Scouting Combine Defensive Line: Eye of the Tigers
Part 1 of our three-part series on the 25 defensive linemen includes one of the top prospects in the draft, Auburn’s Derrick Brown and two talented twins. (Underclassmen are noted with an asterisk.)
McTelvin Agim, Arkansas (6-3, 300): Agim put up steady production in four seasons, finishing with career totals of 14.5 sacks, 31 tackles for losses and six forced fumbles. After recording career highs of 4.5 sacks, 10 TFLs and three forced fumbles as a junior, Agim posted five sacks and 8.5 TFLs as a senior.
Agim embraced a schematic change headed into his senior year. “One of the messages I’ve shared with him back in January was ‘Don’t come back if you aren’t fully bought in on moving inside,’” coach Chad Morris said. “And he understood that. He was great. He met with his family and said, ‘Coach, I’m ready,’ and it paid off. I think he had an incredible spring.” A five-star recruit, Agim was a two-time state champion in the discus and won the district title in the 100 meters at Hope High School in Texarkana. When he was 14, he was arrested for trying to steal a car and running from police. The incident earned him a weekend in jail. “I really believe it’s one of the best things to ever happened to me,” Agim told The Associated Press. “I thank God that it happened to me then when I could change my life instead of later when it was too late.” Before that, after the death of the grandmother who helped raise him, he stole food from a Dollar General. "I feel bad about it, but it was either steal or starve," Agim said. Agim’s success caught his family by surprise. “One time someone asked me, ‘When Mack was younger, did you know he’d be a great football player?’ ” older sister Dominecia told SEC Country. “I said, ‘Not even a little bit.’ He was bad. Every older sister’s nightmare. He was always around me. When he would lose at a game, he would throw temper tantrums.”
Ross Blacklock, TCU* (6-4, 305): Blacklock was a first-team all-Big 12 and an honorable mention for Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year during his final season. He tied for the team lead with 3.5 sacks while tying for second with nine tackles for losses. He redshirted in 2016, started every game in 2017 and missed all of 2018 with a torn Achilles.
There are a lot of football players in every draft class who had dreams of being basketball stars. Same for Blacklock. His father, Jimmy Blacklock, was a former point guard for the Harlem Globetrotters and is in his fifth season as the full-time coach. He played in more than 2,500 games in 62 countries. “I never really pushed him into any sport, as much as I wanted him to play basketball,” Jimmy Blacklock told USA Today. “At one point, he told me, ‘Dad, I don’t like basketball. It’s too slow.’ When he told me that, I didn’t know where my head was, that basketball was too slow. He just gravitated to football. Football was his calling and he felt more comfortable.” Ross Blacklock can do all the tricks and can dunk, but eating “all the filet mignon,” as his dad put it, had him, well, beef up. “In the eighth grade, he was 190 pounds and a running back,” his dad told the Fort Worth Star-Telgram. “Ninth grade he pushes 200 pounds and played linebacker and then he got up to 220-230 and they put him at tight end. He just started to grow and, before you know it, he’s a defensive tackle. But he’s always had great speed and feet and hands. Those are the most instrumental tools you have as an athlete.”
Derrick Brown, Auburn (6-5, 318): Brown dominated on and off the field as the Tigers. On the field, he was a unanimous All-American and SEC Defensive Player of the Year with four sacks, 12.5 tackles for losses and two forced fumbles. He had 3.5 TFLs in the big rivalry game vs. Alabama. In his final three seasons, he tallied 11.5 sacks and 31.5 TFLs.
Off the field, he won the prestigious Senior CLASS Award, which honors excellence in the community, classroom, character and competition. Brown graduated in December with a degree in business. “If I hadn't, I would have had to come back over the next three springs to finish school,” Brown told the Gwinett Daily Post. “I was able to knock out the 27 hours I had left and finish my minor as well. That was big for me.” His off-the-field resume is extensive. He went from vice president last year to president this year of Auburn’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was Auburn’s representative on the SEC Community Service Team for his work with organizations including Toys for Tots, the Beat Bama food drive and Halloween Trunk or Treat. “The thing that’s so unique about Derrick is he has the ability to make others feel valued,” defensive line coach Rodney Garner told the Montgomery Advertiser. “I’m not talking about the superstars or the starters. It’s just like when you go in the dining hall, he’s sitting over there with the walk-ons. Guy that you never would think, those are his best friends. He just has a way of just meandering his way through and touching people in a positive way.”
He took a mission trip to the Dominican Republic with coach Gus Malzahn and some teammates. “It's something I've done growing up,” Brown said on the school athletics site. “My parents always kept me involved in a lot of things that gave me the opportunity to do things like that.” Staying in school for another year was a good message that he can eventually pass along to his son, Kai, who was born in December 2019. “I want to set a standard for him by getting my degree. I am going to play in the NFL so I can provide a better future for my son.” And it gave him a chance to play with his younger brother, Kameron Brown.
Josiah Coatney, Mississippi (6-4, 325): In three seasons, Coatney recorded 6.5 sacks, 15.5 tackles for losses and two forced fumbles. He had career highs in tackles (65), sacks (3.5) and TFLs (eight) in 2017. As a senior, he netted two sacks and 3.5 TFLs among 46 tackles. He spent 2015 in junior college and redshirted in 2016.
“It’s a blessing,” Coatney told the Atlanta Journal Constitution at the Senior Bowl. “It’s been a long journey. It’s one where I’ve definitely had to endure definitely. I just have to thank God for all of the opportunities that he gave me. Going to Ole Miss. Going to junior college has allowed me the chance to play football at a high level.”
Darrion Daniels, Nebraska (6-4, 340): A graduate transfer, Daniels spent his final season at Nebraska after opening his career at Oklahoma State. In his one season in Lincoln, Daniels recorded 1.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for losses among his career-high 34 tackles. At Oklahoma State, he posted two sacks and 9.5 TFLs.
His brother, Damion, is a sophomore defensive lineman at Nebraska. Their father, Tony, was an All-American defensive lineman at Texas Tech. “I would say 98 percent of what I know is because of him,” Daniels told Lubbock Online. A torn tendon in a finger caused Daniels to miss most of what wound up being his final season at Oklahoma State. Here’s how his transfer went down, in this conversation from Hail Varsity: “So, you gotta redshirt?” Damion asked him. “Well, yeah, I gotta take a redshirt,” Darrion answered back. “Dang, that means you have another year of eligibility, right?” Damion asked. “Yeah, I should be back next year.” “Then come play with me.” Initially, football wasn’t his sport. "Growing up, I was going to be a soccer star," he told the Journal Star. "I love soccer. We both started out in soccer. My brother wanted to do the transition to football, but I really wanted to stay in the soccer lane. I remember my first (football) practice; I was really just getting destroyed. I wasn't as physical. I was a big teddy bear at the time. My pops got mad at me, took my pads off and put them on my brother." At the time, Darrion was 7 and Damion was 5. Damion showed the tenacity his brother was lacking. “I can't let my little brother outdo me in anything,” Darrion told Huskers.com, “so I took the pads back and put them back on, and just found out I was pretty decent.”
Marlon Davidson, Auburn (6-3, 278): Davidson played a mean second fiddle to all-everything Derrick Brown. He was a second-team All-American and first-team all-SEC as a senior captain with seven sacks and 12.5 tackles for losses among his 48 stops. He started 51 games in his career and piled up 17 sacks and 29.5 TFLs.
Davidson is driven by his mother. When he was in seventh grade, he made a series of promises to his mom, including that he’d be such a success that she’d never have to work. However, in February 2015, she died unexpectedly. Davidson was only 17, and it turned his life upside down. She was only 47; Davidson wore No. 47 as a high school senior. “I grew up right under her,” Davidson told Dawg Nation. “Some guys my age can’t stand to be around their parents. Not me. I’d like nothing better than to be riding around in the car with her. I wish I could do that now, but she’s gone.” Davidson would have made his mom proud. “Marlon Davidson is one of the best football players, just all around, that I’ve had the chance to coach since I’ve been coaching college,” Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said at the Senior Bowl. “He had a big-time year not just rushing the passer, but playing the run. He’s like a coach on the field. A chance to get out here and compete against these guys, just watching him today, he looks really good and really natural. I’m very excited about his future.” A brother, Ken Carter, was a defensive lineman for Auburn from 2010 through 2013 and is a member of the football team’s support staff.
Carlos Davis, Nebraska (6-2, 320): Davis put up solid production all four seasons, with career marks of 9.5 sacks and 16 tackles for losses. All eight passes defensed came during his final two seasons. As a senior, he had a career-high four sacks.
Both were top-25 defensive tackles in their recruiting class. “I don’t think they knew about Khalil at first because I played varsity football before him,” Carlos told the Daily Nebraskan. “Our junior year they realized we were twins and it became a package deal.” Davis was an eight-time letterwinner at Nebraska, with four each in football and track. He and his twin brother Khalil, who also will be at the Combine, were the first Huskers in more than 50 years to be eight-time letterwinners and just the ninth and 10th eight-time letterwinners in school history. He qualified for nationals in the discus in 2018 and 2019, earning All-American honors as a senior. While Khalil earned his degree in May, Carlos finished a class short. That didn’t make his mom happy. “Even when we didn’t want to do homework at 8 o’clock at night, she was calling,” Carlos told Omaha.com. “‘You’d better get that homework done!’ When she says something, you’d better listen.” With Carlos and Khalil Davis and Darrion and Damion Daniels, the Huskers had a D-line of siblings. “No matter how hot I get at them, I know if I mess with one of them I’m going to get the heat from all of them,” linebacker Mohamed Barry told the Independent.
Khalil Davis, Nebraska (6-2, 315): Davis had five sacks and 13 tackles for losses during his first three seasons. As a senior, he had eight sacks and 11 tackles for losses among a career-high 44 tackles despite being suspended for one game. He outdid his brother by earning third-team all-Big Ten as a senior and was Nebraska’s defensive lineman of the year each of his last two seasons.
As is the case with twin brother Carlos Davis, he was an eight-time letterwinner – four apiece in football and track. As a senior, he qualified for nationals in the discus. He is 5 minutes younger than his brother. Having a lineman as a son means hefty grocery bills. Imagine having two. So, the parents secretly bought their own fridge to stash some food for themselves. "Then we had to start a key lock on our bedroom door, because the boys would come in our room, look in our refrigerator, to see what was in our refrigerator, and eat it,” Tracy Davis told the schools athletics site. "I would have to get a whole family pack of chicken thighs. The boys would count the chicken thighs to make sure it was an even number." They started together for the first time as seniors. “It wasn’t, ‘let’s try to be starters,’ it was more do what you got to do to get on the field and make an impact,” Khalil told Rivals. “That’s something we always try to put in our heads. If you work your butt off, good things are going to happen.”
Introducing the 25 Defensive Linemen
Part 1: Auburn duo and dynamic twins
Part 3: Baylor's defensive lynchpin
Introducing the 20 Tight Ends
Part 1: Kmet, Moss and the Bryants
Part 2: Small-school stars Trautman and Taumoepeau, and five SEC standouts
Introducing the 25 Offensive Tackles
Part 1: Becton, D-III stud Bartch and Charles
Part 2: Jones and plenty of NFL DNA
Part 3: The Big Three of Thomas, Wills and Wirfs
Introducing the 17 Guards
Part 1: Bredeson, Hunt, Jackson and Lewis
Part 2: Stenberg, Simpson and Throckmorton
Introducing the 10 Centers
Big Ten’s Biadasz, Ruiz Lead Way
Introducing the 55 Receivers
Part 1: Aiyuk, Bowden did it all
Part 2: Duvernay, Edwards and Gandy-Golden
Part 3: LSU's Jefferson among TD machines
Part 4: Lamb, Jeudy top receiver class
Part 6: Ruggs, Shenault produce big plays
Introducing the 30 Running Backs
Part 1: Cam Akers, Eno Benjamin and J.K. Dobbins
Part 2: Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Zack Moss
Part 3: D’Andre Swift and Jonathan Taylor
