5 Defensive Line Prospects Giants Fans Should Watch in the Upcoming College Season

The New York Giants traded away star nose tackle Dexter Lawrence just before the 2026 NFL Draft for the tenth overall pick, creating a huge hole on the defensive line that they filled with 32-year-old DJ Reader and 34-year-old Shelby Harris.

Although the Giants have Darius Alexander on the roster, his challenge will be to keep building on the strong finish to an otherwise underwhelming rookie season in 2025.

They also added Bobby Jamison-Travis in the sixth round of the draft as a potential nose tackle, but this positional unit is going to need a lot more down the line in terms of younger talent.

That’s where the annual NFL Draft comes in. Although the upcoming college campaign has yet to begin, here are five defensive line prospects that Giants fans might want to keep an eye on.

David Stone Anchored an Oklahoma Defense That Allowed 15.5 Points Per Game

David Stone is a personal favorite, not just in the 2027 Draft, but in all of college football. Still just a true junior, Stone is listed at 6-foot-3 and 315 pounds, and was the centerpiece of an elite Oklahoma Sooners defense that allowed just 15.5 points per game in 2025.

While he wasn’t the big name on the defensive front–that was second-round pick R Mason Thomas on the edge–Stone was the defender that opposing teams needed to gameplan around every week.

Stone registered 26 pressures and 27 stops for a gain of three or less while playing all along the defensive line for the Sooners, but mostly as a nose tackle.

It’s no surprise that Stone is likely to be the first defensive tackle off the board in 2027, given his youth and ceiling, paired with proven production.

Oregon’s A'Mauri Washington Squatted 755 Pounds and Racked Up 22 QBPs

A’Mauri Washington is the most likely challenger for Stone as the first defensive tackle off the board in April 2027, and he’s maybe the most athletic defensive lineman in the entire class, coming in fourth on Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List prior to the 2025 season.

“To be that massive and clock 20.89 mph and vertical jump 36 inches is mind-blowing. Washington squatted 755 pounds, bench pressed 475, and power cleaned 385,” Feldman noted.

Washington has steadily improved over his three years at Oregon, and the 6-foot-3, 330-pound defensive tackle is coming off his best year of production so far.

In 2025, Washington registered 22 pressures and 24 stops while seeing significant volume, and in the most important games, playing almost the entire game, which is very rare for a defensive lineman.

Ahmad Moten Doubled His Career Pressures in a Breakout 2025

Jan 19, 2026; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Ahmad Moten Sr. (99) against the Indiana Hoosiers during the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Hard Rock Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Miami’s Ahmad Moten is entering year five with the program, which is an accomplishment on its own in modern college football.

The 2025 season was Moten‘s best year, and 2026 should be the best indicator of just how talented he actually is, since he will no longer be playing on the interior of two first-round edge defenders in Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor.

Production for Moten in 2025 was more than double the rest of his career combined, as a result of not just the talent surrounding him, but a scheme that allowed defensive linemen to be more aggressive than he’s ever seen in his career.

It resulted in him registering 27 pressures and 19 stops, while also posting a career-low missed-tackle rate.

At this point, the expectation is that Moten will be a Day 2 pick in the 2027 NFL draft, so it would require an investment, but not the value of a first-round pick unless his stock rises in the coming season.

Will Echoles Posted 39 Pressures as Ole Miss's Lone True 3-Tech

Another player who benefited from playing on a talented defensive front is Ole Miss defensive lineman Will Echoles.

Echoles is a more physically gifted defensive lineman than Moten, so the argument could be made that the edge rushers actually benefited from having Echoles on the interior more than he benefited from having them on the edge.

The top five defensive linemen on Ole Miss in 2025, four of those players return in 2026, so Echoles will still have talent playing alongside him on that defensive front.

Echoles is the only true 3-technique on this list so far and has the 2025 pass rush production to back it up with 39 pressures and 35 stops while also playing a significant portion of the defensive snaps for the entire season.

AJ Holmes Jr. Played Alongside Three 2026 NFL Draft Picks at Texas Tech

Texas Tech Red Raiders defensive lineman AJ Holmes Jr. — Oct 11, 2025; Lubbock, Texas, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders defensive lineman AJ Holmes JR. (33) reacts after a sack against the Kansas Jayhawks in the second half at Jones AT&T Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The last player on this list joined a team of super freaks on the 2025 Texas Tech defensive line, as A.J. Holmes Jr played alongside multiple 2026 NFL draft picks.

David Bailey was the second overall pick by the New York Jets in 2026, Lee Hunter was a second-round pick by the Carolina Panthers, and Romello Height was a third-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers.

The Texas Tech defensive front in 2026 will still be very strong, but Holmes will need to do more of the heavy lifting than he did in 2025 on a Shiel Woods defense that will let him attack aggressively.

Holmes may be the most physically talented defensive lineman of this bunch, but he also has the most questions as to how much he can actually be the guy on a defensive front. Those questions will be answered once he steps onto the field this fall.

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news, and send your mailbag questions to us.

Add us as a preferred source on Google