2013 Football Recruiting Rankings: Defensive Line

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National Signing Day 2013 is right around the corner and Athlon Sports is releasing its position-by-position rankings for the Class of 2013 based on the Athlon Consensus 100. Who is left on the board? Who has the best class at one position? Who had positional needs to fill? And, obviously, who are the stars of tomorrow fans can look forward to at every position?

The defensive line is the new high profile football position. More nationally ranked prospects are left uncommitted along the defensive line than any other position on the field and the recruiting sagas are something out of a daytime TV script. Three of the top four and four of the top 10 are still on the board including the nation's No. 1 player Robert Nkemdiche. The former Clemson Tigers verbal is now apparently set to pick between Ole Miss and LSU.

Speaking of LSU, should the Tigers land Nkemdiche, Les Miles' defensive line class would have to be considered one of the best in history. The Bayou Bengals already have three AC100 commitments in Frank Herron (No. 70), Greg Gilmore (No. 73) and Kendell Beckwith (No. 77) as well as two other nationally ranked prospects in Christian Lecouture and Maquedius Bain. It is easily the best D-line haul in the nation.

Many point to the SEC's defensive lines as the key reason why the conference is dominating college football. The SEC is poised to land three of the five uncommitted AC100 defensive lineman. If that happens, the seven-time BCS champions would claim 13 of the top 19 defensive lineman in the nation. Currently, seven different SEC schools have an AC100 D-Lineman committed with Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, LSU and Ole Miss still competing for Nkemdiche, Dee Liner and Montravius Adams.

Out West, USC has three commitments at the key position including a top-ten talent in Kenny Bigelow. If Eddie Vanderdoes re-commits to the Trojans, it would give Lane Kiffin two of the top three prospects in the nation and four total nationally ranked tackles or ends. This group would be second only to LSU nationally if Vanderdoes picks USC.

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Tosh Lupoi's influence is also being felt on the West Coast as the star defensive line coach and ace recruiter has Washington poised to sign a pair of top prospects in Elijah Qualls and Daeshon Hall — both of whom rank in the top 150 nationally. Otherwise, the rest of the Pac-12, and most of the Big 12 for that matter, is noticeably absent from the defensive line rankings.

2013 Positional Rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE | OL | DL | LB | DB | ATH


	Name	AC100	Hometown	Ht	Wt	Verbal
1.	Robert Nkemdiche	No. 1	Loganville, GA	6-4	285	--
2.	Eddie Vanderdoes	No. 6	Auburn, CA	6-3	300	--
3.	Kenny Bigelow	No. 9	Elkton, MD	6-3	300	USC
4.	Montravius Adams	No. 10	Vienna, GA	6-4	310	--
5.	Chris Jones	No. 18	Houston, MS	6-5	250	Mississippi St
6.	Carl Lawson	No. 21	Alpharetta, GA	6-3	250	Auburn
7.	A'Shawn Robinson	No. 34	Ft. Worth, TX	6-5	300	Texas
8.	Demarcus Walker	No. 36	Jacksonville, FL	6-3	275	Florida St
9.	Joey Bosa	No. 37	Ft. Lauderdale, FL	6-5	270	Ohio St
10.	Dee Liner	No. 47	Muscle Shoals, AL	6-3	275	--
11.	Alquadin Muhammad	No. 48	Ramsey, NJ	6-4	230	Miami
12.	Elijah Daniel	No. 51	Avon, IN	6-4	250	Ole Miss
13.	Frank Herron	No. 70	Memphis, TN	6-5	260	LSU
14.	Greg Gilmore	No. 73	Hope Mills, NC	6-4	275	LSU
15.	Justin Manning	No. 75	Dallas, TX	6-3	275	Texas A&M
16.	Kendell Beckwith	No. 77	Jackson, LA	6-3	230	LSU
17.	Tim Williams	No. 83	Baton Rouge, LA	6-3	230	Alabama
18.	Kelsey Griffin	No. 90	Hoschton, GA	6-2	285	South Carolina
19.	Isaiah Golden	No. 94	Carthage, TX	6-2	295	Texas A&M
20.	Kylie Fitts	No. 103	Redlands, CA	6-4	245	--
21.	Elijah Qualls	No. 109	Petaluma, CA	6-1	280	Washington
22.	Wyatt Teller	No. 116	Bealeton, VA	6-4	265	Virginia Tech
23.	Caleb Brantley	No. 118	Crescent City, FL	6-3	310	Florida
24.	Henry Poggi	No. 122	Baltimore, MD	6-4	260	Michigan
25.	Darius Page	No. 129	Foley, AL	6-3	295	Alabama
26.	Daeshon Hall	No. 136	Lancaster, TX	6-6	240	Washington
27.	Taco Charlton	No. 142	Pickerington, OH	6-5	250	Michigan
28.	Greg Webb	No. 156	Erial, NJ	6-2	290	North Carolina
29.	Isaac Rochell	No. 158	McDonough, GA	6-5	260	Notre Dame
30.	D.J. Ward	No. 164	Moore, OK	6-3	245	Oklahoma
31.	Andrew Billings	No. 171	Waco, TX	6-1	305	--
32.	Garrett Sickels	No. 176	Little Silver, NJ	6-4	245	Penn St
33.	Jason Hatcher	No. 177	Louisville, KY	6-2	240	USC
34.	Jason Carr	No. 192	Memphis, TN	6-6	280	Tennessee
35.	Dajuan Drennon	No. 196	Sicklerville, NJ	6-3	230	North Carolina
36.	Torrodney Prevot	No. 202	Houston, TX	6-3	210	USC
37.	Ebenezer Ogundeko	No. 204	Brooklyn, NY	6-3	230	Clemson
38.	Christian Lecouture	No. 206	Lincoln, NE	6-5	270	LSU
39.	Maquedius Bain	No. 209	Ft. Lauderdale, FL	6-3	310	LSU
40.	Tashawn Bower	No. 212	Somerville, NJ	6-5	240	Auburn
41.	Takkarist McKinley	No. 213	Fremont, CA	6-3	240	Cal
42.	Keith Bryant	No. 216	Delray Beach, FL	6-2	305	--
43.	Maurice Hurst Jr.	No. 222	Westwood, MA	6-2	305	Michigan
44.	Michael Hill	No. 227	Pendleton, SC	6-3	315	Ohio St
45.	Joe Mathis	No. 234	Upland, CA	6-4	255	Washington