Many options to fill gaps

Quarterbacks and running backs may be the most glamorous players in college football, but when it comes to the NFL Draft, it is defense that most often comes first. So the search for stout men who can tackle those quarterbacks and running backs begins early on Draft Day.

"We're a passing league," Carolina Panthers coach John Fox said recently when asked about the value of defensive linemen. "The best pass defense in the world is the pass rush. Whether it's on the perimeter or up the middle, any way you can create that steady push that disrupts the quarterback is great.

"A lot of people have the misconception that it's got to be sacks, sacks, sacks. It's really not sacks. It's pressure and disrupting the quarterback. It's very critical that you have at least one guy inside to create that penetration up the middle. That's why defensive tackles come off the board pretty fast in the draft. I've seen that trend for about five years."

More than likely, Fox will see it again Saturday when massive young defensive tackles such as Oklahoma's Tommie Harris, Miami's Vince Wilfork, Oregon State's Dwan Edwards, Maryland's Randy Starks, and even Texas's Marcus Tubbs and Florida State's Darnell Dockett all could be first-round picks. Add to that the almost guaranteed first-round selection of defensive ends Kenechi Udeze of Southern Cal and Will Smith of Ohio State, and you could have nearly a third of the first round devoted to the selection of massive and quick tackles and fast and athletic ends.

This year is considered a solid one for defensive tackles who can push the pocket and stuff the run but a somewhat reduced one for edge rushers who are pure ends. There is no standout like a Bruce Smith or even a failed but consensus standout like Kenneth Sims. What remains is a solid group of guys from which no one has pulled far ahead, although Harris will likely be the first to come off the board.

"So many more teams are playing one-gap systems -- eight-man fronts -- that you don't necessarily need as much size as you do speed and quickness in defensive linemen," said former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Jim Mora Jr., who is beginning his first season as the Atlanta Falcons' coach.

At the top of the list is Harris, the Lombardi Award winner as college football's top defensive lineman. At 295 pounds, he is a bit smaller than what you're used to seeing in Foxborough with Ted Washington (or now Keith Traylor) but Smith is a 4-3 tackle who fills a one-gap need for a lot of teams. Regardless of his size, he is a pure football player. "I think he's got great quickness and a very high motor," said Houston Texans general manager Charlie Casserly. "I think he's a disruptive player. I think he's undersized in some people's opinion but I don't think that will affect his draft status because he's a guy like a Warren Sapp that can get on the move and be disruptive coming out of college."

Disruptive players on defense are what every team is looking for, but many teams view this year's draft as filled with more offensive players than defensive ones. Because of that, some defensive linemen surely will be drafted higher and faster than their rating dictates.

"One of the things that happens every year is the defensive players are off the board fast," said Texans coach Dom Capers.

This year, at least a half-dozen linemen very likely will be among them.