Many of the top tackles in the '11 draft come with character concerns.

Last year the Tampa Bay Buccaneers doubled down on defensive tackles, selecting Gerald McCoy 3rd overall and Brian Price in the second round. Between those two and Roy Miller, the Bucs are fairly set in the middle of their defensive line, the onus now falls on pass-rushers to come off the edge while what looks to be a very good interior D-Line handles its own business.

This year’s draft still comes with some solid men in the middle, particularly Auburn’s Nick Fairley and Alabama’s Marcell Dareus. If character concerns weren’t an issue, this would be one of the deepest drafts in recent memory at defensive tackle, unfortunately the best prospects in this year’s class all come with considerable red flags with regard to personal character, teams should draft at their own risk…

Here are the top Defensive Tackles in the 2011 NFL Draft:

1.) Nick Fairley, Auburn - Nick Fairley is a classic example of how the 24-7 news cycle can hurt a kid. If you go off of merit there isn’t a better option at D-Tackle in the whole draft. Fairley was the dominant defensive players on the best team in the hardest conference in football last season. He has the quickness and agility to be a very talented interior pass-rusher and he has the strength and instincts to be a detriment to any opposing team’s run-game. But when you give the media three months to dissect a kid you get asinine statements like, “he’s more country strong than weight-room defined.” Put it this way, the only legitimate question mark about Fairley is his work ethic. But considering he worked his way through junior college to reach his goal of one day playing for Auburn, I don’t think there’s a lack of drive there.

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