweener like Dorlus, who played 200 snaps for the Falcons last year. He had limited pass rush impact but played well as a run defender.

Panthers

Derrick Brown
A’Shawn Robinson
Shy Tuttle
Nick Thurman
Jaden Crumedy

Panthers DT Derrick Brown – Photo by: USA Today

The Panthers have the best defensive tackle in the NFC South with some solid, but unspectacular compliments surrounding him. Derrick Brown is fresh off of his second consecutive 40 pressure season.

And while the talented lineman doesn’t post gaudy sack numbers (just eight sacks in four seasons), it didn’t stop Carolina from giving him an extremely justified four-year, $96 million extension. That made Brown the fifth-highest paid defensive tackle in the NFL. His incredible play strength and plus athleticism make him a nightmare for offensive linemen to try and block one-on one and he is near impossible to try to reach block. Brown may not get to the quarterback very often but that doesn’t mean his isn’t affecting the passer.

Shy Tuttle may be penciled in as the starting nose tackle at this time, but I really think it is A’Shawn Robinson’s job to lose. Tuttle is an almost non-factor as a pass rusher and his run defense has been on the wane for a couple of years now. Robinson is probably an upgrade in both areas at this stage in each player’s respective careers. Neither is going to produce much as a pass rusher, but they are capable run stoppers.

Nick Thurman was a solid rotational run defender last year for the Panthers, and Jaden Crumedy was a sixth-round pick this year out of Mississippi State who generated just 22 pressures last year. Brown elevates the room, but if he goes down this room could quickly become the worst DT room in the NFC South.

Saints

Bryan Bresee
Khalen Saunders
Nathan Shepherd
Kendal Vickers
Kristian Boyd

Saints DT Bryan Bresee – Photo by: USA Today

The Saints have really turned over this part of their roster over the past few years. It is a real pain point of how their salary cap management has eroded the overall talent on the roster. The best DT the Saints have going forward is 2022 second-round pick Bryan Bresee, who I thought played better than his PFF grade (45.5) would have you believe.

Bresee posted a respectable 31 pressures, 4.5 sacks and seven tackles for loss, but was still wildly inconsistent with his pad level leading to a wide variety of outcomes from his play on a week-to-week basis. Still, I would say the arrow is pointing up for him and he will develop into a solid starter in the NFL.

Next to Bresee is Khalen Saunders. The former member of Kansas City is a capable nose tackle who can push the pocket a bit. But the Saints tried to get him off the field on passing downs last season and may look to do so again in 2024. On those pass downs the Saints will likely continue to turn to former New York Jet Nathan Shepherd, who posted career highs in pressures (23) and sacks (3.5) last year. The composite of Saunders and Shepherd is a solid starter.

Rounding out the Saints DT room is Kendal Vickers and Khristian Boyd. Vickers has been a below replacement level player going on five seasons now. Boyd is a sixth-round pick out of Northern Iowa. He posted some elite grades his final two years in college and so there may be something there with him.