Former Oklahoma defensive tackle Gracen Halton told Sports Illustrated’s Justin Mello that he had a virtual 2026 NFL draft meeting with the Las Vegas Raiders, and it’s easy to see why the Raiders are interested in him. Las Vegas’ defense is switching to a 3-4 base scheme and could use some interior pass-rush help, while Halton is a great fit as a 4i-technique in that system and is coming off an impressive season as a rusher on the inside.
The San Diego native only had 3.5 sacks, but he ranked second among SEC interior defensive linemen with 30 pressures on the campaign, per Pro Football Focus. Will Echoles was the only player to beat him out, and Echoles played in two more games and recorded over 150 more pass-rush snaps, but only had nine more pressures. Additionally, Halton was just as productive in 2024, recording five sacks and 29 pressures (tied for fifth among SEC DTs).
So, let’s flip on the tape and see what the former Sooner could bring to the Silver and Black.
Halton’s best pass-rush move is an arm-over or swim move, and the rep above is a good example of why he’s so effective with it.
Lined up as a 0-technique nose tackle, he’s head up on the center and will be one-on-one with both defensive ends pinching into the B-gap post snap to capture both guards’ attention. That sets up for a great opportunity to get a clean win, which the former Sooner takes advantage of.
He’s quick to get his hands up and does a great job of knocking the center’s hands down to begin his move. That prevents the offensive lineman from getting hands on him and puts the lineman in a vulnerable position. With the pre-snap alignment, Halton already has a two-way go, so he just needs to pick an edge to win around.
His lateral movement skills help him get into the right (from the defense’s perspective) A-gap, and he manages to get to the center’s back shoulder to keep the center off-balance and in that awkward position. As a result, the pass-rusher gets a clean win to flush the quarterback out of the pocket.
The rip move is another solid weapon in the Oklahoma product’s pass-rush arsenal that can help him be a productive interior rusher in the NFL.
Here, the Sooners are running a twist where the nose tackle works into the strongside A-gap while the SAM linebacker blitzes and attacks the other side of the center. Meanwhile, South Carolina dials up a play-action pass where the offensive line steps to the right, so the left guard closes the strongside A-gap.
However, Halton adjusts to what he sees, recognizing that the guard oversets to the inside. Especially with the 4i-technique defensive end working wide and the left tackle staying attached to the end, there’s an open lane in the B-gap. So, Halton continues working laterally and uses a rip move to run right through the guard’s outside arm and get pressure, flushing the quarterback out of the pocket again.
Now, he can be better at staying under control and breaking down in the backfield to finish with a sack, leaving some room for improvement. But the defense still gets what it wants here, with the quarterback running for his life and stepping out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage.
Another way that the 2025 second-team All-SEC defensive lineman can be used as a pass-rusher is as the penetrator in line games.
Oklahoma is running a twist where the nose tackle and standup linebacker slant toward the tight end while one of the off-ball linebackers wraps around on the weakside. Halton, lined up as the nose, attacks the left guard’s inside shoulder and manages to get a quick win by working a hump move off the bull rush.
Notice how when he engages with the guard, his helmet is slightly to the inside instead of being square on the guard. That allows him to take on “half the man” to create a soft inside shoulder, rather than trying to barrel through the lineman’s chest.
As a result, the guard is off balance, and the defensive tackle takes advantage by getting his inside hand on the guard’s shoulder, showing off some impressive upper-body strength to widen the lane in the A-gap and force the quarterback to check the ball down.
We’ll see another three-man line game on this rep; only the two other defenders involved are both linebackers.
Halton does a good job of attacking the guard’s inside shoulder again, but this time, he takes a more vertical path, which captures the center’s attention. That helps give No. 11 an open pass-rush lane in the other A-gap to beat the center and get pressure up the middle.
Meanwhile, Halton gets his hands up and provides another example of his impressive upper-body strength, beating the guard at the point of attack by engaging with a bull rush and working an arm-over move off it. Then, the running back comes to help, but that’s a massive mismatch as the defensive lineman tosses the back aside en route to getting a sack when the quarterback is flushed out of the pocket by the blitzing linebacker.
This is a rare case when the penetrator in the line game sets up his teammate while also being in a position to get the glory. That’s what happens when one pass-rusher forces three blockers to account for him and beats two of them while the other has to play catch-up against another defender.
Against the run, Halton is more of a finesse player, and there’s reason to question how well that will translate to the next level. However, it’s hard to argue with how effective he was last season, ranking fourth among FBS defensive tackles with an 86.9 run defense grade from PFF.
This rep is a great example, as the Sooners dial up a run stunt where the 3-technique defensive tackle slants into the A-gap while the nose tackle loops around and into the B-gap. Halton, lined up at nose, helps disguise the action by initially attacking the center. That allows the defensive tackle to catch the left guard by surprise, since the guard is looking to combo block the nose tackle on the offense’s split zone call.
Notice how when Halton engages with the center, he’s quick to get his hands up. That prevents the center from getting into his body and helps him escape that block as the looper. Then, the defender does almost the same thing against the left tackle, using his hands to defeat the block. So when the running back has to cut backside, Halton is in a perfect position to make a tackle for a short gain.
We saw an example of the Oklahoma product winning with an arm-over move as a pass-rusher, and he also uses it to defeat blocks as a run defender.
Missouri runs a quarterback counter with Halton lined up in the backside A-gap, where he gets a down block from the center, while Oklahoma slants the defensive line to the short side of the field and into the offense’s play call. That means he has to cross the center’s face and get into the playside A-gap.
To accomplish that, the defensive lineman starts working laterally and feels that the center is off-balance with his nose over his toes. Halton takes advantage by pulling the center’s right shoulder down to use the center’s momentum against him before winning with the arm-over move to get into the gap. That results in the defender getting penetration and making a tackle near the line of scrimmage.
There are a lot of similarities between the former Sooner and current Raiders defensive tackle Adam Butler. Seeing as Butler is about to turn 32 years old and could be let go next offseason with minimal cap hit, per Over The Cap, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the front office invest in someone to fill that role long term.
However, the question is, how much of a priority is it for John Spytek to invest in that type of player versus filling another more immediate need on the roster? Because, as of April 7, Halton ranks 75th overall and owns a third-round projection on NFL Mock Draft Database’s consensus big board.
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