Who’s the NFL’s Best Defensive Tackle? Our Top 15 for 2026

The Rule the Jungle Top 15 series is moving to the defensive side of the football! Anthony and Will kick things off in the trenches by revealing their individual rankings of the Top 15 defensive tackles in the NFL entering the 2026 season. Where do stars like Jeffery Simmons, Chris Jones, Jalen Carter, Vita Vea, Derrick Brown and others land? Which veterans are beginning to slide? Which younger defensive tackles are ready to climb the rankings? And which players were the toughest to leave outside the Top 15? Of course, there’s also plenty of discussion surrounding Bengals defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. After Cincinnati’s blockbuster move to add one of football’s most dominant interior defenders, where does Sexy Dexy rank among the NFL’s elite? Anthony and Will compare their lists, explain their biggest disagreements, discuss their honorable mentions and ultimately reveal their choices for the No. 1 defensive tackle in football entering 2026. Do you agree with the rankings? Who did we rank too high, too low or leave off completely? It’s time to give the big men in the middle some love on the Rule the Jungle Podcast.