Clemson at the top: The Tigers have the nation’s best defensive line and may have the best defensive tackle and edge defender in the 2026 NFL Draft in Peter Woods and T.J. Parker.
Texas Tech in the top three: The Red Raiders completely rebuilt their defensive line with all four projected starters as star incoming transfers.
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Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes
A great defensive line can wreck an entire offensive game plan. If a quarterback doesn’t have time to throw or there are no lanes for a running back to run through, it almost doesn’t matter what the rest of the defense is doing.
Here’s a look at the 10 best defensive lines in college football as we head into the 2025 season.
PFF’s position unit rankings
Quarterback Rooms |Running Back Units |Receiving Corps |Offensive Lines
1. Clemson
Two projected top-10 picks in defensive tackle Peter Woods and edge defender T.J. Parker spearhead the Tigers’ defensive front. Woods is my top returning interior defender and leads all returning Power Four defensive tackles in run-defense grade (89.7) and pass-rush win rate (14.9%) since 2023. Parker is my No. 3 edge rusher and led all returning Power Four edge defenders with 12 sacks last season. He was also one of only three in that same group who earned 80.0-plus grades both as a pass-rusher and run defender.
Clemson also added Purdue edge defender Will Heldt via the transfer portal, and he was fourth among Big Ten edge defenders with 36 defensive stops last year. DeMonte Capehart and Stephiylan Green are also back at defensive tackle and each earned 70.0-plus PFF grades in 2024. Cade Denhoff and Jahiem Lawson provide depth at edge defender and each played over 300 snaps last season, and the Tigers also added a five-star defensive tackle in freshman Amare Adams.
2. Alabama
Both edge defender LT Overton and defensive tackle Tim Keenan III could’ve entered the 2025 NFL Draft but decided to return to Tuscaloosa for another season, pushing the Crimson Tide’s defensive line near the top of this list. Overton broke out at Alabama after transferring in from Texas A&M, ending his junior year as one of the 15 most valuable edge defenders in America according to PFF’s wins above average metric. He’s my No. 6 edge rusher in college football. Keenan is third on my interior defenders list and was third among Power Four defensive tackles with a 90.1 run-defense grade last season. The only two ahead of him were Mason Graham and Walter Nolen, two top-20 picks in this past NFL draft.
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The Crimson Tide also brought back three players who played 300 snaps on their defensive line last year in edge defender Jah-Marien Latham, edge defender Qua Russaw and interior defender James Smith. All three earned at least a 65.0 PFF grade in 2024.
3. Texas Tech
The Red Raiders brought in arguably the best transfer portal class this offseason, and their defensive line was the biggest beneficiary. In fact, all four projected starters on Texas Tech’s defensive line played for a different school last year.
Lee Hunter is my No. 5 returning defensive tackle in college football after two dominant years at UCF. Across 2022 and 2023, he led all FBS interior defenders in run-defense stops (59) and tackles for loss or no gain (27). His 49 pressures in that span are second among returning Power Four defensive tackles as well. Stanford’s David Bailey led all FBS edge defenders in pass-rush grade (93.2) and was second in pass-rush win rate (27.5%) last season.
The other edge spot will be manned by Georgia Tech-transfer Romello Height, who was 10th among ACC edge rushers with a 78.4 PFF grade in 2024. Skyler Gill-Howard transferred in from Northern Illinois and was a dominant player for the Huskies. Among Group of Five interior defenders last year, he was fifth in PFF grade (83.8) and pressures (29) while placing second in defensive stops (28). The Red Raiders also added Houston defensive tackle Anthony Holmes Jr., who placed fifth in the Big 12 with 23 defensive stops last season.
4. Florida
The Gators return two potential first-round picks on their defensive line in edge defender Tyreak Sapp and interior defender Caleb Banks. Sapp is my No. 7 edge rusher in college football and was ninth in the nation with a 90.4 PFF grade in 2024. Banks was my honorable mention defensive tackle and leads all returning Power Four interior defenders with 53 pressures since 2023.
Florida also returned another starter in edge defender George Gumbs. Sophomore defensive tackle LJ McCray is also expected to break out as he was a top-10 overall recruit from the 2024 high school class.
5. Penn State
While the Nittany Lions might not have the depth of other schools on this list, they still place in the top-five for the two superstars they have in Zane Durant and Dani Dennis-Sutton. Durant is my second-ranked defensive tackle in the nation after leading them all with 14 tackles for loss/no-gain last year. His 28 pressures were also a top-25 among FBS interior defenders. Dennis-Sutton could be the third-straight Penn State edge defender to go in the first round of the draft, following Abdul Carter and Chop Robinson. Since 2023, he’s second among returning Power Four edge rushers in pressures (75) and in our wins above average metric. He’s my No. 9 edge in the country.
While that’s it for proven players on the Nittany Lions’ front, keep an eye on redshirt senior defensive tackle Alonzo Ford Jr.. His 77.2 run-defense grade last season was 10th among Big Ten interior defenders who played at least 175 snaps.
6. Michigan
The Wolverines are the fifth and final team on this list with multiple players mentioned in my edge defender/defensive tackle rankings. Even though Michigan lost two defensive tackles who were top-15 picks in Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant, it has another star in Rayshaun Benny. He’s my No. 9 interior defender in America and was 16th among them last year with an 83.1 PFF grade. Derrick Moore is my No. 10 edge defender in the country and was third in the nation last year with a 23.4% pass-rush win rate.
TJ Guy is also back along the edge for the Wolverines, and he was one of eight Big Ten edge rushers last year with 75.0-plus grades both as a pass-rusher and as a run-defender.
7. Georgia
The Bulldogs may have lost most of their defensive line production from last year, but they do return a star in defensive tackle Christen Miller. He’s my No. 4 interior defender in college football and was in the top-20 of FBS defensive tackles with an 82.2 PFF grade in 2024.
He’s the only player who played at least 300 snaps for Georgia’s defensive line last season, but the Bulldogs do have a slew of former five-star recruits ready to step up like Jordan Hall, Joseph Jonah-Ajonye, Elijah Griffin and Isaiah Gibson. Georgia also added Army edge defender Elo Modozie in the transfer portal, whose 37 pressures last year were a top-20 mark in the Group of Five.
8. Miami (FL)
Rueben Bain Jr. is back to lead the Hurricanes defense in his junior season and is a projected top-15 pick in this upcoming NFL Draft. My No. 4 edge defender in the country is third among returning Power Four edge defenders with 73 pressures since 2023 while his 16.9% pass-rush win rate in that span is fourth. On the opposite side is Akheem Mesidor, whose 86.1 PFF grade since joining Miami in 2022 is second among returning Power Four edge defenders.
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On the interior is redshirt junior Ahmad Moten, who was third among ACC defensive tackles last season with a 78.0 pass-rush grade. Sophomore Justin Scott will likely be the other starter at defensive tackle and the former five-star recruit had an impressive 73.9 grade across 113 snaps in his true freshman campaign. The Hurricanes also have a couple former five-star recruits at edge defender in sophomores Armondo Blount and Marquise Lightfoot.
9. Oklahoma
The Sooners have plenty of experienced players on their defensive line, returning four contributors who played at least 300 snaps last year. Gracen Halton is my No. 10 interior defender in the country. His 13.6% pressure rate since 2023 leads all returning FBS defensive tackles, while his 12.5% pass-rush win rate is the best among returning Power Four ones. R Mason Thomas is also a terrific pass-rusher, placing second among FBS edge defenders with a 93.2 pass-rush grade on true pass sets last season.
Damonic Williams is also back at interior defender and was 14th in the SEC with a 77.3 run-defense grade in 2024. Marvin Jones Jr. will likely be the other starting edge rusher after playing 387 snaps for Florida State last year. Oklahoma also has a couple former top-10 overall recruits in junior edge defender Adepoju Adebawore and sophomore defensive tackle David Stone.
10. Texas
The Longhorns bring back the nation’s best edge defender in Colin Simmons. The former five-star recruit hit the ground running as a true freshman, finishing 2024 as the sixth-most valuable edge defender in the nation according to our WAA metric. The only five above him were all drafted within the first four rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft: Abdul Carter, Jack Sawyer, Mike Green, Josaiah Stewart and JT Tuimoloau.
Texas added former Purdue interior defender Cole Brevard in the transfer portal, and he was 12th in the Big Ten with a 75.0 PFF grade last year. Travis Shaw also transferred in from North Carolina and was 16th among ACC defensive tackles with 15 defensive stops a year ago. The Longhorns brought back senior edge defender Ethan Burke, who played 324 snaps last season. Texas added a couple five-star freshmen as well in defensive tackle Justus Terry and edge defender Lance Jackson, both of whom were the No. 2 player at their position in the 2025 high school class.
It should also be noted that one of its starting edge defenders from 2024, Trey Moore, is back for another year but is expected to move to an off-ball linebacker role. His eight sacks last season were 10th among SEC edge rushers, though.
Honorable Mention: Oregon
The Ducks don’t have a defensive tackle or edge defender that made my top-10 list but still deserves a shoutout here. Matayo Uiagalelei is a potential first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and tied for sixth among Big Ten edge defenders with nine sacks last year. Starting opposite him is Teitum Tuioti, who was 10th in the conference with a 78.3 pass-rush grade.
Oregon will surely miss first-round pick Derrick Harmon at defensive tackle, but it did add Bear Alexander from the transfer portal to help make up for his departure. His 32 pressures in 2023 were second among Pac-12 interior defenders that year. A’Mauri Washington will likely start next to him after playing 298 snaps this past season.