Judge Farrell: DT 2011 - 2013

With the class of 2016 rankings locked and loaded, defensive tackles Rashan Gary and Dexter Lawrence finish as the top two in the country overall and, of course, at their positions. Sounds like the perfect time for Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell to put on his judge’s robe and take a look at the top two defensive tackles each year since our inception.

Today Judge Farrell looks at 2011-13, led by former Florida State standouts Mario Edwards and Eddie Goldman.

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The skinny: Johnson committed to LSU more than year before National Signing Day and stayed firm with his word. With the Tigers, Johnson had a big freshman season, which earned him several national All-Freshman team honors. Then after a junior season that saw him finish with 35 tackles, nine tackles for a loss and three sacks, he decided to forego his final season and enter the NFL Draft. Despite showing potential at LSU, Johnson went undrafted and signed a free agent deal with Miami. After being released by the Dolphins, Johnson was signed by Washington during the 2015 season and signed a reserve/future contract with the Redskins on Jan. 11.

Farrell’s take: Johnson looked like he was 28-years-old in high school and often played like it as a light-footed 300-pounder who could rush the passer. Johnson decided to come out early after a solid but not dominant career at LSU and has been scrambling to start an NFL career. He seemed to peak as a freshman in college and then his development stalled, which is surprising as we felt he could be a star coming out of one of the best state of Louisiana classes ever.

The skinny: Jernigan let his recruiting process play out, taking official visits to Michigan, LSU, Tennessee and Florida State before he committed to the Seminoles on National Signing Day. Jernigan had three very productive seasons in Tallahassee, finishing off in 2013 with 63 tackles, 11.5 tackles for a loss and 4.5 sacks, which earned him second-team All-American honors. Selected in the second round by Baltimore in the 2014 NFL Draft, Jernigan has started nine games and totaled 60 tackles and eight sacks in his two seasons.

Farrell’s take: Jernigan lived up to the hype in my opinion despite being one of the last five-stars in his class. He didn’t have great size for a defensive tackle, but he made up for it with his uncanny quickness and athletic ability which led to a solid college career. Now that he's competing at the NFL level, he’s starting to his stride and could very well end up as one of the best pass-rushing defensive tackles in the league.

Judge Farrell’s verdict: Johnson started his college career better, but Jernigan was better overall in college and beyond.

The skinny: Edwards was committed to Florida State for almost a year prior to National Signing Day. However, he ended up taking official visits to Texas, Oklahoma and LSU before fully confirming to the Seminoles. At Florida State, Edwards developed into a valuable defensive playmaker for the Seminoles. After his most successful on-field season at Florida State in 2014, Edwards declared for the 2015 NFL Draft, where he was selected 35th overall in the second round by the Oakland Raiders. As a rookie, Edwards became a starter in the fifth game of the season and finished with a promising 42 tackles, two sacks and three forced fumbles.

Farrell’s take: Edwards didn’t quite live up to expectations as the No. 3 player in the country (No. 1 elsewhere), but being a high second-round pick after finishing his college career on a strong note isn’t shabby at all. He was a defensive tackle playing mostly end in high school, which led to some of the fascination with him and his athleticism. There’s no doubt he’s an athletic talent, but we always saw him moving inside and now he’s doing his thing in the NFL. He’s right up there with some of the more athletic big defensive linemen I’ve scouted.

The skinny: Goldman took official visits to Florida State, Alabama, Auburn and Miami, which helped the Seminoles and Crimson Tide pull away from the pack. He committed to Florida State on National Signing Day. In Tallahassee, after seeing playing time in 10 games as a true freshman, Goldman enjoyed big sophomore and junior seasons. As a junior, Goldman was named third-team All-American and first-team All-ACC after totaling 35 tackles, eight tackles for a loss and four sacks. Foregoing his senior season, Goldman was selected in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears, where he started a dozen games as a rookie and finished with 22 tackles and 4.5 sacks.

Farrell’s take: Goldman is up there with a few others as one of the more athletic defensive tackles I’ve seen (Richardson, Austin, Bright, etc.) because he could do some amazing things for a 310-pounder. He collapsed the pocket, he shot the gap, he could play some end and he even had good ball skills as I saw him return an interception for a score in one game I scouted. His career was excellent and he just missed first round status, so he’s lived up to our expectations.

Judge Farrell’s verdict: Two more former college teammates going head-to-head. I give Goldman the very close nod here.

The skinny: Bigelow had always held USC in high regard, so it did not really come as a surprise when he committed to the Trojans in late November 2011. Bigelow signed with the Trojans and enrolled for the spring semester in 2013. The road has been tough for Bigelow up to this point in Los Angeles. After redshirting in 2013, he tore knee ligaments during the summer leading up to preseason camp in 2014 and missed the entire season. Currently healthy, Bigelow is set to work himself into the defensive tackle rotation at USC this fall.

Farrell’s take: Bigelow was built out of granite with no bad weight, plenty of power and the ability to get around the edge or beat you on a crossover move. He was an advanced technician as a defensive tackle thanks to excellent coaching in high school and could play end as well because of his first step. His career hasn’t gone as expected yet, but he still has a very high ceiling.

The skinny: Vanderdoes had a fairly entertaining recruiting process. After taking official visits to Notre Dame, UCLA, USC and Alabama, Vanderdoes signed with the Fighting Irish, but never actually made it to campus. Citing personal reasons, he decided to play closer to home and ended up flipping his commitment to UCLA a few months after National Signing Day. With the Bruins, Vanderdoes has had two promising seasons, but a torn ACL in 2015 cut his junior season down to one game. With the departure of Kenny Clark to the NFL, he is in line for a big season in 2016.

Farrell’s Take: It took me awhile to be sold on Vanderdoes but he finally won me over late in the process as he slimmed down a bit, showed more quickness and still dominated the middle against the run. The second player on our overall list to flip from Notre Dame to someone else, Vanderdoes did so after signing, which was somewhat historic. His career thus far has been good but the injury this year set him back a bit.

Judge Farrell’s verdict: Vanderdoes has been easily the more effective of the two so far.