2025 NFL Draft: Joel Klatt’s top 10 defensive prospects

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I think Grant’s going to be an excellent pro. He’s young, huge, very athletic and a guy that I could see just getting better and better. So much so that maybe he could be the best defender from this draft 10 years from now. He’s got that type of upside. 

Are there guys who are more polished right now? Yeah, his teammate, Mason Graham (who you’ll see later in this list) is more polished right now. But Grant is an absolute specimen. I remember him running down running back Kaytron Allen against Penn State in 2023. He hawked him down and I was like, “Dude, this guy is 6-foot-4, 330 pounds and was moving.” 

Grant’s a very strong player and just violent on the inside. 

I covered Green in Marshall’s game against Ohio State this year. There was a conversation I had with Marshall coach Charles Huff about Green in the lead-up to that game that has stuck with me. Huff, who coached under Nick Saban at Alabama for two seasons, said that Green could’ve started for any of those Crimson Tide teams, praising the edge rusher’s mentality, twitchiness, instincts and ability to get after the quarterback.

So, going into that game, I was thinking, was Green really that good? Well, he showed what Huff was talking about during that game. He was excellent in that game, showing out against Ohio State before its offensive line was depleted by injuries.

Green went on to lead the nation in sacks last season with 17. So, I really like Green. He might not have the measurables that some might want to see, but he’s certainly a guy who can be productive.

I think Campbell could’ve had more production in college, but Alabama moved him around a lot. He played on the inside as a linebacker. He can play outside as an edge player. It was basically wherever Alabama needed him to play, that’s where he played, which tells me he’s a smart player.

Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack told me this past season about Campbell’s ability to learn and perfect multiple positions. He was an edge rusher when he joined Alabama and wound up playing more on the inside this past season. 

Campbell’s just a really solid player, which gets him a spot in this top 10. 

Williams has elite top-end ability, but an ankle injury prevented him from reaching his full potential in 2024. If you go back to earlier in his career, Williams was arguably better then. He was a freshman All-American and highly recruited.

Williams’ Pro Day was a little underwhelming. I thought it would be a little bit better, but some of those numbers weren’t great.

When you turn on Williams’ film, particularly the games you want to see him play well, he shows great stuff. He played well in both games against Texas, recording two sacks in each game while going up against one of the best offensive tackles in this draft in Kelvin Banks Jr. When he was going against NFL guys across the line of scrimmage, he was productive. So, that’s certainly a feather in his cap. 

Abdul Carter & Travis Hunter in Joel Klatt’s top defensive players in NFL Draft

I really loved Texas’ secondary last season, and Barron, who won the Thorpe Award, was a major reason for that. If you remember a couple of years ago, Texas’ secondary had some weaknesses, and Barron was a large reason why the Longhorns‘ secondary became one of their strengths. In fact, that unit was one of the very few units that slowed down Ohio State’s passing attack this past season.

Barron ran a 4.39 40 at the combine, helping to solidify his productive season, where he was really good in coverage. He’s also a tough player who was a really good leader for that Texas team that made it to the College Football Playoff in two straight seasons. So, he’s going to be a really good locker room guy as well. 

Walker can play traditional linebacker. He can pop out and play over on the edge. He’s a versatile player.

Walker destroyed Texas in the first meeting between the two teams this past season, recording three sacks against Banks and those experienced offensive linemen in Austin. That tape was so fun to watch.

We haven’t really seen Walker wow evaluators as much as other prospects have during this process because he’s dealing with a quad injury. He’s going to have to do a private workout because of that, but I’m sure he’ll wow evaluators during a private workout.

I really believe in Walker and think he will be a great pro.

This one might be a bit more controversial. I know NFL evaluators have to consider injuries when they use high draft picks, and some have been burned because they didn’t do that. 

But I evaluate players from when they were healthy, and when healthy, Johnson is arguably the best cornerback in this draft. He’s slipped a bit in this draft process due to injury because I think it’s easy to view him as the top player at his position otherwise. 

Johnson’s got incredible instincts. He defends in zone and man coverages pretty well. He beats the wide receiver to the spot several times. He did it in the Big Ten championship game when he was just a freshman against Purdue. He did it to Marvin Harrison Jr., coming up with a big interception in Michigan’s win over Ohio State in 2023. He’s really smart, long and has great bloodlines. 

However, Johnson’s dealing with turf toe. From my experience, turf toe is brutal and it never really goes away. Those of us who have had it know it never really goes away. Johnson’s also had a bit of a hamstring issue that he’s been dealing with as well, but I’m not worried about that.

So, there is a bit of an asterisk with this ranking. Hopefully, Johnson gets his turf toe healed because I think he can be one of the best corners in the NFL if he does.

Truth be told, the top three defensive players in this draft are also my top three overall prospects. Graham is an incredible player. He’s probably got the best balance, leverage and strength combination that I’ve seen in a defensive tackle in a long time. He’s very athletic, even if it doesn’t look like it, and tough.

Graham and Kenneth Grant basically won the Ohio State game for Michigan this past season. They were that dominant in the interior. Graham destroyed the Buckeyes and when people turn on that film, they are going to say, “Oh my gosh.”

Michigan Wolverines vs. No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes Highlights

Graham is such an incredible player, showing great hands that he used to win a heavyweight wrestling title in high school. He produces a great pass rush from the interior. He can immediately come in and sure up your run defense. He does it all, and very rarely do you have a guy like that who plays on the interior. He constantly sees double teams and destroys them.

This ranking is strictly based on Hunter’s defensive play as I ranked him No. 1 among all wide receiver prospects last week. 

If you look at Hunter just as a corner, he’s an elite corner. He’s got great ball skills, and he’s got everything that you would want to see from a player at that position. That interception he had against TCU in his first game at Colorado is one of the best interceptions I’ve ever seen. He fell off his man and dove right in front of the football.

That play was one of the many plays where you’ll see Hunter being in the right place at the right time. You constantly see him being sticky in coverage. He’s tough in coverage. 

I wish Hunter was a little bit longer, and that’s something Stanford wide receiver Elic Ayomanor took advantage of in 2023. But when I look at Hunter, he’s just a dog. He’s willing to stick his head down and make tackles, something he did to force a game-winning fumble in Colorado’s win over Baylor this past season.

Hunter’s going to be a total game-changer. He not only has elite wide receiver skills, but he brings those same ball skills and uses them effectively as a defensive back.

Travis Hunter & Emeka Egbuka in Joel Klatt’s top five wide receivers

I love watching Carter play. I actually called his very first game that he ever played at Penn State and I remember talking to James Franklin about the recruiting process surrounding Carter then. He told me, “We gave the No. 11 to this kid because we know he’s going to be a great player.”

Well, Carter ended up being a great player at Penn State. He moved from linebacker to defensive end this past year, and he did it so naturally and fluidly that, in a lot of ways, it almost shocked me. He led the nation with 23.5 tackles for loss. He was dominant against Notre Dame in the CFP and he wasn’t even fully healthy, recording seven quarterback pressures, a sack and three run stops on basically one arm.

Carter is dealing with a stress fracture in his foot right now that’s prevented him from fully participating in workouts during this draft process. But trust me, this guy’s an athletic freak and is going to immediately make any defense that he’s on better. I don’t want to put the Micah Parsons comparison on Carter yet, but you can do everything that the Dallas Cowboys do with Parsons with him. He’s that versatile. You can back him off and play him in nickel. You can rush him in a two-point stance from the interior. You can put him on the edge. He can be dominant in every one of those areas on the field.

That’s why Carter’s my top defensive player in this draft.

Joel Klatt is FOX Sports’ lead college football game analyst and the host of the podcast “The Joel Klatt Show.” Follow him at @joelklatt and subscribe to the “Joel Klatt Show” on YouTube.

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