Top 10 interior defensive linemen in the 2019 NFL Draft

#4 Christian Wilkins, Clemson

Wilkins came onto the scene in his first year with the Tigers, earning Freshman All-American honors

It will be tough to find a more accomplished college player than this kid. A former top 25 national recruit, Wilkins came onto the scene in his first year with the Tigers, earning Freshman All-American honors.

He had a pretty good second campaign, but then made an enormous jump coming into his junior year, emerging as a leader for this Clemson squad and becoming a much more impactful player for them.

His double-digit number of sacks, 23.5 tackles for loss and six broken-up passes during the last two years earned him consecutive first-team All-American honors. If the individual accolades weren’t already enough, he and his team went to the National Championship game three times versus Alabama and won two of them.

Wilkins gets off the ball like an edge guy and he even was lined up outside quite a bit his junior year. He can really knife his way through the line of scrimmage and is at his best when slanting into gaps and wreaking havoc in the backfield, as he finds the ball-carrier once he’s back there.

Thanks to that quick first step, Wilkins often times beats the blocker to the spot and ends up just guiding them up the field or taking them with him, as the Tigers star cuts down a bunch of running backs by their feet. Wilkins fights his way down the line on zone plays and doesn’t let the blocker get anywhere inside his frame, while almost flattening like a linebacker towards the sideline.

Brett Venables lined him up over centers on early downs quite a bit because his short-area quicks were tough for centers to deal with after snapping the ball. When double-teams are initiated, he turns his pads by 90 degrees to limit the push by playing through one shoulder or he doesn’t even let him get set up by splitting two linemen.

The emotional leader of the Clemson defense these last two years started playing base DE in the Tigers’ 3-4 scheme but was moved around on passing downs when they brought in different guys his first two years, before transitioning to a four down-linemen front.

Wilkins flashes great bend and a devastating spin move for a guy at that size. He is very fluid when he transitions from the arm-over swim move to dipping the inside shoulder for centers that are sliding over. He wins a lot with quick hand-swipe action and the appropriate footwork as a slippery pass rusher.

However, if he rushes off the edge and a tackle a conservative kick-slide against him, he doesn’t mind going through that guy’s chest either. Wilkins has experience with different D-line “games”, running interior twists or looping outside on T-E action. What you love is the fact he even chases down some receivers on quick passes.

Wilkins and his fellow D-linemen returned for their senior year to win another National Championship and they delivered. That was a game in which the versatile defender left it all out on the field, creating havoc in the backfield with slanting and pushing through blockers.

I wasn’t really sold on Wilkins after his first two years, but he really put it all together in 2018, when he decided to come back for his senior year despite being projected to be a first-round pick already.

He ended the season with 46 QB pressures, 39 defensive stops and just one missed tackle, while ranking second-highest in both pass-rush productivity and run-stop percentage by Pro Football Focus.

For as good as Wilkins has been at the collegiate level, he lacks the length and anchor abilities to play in a scheme, where he is asked to two-gap. He has gotten much better in that aspect, but to me, he is still too passive on a few passing downs and keeps himself busy with the blocker, where I would like to see him with a better rush-plan.

Wilkins was playing along with a talent-loaded front and rarely faced double-teams, especially with how the coaches moved him around. He struggled mightily against N.C. State’s Garrett Bradbury, who has even better quickness than him, and got reached or put on the ground on several snaps.

To me, Wilkins is not like a Quinnen Williams who can play in any defense and dominate. He should benefit from playing on an aggressive upfield D-line and his most natural position would probably be 3-tech at the next level. I love the leadership qualities and the way he has improved every single year. Definitely a top-20 pick.