In today’s NFL, the value of the two-gapping, run-plugging, block-soaking big defensive tackle has become relatively microscopic, while the fortunes for quicker, more sudden big men who can blast through offensive lines with lightning speed have become ever more positive.
One of the primary reasons for this, besides the fact that the NFL is more of a passing league these days, is the advent of quick game as an offensive construct to defeat pressure. Last season, per Sports Info Solutions, NFL quarterbacks took 4,968 passing snaps in which their dropbacks were zero or one step, up from 4,222 in 2018, which is as far back as SIS’s database goes for tracking such things.
Simple geometry tells you that the shortest distance from Point A to Point B is a straight line, and when it comes to pressuring quarterbacks, you’d best have at least one guy who can do damage to the pocket from inside the tackles and guards. If all you have are edge defenders who take longer to get to the quarterback, that’s a lot of responsibility to give your defensive backs in today’s game.
NFL payrolls confirm the trend. The top contracts for interior defensive linemen are on point with the top deals for edge-rushers, and as long as there’s a need for instant disruption, that will remain so.
As we turn our focus to the 2023 NFL draft, here are the eight best defensive prospects whose ability to work inside will define their professional futures.
(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus, Sports Info Solutions, and Football Outsiders unless otherwise indicated).
(All prospect measurement percentiles courtesy of MockDraftable.com).
2023 NFL Draft: The top 9 safeties
2023 NFL Draft: The top 11 cornerbacks
2023 NFL Draft: The top 8 linebackers
1. Jalen Carter, Georgia
Height: 6′ 3⅛” (59th percentile) Weight: 314 (74th)
40-Yard Dash: N/A
10-Yard Split: N/A
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 33½” (63rd)
Hand Size: 10¼” (73rd)
Bio: A five-star recruit out of Apopka High School in Apopka, Florida, Carter played defensive tackle, tight end and punter in high school and chose the Bulldogs over a wave of possibilities. In three seasons with Georgia, Carter had nine sacks, 13 quarterback hits, 57 quarterback hurries, 57 tackles, 51 stops, and two forced fumbles. He had 695 snaps in the B-gaps, 186 over the tackles, 132 in the A-gaps, and 35 outside the tackles. In a 2021 Georgia defense that sent seven players to the NFL in the 2022 draft, Carter was considered by many evaluators to be the most talented player on the roster.
Carter’s pre-draft process was obviously complicated by the story which broke at the scouting combine regarding his arrest on traffic charges in a crash that killed a teammate and a school football staffer hours after the team’s national championship parade. Carter’s subsequent pro day, which he did not appear ready for, didn’t help.
Stat to Know: In 2022, Carter’s True Pressure Rate (pressure rate that isolates straight dropbacks, which are more likely to be similar across situations) of 16% led all interior defensive linemen in this class.
Strengths: Carter’s nose for the pocket puts him on a different level than any other defensive player in this class. Even other first round-projected prospects like Florida right guard O’Cyrus Torrence have found it difficult to keep up with his furious rush.
"O'Cyrus, I'm in fear for my life from the long arm of the law…" pic.twitter.com/vdvQhpQzLK
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 6, 2023
Carter’s ability to leverage gaps with lateral quickness and agility is just ridiculous. When he uses his hands to maximize his lower-body movement skills… well, that’s one reason he’s just a rare talent.
And the pure power to just knife through double teams is generational. We tend to overuse that word when describing draft prospects, but it applies here. Carter at his best balances upper-body strength and technique to make himself virtually unblockable.
And it can’t be overstated just how insane it is that Carter, at 6-foot-3 plus, and 315 pounds, can win from any gap. Even as an edge defender, he creates serious problems for opposing blockers.
Weaknesses: Carter isn’t quite as consistent as a run defender; there are times when his tools take him right to the edge of blowing up a back, and he’s late to engage. While he is talented enough to work off blocks from just about anybody… I don’t want to make this about “effort” because I have to get inside his head to do that, but he’s not as dynamic in these situations.
Conclusion: Based purely on his game tape, Carter is the best prospect in this class, regardless of position — there are more NFL-ready traits here than with any other prospect, and the upside is fearsome. The off-field issues and unimpressive pro day will have NFL teams doing all kinds of due diligence, and rightly so, but however much it’ll be about the tape… well, someone’s going to redefine their defense with Jalen Carter if everything goes the right way.
NFL Comparison: Chris Jones. Like Jones, who the Chiefs selected in the second round of the 2016 draft out of Mississippi State, Carter is a perfect distillation of the modern interior defensive lineman in that he can create pressure from any gap in multiple ways. Jones has further advanced his skills throughout his estimable career to become one of the best of his era, and given the right environment, Carter absolutely has that potential.
2. Calijah Kancey, Pitt
Height: 6′ 0⅝” (2nd percentile) Weight: 281 (4th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.67 (99th)
10-Yard Split: 1.64 (95th)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 30⅝” (1st)
Hand Size: 9⅛” (7th)
Bio: A First-team All-Florida Class 6A defensive lineman for Miami Northwestern, Kancey helped his high school team to back-to-back Florida 6A state championships. He was an Administration of Justice major at Pitt, which fits nicely with his playing profile. In 2022, Kancey was named Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the second Pitt alum to be so honored. The other honoree, Aaron Donald, might be a familiar name.
Over three seasons with the Panthers, Kancey totaled 19 sacks, 28 quarterback hits, 64 quarterback hurries, 63 tackles, 63 stops, and one forced fumble. He had 1,040 snaps in the B-gaps, 311 in the A-gaps, 52 outside the tackles, and 14 over the tackles.
Stat to Know: Not only did Kancey have the highest pressure rate (percentage of pass rushes that resulted in a quarterback hurry, hit, knockdown, or sack) in this class among interior defensive linemen at 14%, he also tied with Clemson’s Bryan Bresee for the highest Quick Pressure Rate (percentage of pass rushes that resulted in the player generating the first pressure on the quarterback and doing so in 2.5 seconds or less) at 6%.
Strengths: Kancey also tied with San Diego State’s Jonah Tavai for the most tackles for loss (15) among all interior defensive linemen in the nation last season. And at his size, it’s amazing to watch how many times he’ll beat double teams to blow things up in the backfield.
As a pass rusher, Kancey has incredible lateral movement and quickness to slant around blockers; he’ll then use the power in his hands to press and disengage to the pocket. When he does this to you, you’re likely left thinking, “How did that just happen?”
Overall, Kancey’s trump card — outside of his estimable quickness — is an upper body strength that allows him to just move multiple blockers aside to get to the ball. It’s a terrifying combination when he puts it all together.
Weaknesses: Kancey is great at beating double teams when he’s working to the side, but he’s not going to blast through them with pure strength by taking them on directly. In situations like this, the size issues do show up.
This holds true against one-on-ones as well — if Kancey isn’t using his lateral mobility to work around blockers, things can get ugly for him in a big hurry.
Conclusion: Kancey is more than just a fun story because he amazed at the combine, or because he has so many splash plays for his size. He is a legitimate disruptor everywhere from edge to nose shade, though his ideal spot in the NFL would be as a three-tech tackle who can just frustrate blockers all day with his enviable combination of strength and quickness. Put him there, let him do his Tasmanian Devil thing every week, and prepare to reap the rewards.
NFL Comparison: Grady Jarrett. Jarrett was one of the most important players in Clemson’s knockout 2014 defense, but size concerns (6-foot-0, 205 pounds) saw him drop all the way to the fifth round, where the Atlanta Falcons got him. That was a multi-mistake on the part of 31 other teams, because Jarrett became a rolling ball of butcher knives in Atlanta’s fronts for years, and I think Kancey will be the same wherever he goes. I’ve seen comps from Aaron Donald to Ed Oliver in Kancey’s case, but this one makes the most sense to me.
3. Bryan Bresee, Clemson
Height: 6′ 5⅝” (94th percentile) Weight: 298 (30th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.86 (93rd)
10-Yard Split: 1.71 (72nd)
Bench Press: 22 reps (15th)
Vertical Jump: 29″ (46th)
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 32½” (25th)
Hand Size: 10¼” (73rd)
Bio: A star at Damascus High School in Damascus, Maryland, Bresee was ranked the top high school prospect in the country by 247Sports and chose Clemson over a ton of other offers. Over three seasons with the Tigers, Bresee had eight sacks, 13 quarterback hits, 39 quarterback hurries, 34 tackles, 35 stops, and one forced fumble. He had 583 snaps in the B-gaps, 190 in the A-gaps, 69 over the tackles, and 68 outside the tackles.
Stat to Know: Bresee’s pressure rate of 12% ranked third in this class among interior defensive linemen, behind only Jalen Carter and Calijah Kancey.
Strengths: Bresee’s ability to create quick pressure on the quarterback is something that NFL teams value. It speaks to his explosiveness off the snap, and how he can just wreck a backfield by knifing through blocks.
These traits also apply to his potential as a run defender — when Bresee has it on lock right from the snap, there are times when blockers can’t even get their hands up before he’s zoomed by them.
Weaknesses: This is true of a lot of collegiate defensive linemen and edge defenders who haven’t yet learned to integrate advanced techniques with their athletic potential, but Bresee doesn’t always have a plan if you stone him at the line of scrimmage. Too often, he’ll wrestle instead of disengaging. Tennessee right tackle Darnell Wright, another player with first-round talent, got Bresee on this play for that exact reason.
Bresee could also do with a bit more functional upper-body strength; his hell-for-leather style doesn’t work as well when he’s getting buried by blockers who gain the leverage advantage.
Conclusion: Right now, Bresee would fit like a proverbial glove in any front in need of one-gap disruptors who go 100 miles per hour on every play, and can do so from any gap. Where he’s a bit of a project, and where the upside is really exciting, is how much he’ll be able to advance his hand work and pure power with next-level coaching and weight work. Were we to stamp all of that with a seal of approval, Bresee might have a few All-Pro nods in his future.
NFL Comparison: Darnell Dockett. Selected in the third round of the 2004 draft by the Cardinals out of Florida State, Dockett was a more powerful man than Bresee at 6-foot-3 and 293 pounds, but the quickness to the backfield from multiple gaps tracks pretty well. And if Bresee can add to his technique palette when he hits the NFL, those similarities could play even more obviously.
4. Siaki Ika, Baylor
Height: 6′ 3¼” (60th percentile) Weight: 335 (94th)
40-Yard Dash: 5.39 (5th)
10-Yard Split: 1.88 (1st)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: 7.8 (37th)
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.99 (4th)
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 32⅜” (22th)
Hand Size: 10¼” (73rd)
Bio: A universal four-star prospect out of East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ika started his collegiate career at LSU, played on the 2019 National Championship team, and moved to Baylor via the transfer portal for the 2021 season. He won Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year, and went on from there. Over four seasons with the Fighting Tigers and Bears, Ika totaled seven sacks, 12 quarterback hits, 40 quarterback hurries, 53 tackles, and 45 stops. He had 664 snaps in the B-gaps, 574 in the A-gaps, and two over the tackles.
Stat to Know: Ika is seen primarily by some as a nose tackle, but six of his 18 pressures last season came when he was either aligned right over the guard, or to the guard’s outside shoulder.
Strengths: When he’s fresh in a game and on point, Ika’s movement skills for his size are preposterous. He possesses the kind of lateral movement and penetrative technique you dream of in most bigger, block-soaking nose tackles. This is true of his efforts as a run defender…
…and how he’s able to affect opposing quarterbacks. Ika’s relentless effort at times is a true force multiplier for his athletic toolbox.
Ika also has a nice elemental skill set for getting off blocks quickly that could be accentuated by further NFL coaching.
Weaknesses: Just three of Ika’s 18 pressures, and none of his three tackles for loss, came in the fourth quarter of games last season. You always wonder how long into a game guys his size will last, and there are legitimate concerns with that. Ika will start to fall off and miss things when he gets gassed. Not that Bijan Robinson is easy to tackle under the best of circumstances, but…
And needless to say, you’d like a guy his size to be a cheat code against double teams. For all his speed/power mix, Ika doesn’t always use his leverage to its maximum advantage.
Conclusion: Former Giants executive George Young’s “Planet Theory,” which is often mis-attributed to Bill Parcells, postulates that there are only so many people on the planet big enough and athletic enough to excel on the line of scrimmage in the National Football League. This applies to Ika in both a positive and negative sense. When he’s on, Ika is a Destroyer of Worlds, capable of taking half an offensive line and whoever’s unfortunate enough to have the ball right to the woodshed. However, his off-snaps will be cause for concern in NFL buildings. Making the most of Ika’s potential would have some NFL team with the kind of defensive weapon you just don’t see that often, but we’ll have to wait and see if that actually happens.
NFL Comparison: Vita Vea. When Vea came out of Washington for the 2018 draft, he was selected 12th overall by the Buccaneers despite similar concerns regarding the consistency of his play. The collegiate version of Vea was a terror on one series, and all too average the next. But Vea has made the most of his tools at the next level, and if Ika can do the same, he could have the same kind of unique — and transformative — impact.
5. Mazi Smith, Michigan
Height: 6′ 2¾” (35th percentile) Weight: 323 (87th)
40-Yard Dash: N/A
10-Yard Split: N/A
Bench Press: 34 reps (88th)
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 33¾” (70th)
Hand Size: 9¾” (37th)
Bio: A four-star recruit out of East Kentwood High School in Kentwood, Michigan, Smith chose to stay close to home with the Wolverines, made an impact on the scout team as a freshman and sophomore, and started to make a serious impact as a started in 2021. Over four seasons with Michigan, Smith totaled two sacks, 11 quarterback hits, 33 quarterback hurries, 70 tackles, 55 stops, and one forced fumble. He had 834 snaps in the B-gaps, 346 in the A-gaps, 46 over the tackles, and two outside the tackles.
Stat to Know: Five of Smith’s 25 pressures last season came off the edge, or to the inside shoulder of the offensive tackle, which is pretty interesting for a guy his size.
Strengths: Not that you’d want to put Smith on the edge all the time at his size, but the ways in which he’s able to truck some really good offensive tackles from outside should make his NFL defensive coaches think evil schematic thoughts.
here's 6' 2¾", 322-pound mazi smith beating half of ohio state's offensive line, including paris johnson jr.
(off the edge, ftw) pic.twitter.com/fv9BZXSOkf
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 6, 2023
Back to the inside, where we can see Smith using swipe moves to scoot past blockers, along with a nasty snatch-and-grab, showing his estimable upper-body strength.
As a run defender, Smith can erase blockers with those strong hands (if he gets those hands on you, your rep is done), but I’m a bit more intrigued with his movement skills at his size to displace opponents with short-area quickness. He’s more than just an earthmover.
Weaknesses: Too often, especially in power situations, Smith will be late off the snap, and then, you see just how quickly even a massive athletic freak can lose all of his leverage advantage. Someone with his athletic profile shouldn’t get thrown around like this.
There is an occasional lack of urgency to Smith’s game that will get him wiped out even against single blockers. Obviously, he’ll have to ratchet that up if he wants to make the most of his outstanding tools.
Conclusion: Were you to compile a reel of Smith’s best plays from the 2022 season — and there are enough of them for that to take a while — you might wonder why he isn’t talked about as a potential first-round pick. Then, you see the stuff that needs work, and the bursts of plays in which the required urgency just isn’t there, and then you know. Smith has every attribute to be a plus disruptor and run defender from multiple gaps, which makes him an ideal prototype for today’s NFL. You would just like to see the juice level a bit higher at times.
NFL Comparison: Dontari Poe. Like Smith, Poe was an athletic marvel whose best work showed every bit of that physical prowess, and whose lesser snaps left you wondering what might have been. At his best, when he made the Pro Bowl in 2013 and 2014 for the Chiefs (who took him 11th overall in the 2012 draft based on those traits), Poe put it all together in a fearsome package. But there is a caveat emptor element to Smith’s tape that some NFL teams will likely minimize or ignore, based on what they think they can coach him up to be… and maybe they’re right!
6. Keeanu Benton, Wisconsin
Height: 6′ 3⅝” (62nd percentile) Weight: 309 (62nd)
40-Yard Dash: 5.08 (51st)
10-Yard Split: 1.79 (29th)
Bench Press: 25 reps (34th)
Vertical Jump: 29½” (52nd)
Broad Jump: 111″ (81st)
3-Cone Drill: 7.34 (80th)
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.65 (50th)
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 33⅞” (73rd)
Hand Size: 9¾” (37th)
Bio: A three-star recruit by 247 Sports, ESPN and Rivals, Benton started six games in his freshman season, and recorded his first collegiate sack against Ohio State — which is a nice way to get going. Over four seasons with the Badgers, Benton totaled 10 sacks, 24 quarterback hits, 34 quarterback hurries, 58 tackles, and 57 stops. He had 700 snaps in the A-gaps, 611 in the B-gaps, five over the tackles, and one outside the tackles.
Stat to Know: Benton’s four sacks last season each came from different gaps — the left and right B-gaps, the A-gap, and the left edge.
Strengths: People tend to talk about Benton more as a run defender than as a pass disruptor, but there’s enough tape of him getting to the quarterback from multiple gaps to make me think that his part of his game is undersold. Benton has nice quickness off the snap, and the upper-body strength needed to displace blockers on a regular basis.
Benton’s pure power off the snap allows him to landslide some pretty tough blockers — his reps against Minnesota center John Michael Schmitz (perhaps the best center in this class) showed that.
Weaknesses: Benton will get too high in his stances at times, and as is the case with just about any lineman on either side of the ball, when you do that… well, you tend to lose leverage, and you’ll get bodied all over the court.
Benton has good pursuit speed and determination, which make him a pest even late in the down, but there isn’t a lot of recovery quickness here. If you get him off his spot, he’s going to stay there, at least at this stage of his development.
Conclusion: Benton strikes me as the kind of player who could really bump up his game with a year or two of NFL coaching that would reinforce more advanced techniques with his hands and in his leverage. Right now, he’s a big ball of clay in a lot of ways, but if his coaches at the next level could marry the nuances of the position(s) with his strength and first-step quickness, Benton might turn out to be a top-tier player everywhere from 3-tech to overhead nose tackle.
NFL Comparison: DaQuan Jones. The Titans selected Jones in the fourth round of the 2014 draft out of Penn State, hoping that he’d fill out his power and quickness with more of a knack for avoiding washouts along the line of scrimmage. People tend to expect more of Jones than he’s displayed through his NFL career, but he’s been a consistent provider of pressure and run stops. Not at an elite level for the most part, but good enough to stay in the game. Benton might be aiming for “JAG” status at the next level, but he is capable of more.
7. Jaquelin Roy, LSU
Height: 6′ 2¾” (35th percentile) Weight: 305 (51st)
40-Yard Dash: N/A
10-Yard Split: N/A
Bench Press: 30 reps (71st)
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: 8.01 (11th)
20-Yard Shuttle: 5.00 (4th)
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 32¾” (35th)
Hand Size: 10⅛” (63rd)
Bio: Roy played his prep football at University High School on the LSU campus, so the transition to the Fighting Tigers seemed like an easy one, especially given his four-star status. Over three LSU seasons, Roy totaled five sacks, 14 quarterback hits, 59 quarterback hurries, 67 tackles, and 50 stops. He had 977 snaps in the B-gaps, 354 in the A-gaps, 98 over the tackles, and seven outside the tackles.
Stat to Know: Roy drew five holding penalties in the 2022 season, by far the most for any player on this list.
Strengths: Roy’s ability to deal with double teams really stands out on his tape. Whether he’s side-stepping them or just blasting through, Roy gives opponents no assurances that two guys on him will work. When he can accentuate that with the acumen to seal off Bryce Young’s escape route, as he did on this play against Alabama… that’s the good stuff.
When he’s using a rip or swim move to get into the backfield, Roy’s power and first-step quickness lead to a lot of stops.
Weaknesses: At this point in his process, Roy doesn’t have a lot of counters when blockers get him off his point. If he gets beaten off the snap, he tends to stay there, and you’d like to see him develop more aggressive strategies to get out of those negative situations.
Conclusion: At first glance, Roy might seem like a “low-ceiling/high floor” prospect in that he doesn’t do anything grievously wrong, but the highlight plays aren’t as frequent as you might like. However, with a bit of refinement in his consistency of technique, he could be a plus-level interior disruptor and stopper from nose tackle to outside the guards. I hope that the snaps in which his power and technique align will be the standard in years to come.
NFL Comparison: Jay Ratliff. Selected by the Cowboys in the seventh round of the 2005 draft out of Auburn, Ratliff put together his best seasons as a fast one-gap nose tackle in Wade Phillips’ 5-2 fronts. Roy can play outside to five-tech roles in various fronts, but I like him best as an inside prospect with a team playing a lot of those five-man alignments in which he can eat up single-teams, and work to the ball.
8. Gervon Dexter Sr., Florida
Height: 6′ 5¾” (94th percentile) Weight: 310 (65th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.88 (91st)
10-Yard Split: 1.81 (20th)
Bench Press: 22 reps (15th)
Vertical Jump: 31″ (72nd)
Broad Jump: 110″ (76th)
3-Cone Drill: 7.5 (68th)
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 32¼” (19th)
Hand Size: 9½” (23rd)
Bio: Dexter was a star at Lake Wales Senior High in Lake Wales, Florida, and was invited to play in the 2020 Under Armour All-America Game before his time with the Gators began. He also played varsity basketball in high school, and qualified for the 2019 FHSAA Class 2A State Track & Field Championships in the discus throw. Over three seasons at Florida, Dexter amassed six sacks, 12 quarterback hits, 35 quarterback hurries, 79 tackles, and 61 stops. He had 959 snaps in the B-gaps, 227 over the tackles, 205 in the A-gaps, and 20 outside the tackles.
Stat to Know: 15 of Dexter’s 25 quarterback pressures last season came on plays in which the opposing quarterback had three or more seconds to get rid of the ball. He does not give up on these types of plays.
Strengths: When Dexter is on time and on line from the snap, he brings a pretty ferocious combination of speed and power to just blast through blockers. He can absolutely forklift guys right off their feet when he’s aided by suddenness of movement.
Dexter’s splash plays as a pass-rusher and against the run will have NFL shot-callers mitigating his developmental status. When you can carry the center to the running back for a tackle for loss, as he did against LSU here, people are going to get excited about it.
Weaknesses: Dexter’s most obvious negative issue — a tendency to go slow off the snap — shows up all too often, and it’s a problem. You simply can’t allow opposing blockers to get in their set and on the move before you’ve moved a muscle. If you’re working this late against Jason Kelce or Joel Bitonio, your NFL coaches will start to sub you out.
Dexter also needs a lot of development with his techniques. You just don’t see him working with his hands and upper body enough to displace blockers, allowing him to use that estimable athleticism to get after the ball. And at his height, he must be consistent with his leverage to avoid further washouts.
Conclusion: Boom-and-bust prospects are always frustrating — you have to manage the negative effects of the busts, while considering how highly a player can go if you max out the boom. Gervon Dexter Sr. has moments on tape where he looks like a first-round prospect, but there are too many times when he just disappears for a player of his physical profile. He’s a young player, and there’s a lot of work ahead of him, but teams shouldn’t automatically assume he can’t get to a phase where his gifts are exhibited in the most effective ways possible.
NFL Comparison: Javon Kinlaw. The 49ers selected Kinlaw with the 14th overall pick in the 2020 draft, despite the fact that his tape was inconsistent. One of the reasons for that was Kinlaw’s tendency to work slowly off the snap. This tended to soften the effect of the plays in which he looked like a superhero, as did his relatively rudimentary technique. Dexter’s physical upside is top-tier, and he could be coached into something special at the NFL level. But it won’t be an overnight thing.
