Rogers' DT draft rankings: McDonald tops the field
Connor Rogers shares his defensive tackle rankings for the 2026 NFL Draft with Nicole Auerbach and Joshua Perry and shines the spotlight on Ohio State's Kayden McDonald.
Video Transcript
Time to move inside.
Let's go for some of the interior defensive linemen, the tackles.
Connor, shall we see your list?
Yeah.
I mean, literally a stout group.
Kayden McDonnell is the size of a, a trailer, literally, in the middle of the defense.
A true nose tackle.
you got Caleb Banks, who is gonna be, you know, kind of interesting to figure out here, and depending on when he's ready, you know.
The- he has a broken foot again.
He missed 2025, with that broken foot.
He got hurt again during this period of the draft testing.
So Caleb Banks is one of those guys, depending on the health status, that can cost him.
With Kayden McDonnell, though, Joshua, to get back to him, he's just, he sets the tone against the run in the middle of the def- in the middle of the defense.
Yeah.
I think it's difficult to be as productive as he was tackles-wise, from the inside of the defense.
When you look at his ability to defend the run, a lot of it comes down to his ability to recognize and understand run concepts.
I, I just feel like he has a, a good beat on that, and he's able to be a step ahead.
Now, the question is, for the number one defensive tackle, a lot of teams wanna generate a rush from the interior.
Right.
And he's more of a lean on you guy instead of a beat you with twitch up front and, and sack your quarterback.
So I wonder how that comes into account when teams are making the eval.
And it's a great point.
I don't think there's a massive upside with him.
He's not gonna get after the quarterback like this consistently.
He has flashes of it.
But he's more of a two gap, hold the point of attack, make life easier for everybody around me kinda player, where Caleb Banks, getting back to him, you're just betting on upside.
I mean, 6'6", these long- vines for arms.
He can make plays in the backfield.
They're really special.
The 2024 tape is phenomenal.
Really didn't get to play football 'cause of injury this year.
He got hurt during the process again.
He did make it back for the Senior Bowl, got hurt after that.
You just wonder, Joshua, what's the injury tax for a player like that?
That's In playing at that position in particular, where there's constant contact, you got guys leaning on you, and especially when it's lower extremities, I feel like there, there's a lot of due diligence that needs to be done.
However, if I'm going to bet on a position in terms of upside, it's the guys in the middle of the defense because I don't have to teach them as much.
Right.
I just have to teach you technique of how to get the job done.
I don't need you to know what the guys are doing in the back end in terms of coverage.
So he is a curious one here.
I'm, I'm I'll be excited to see what NFL teams think of him.
Next guy up, one of your favorites as well, Connor.
Oh, Christian Miller from Georgia.
Yeah.
This guy, the energy he brought to the desk when Joshua and I interviewed him- Different it, it kinda woke you up.
It was like a shot of espresso in a human form, but he's massive.
He's massive.
He's got big hands to control blocks.
He understands, really, how to be an artist in terms of the stack and shed.
Like, okay, I can read and react.
We know how much is asked of the Georgia guys in the front seven.
Very, very smart.
Practice habits are phenomenal, the size, the length, the athleticism.
He's someone, to me, that's a little bit of a do it all.
And what I love, Joshua, he can play up and down the line of scrimmage.
Yeah.
He's a, he's a guy who plays on his feet.
Oftentimes you see dudes on the interior of the defensive line or offensive line who are finishing too many plays not on their feet.
That's not him.
And so I, I can really appreciate that balance.
I can appreciate the athleticism that comes around with it.
I like the idea of him up and down the line until we get, you know, shade- Sure nose.
Is he a two-gap guy?
Is he a guy that you want taking on a bunch of double teams?
Not sure.
In terms of everything else up there, I'm all game.
I, I do wanna circle back on the Clemson guys because we talked about Peter Woods here.
He was on that graphic.
It was a tough year for that team, right?
Right.
This was a team coming in, had national championship expectations.
No one really delivered.
We've talked about Kade Klubnik.
We're talking about guys on the edge, on the line.
The production dropped off.
How concerning is that for you?
It, it's frustrating as an evaluator because the why.
Yeah.
Like, like it's, just because you're not playing for a national title anymore, you're playing for your NFL evaluation.
That, that should mean everything.
So as an ev- And this is someone who I know he's been a little banged up.
Didn't run a 40.
Did the 10-yard split, which I've never seen that in my life before.
respect.
Save some of maybe that energy for the NFL.
But he's quick.
He gets off the ball.
He can play with a low pad level.
He's got raw power and strength.
He, when they kicked him out to the edge, he could set a hard edge, although I think he's gonna be playing D tackle at the next level.
Yes.
The win rate at D tackle is really, really impressive, but a high variance guy, Josh.
Whether, whether it's disappearing for stretches or shooting a gap to blow up the play, and you guess wrong, you, you can't have those lows in the NFL.
No, no.
The NFL is, is really an availability league first and then consistency after that.
So he's gonna have to find where that level is.
By the way, you mention it, every physical tool that he will need to be successful, he possesses.
I, I love how twitchy he is.
Right.
I love the pop that he has, but he's gotta make sure that it's there all the time.
Yeah.
And we gotta round out this group with our guy Lee Hunter, The Fridge.
Oh, man.
The Fridge.
The first and only player to tell Joshua and I, "What do you love to do?"
"I love the two gap."
Okay.
"I love the two gap" was insane, but it's also, that, that is a labor of love, so I get that.
Yeah.
That's- Lee Hunter, Lee Hunter comes, tailor-made to stop the run on your NFL defense.
The Fridge is maybe the best nickname- Oh, so good that anybody in this draft has
