As coaches like to say, you can’t teach speed and you can’t teach size.

Put those two attributes together and you have the makings of the most coveted player on the recruiting trail: A large, athletic defensive tackle.

And since this type of athlete doesn’t grow on trees, coaches go all out trying to convince one to attend their school.

In this recruiting cycle, four of the nation’s top five defensive tackles (as rated by 247Sports) are still without verbal commitment to a school. That means there is a chance this list could look much different if a few SEC schools are fortunate enough to land those commitments.

But for the time being, here are five of the best defensive tackles with verbal commitments with SEC schools for the 2016 recruiting cycle:

1. Edwin Alexander (Hammond, La.) — LSU commit

  • The skinny: Rated as the sixth-best defensive tackle in the country by 247Sports, this five-star prospect checks in at 6-foot-2 and 310 pounds. He is the highest rated of 10 Louisiana prep players committed to LSU for the 2016 recruiting cycle.

2. Julian Rochester (Powder Springs, Ga.) — Georgia commit

  • The skinny: At 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds, Rochester has the perfect build to be a future hole-plugger on the interior of the Bulldogs 3-4 defense. The five-star recruit is topped only by QB Jacob Eason for the highest-rated commitment of the 2016 Georgia class.

3. Kendell Jones (Killeen, Texas) – Alabama commit

  • The skinny: This 6-foot-4, 361-pound Texan has “nose guard” in Kirby Smart’s 3-4 defensive scheme written all over him. For a point of reference, former Alabama lineman Terrence Cody (also known as Mt. Cody) is listed at 6-foot-4 and 345 pounds.

4. Benito Jones (Waynesboro, Miss.) — Ole Miss commit

  • The skinny: Hugh Freeze is known to like defensive tackles that are more athletic than they are heavy, and Jones fits right into that mold. At 6-foot-2 and 260 pounds, he’s nimble compared to some of the others on this list.

5. Raekwon Davis (Meridian, Miss.) — Alabama commit

  • The skinny: At 6-foot-7 and 315 pounds, Davis is a mountain of a man. There is some debate about whether he should stick to the interior of the defensive line or shift to the offensive side of the ball. Like many lineman, he plays both ways in high school.