Clemson ranked in Top 15 of Steele's top defensive lines

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ESPN released Phil Steele's ranking of the nation's top 15 defensive lines in college football on Monday and Clemson was ranked #11 in the nation.

"Clemson lost a lot of starts off the D-line in 2015 but replaced them well," Steele said. "This year, the Tigers lose first-, second- and fifth-round draft choices to the NFL (25 of the defensive line's 34 sacks). DT Carlos Watkins will be a high NFL draft choice, and they have 12 highly touted recruits in the unit, including true frosh Dexter Lawrence."

Lawrence was the #1 player in the state of North Carolina, the highest rated North Carolina prospect since 2012 (D.J. Humphries) and one of the top defensive lineman recruits in the entire country for the 2016 cycle.

He finished his senior season in high school with 91 tackles, 13 sacks and 21 tackles for loss. His team was undefeated and was ranked #1 in the state before losing in the second round of the playoffs.

The full top 40 rankings of the top defensive lines in the country in order were Alabama, Utah, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, LSU, Florida State, Missouri, Michigan, Clemson, Ole Miss, North Carolina State, UCLA, Ohio State, TCU, Michigan State, Stanford, Oklahoma, Miami, Auburn, Rutgers, Notre Dame, Arizona State, Texas, SDSU, Washington, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, Iowa, Akron, Mississippi State, Oregon, Arkansas State, Boston College, Houston, Kansas State, Northwestern, and Memphis.

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