Who are the top defensive linemen in SEC history?

We’ve spent the last several weeks flipping through team-specific media guides, glancing over highlight film and nearly coming to blows at our home office determining this 25-member comprehensive list of the league’s best defensive linemen.

Editor’s note: The SDS staff weighed multiple factors during our SEC’s all-time defensive linemen rankings process including career statistics, individual awards, importance to their respective team and the era in which they played.

15.) CHAD LAVALAIS, LSU (2000-03)

A player who improved substantially every season in Baton Rouge, Lavalais blossomed into the top defensive tackle in the country by his senior season in 2003 for the national champion Tigers, earning the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Year award and the nation’s most prestigious honor nationally by The Sporting News following a 61-tackle, 7.5-sack effort.

Lavalais started the final 39 games of his career, finishing at LSU with 202 tackles and 12 sacks. After being released by the Carolina Panthers in 2007, Lavalais closed the book on his NFL career after appearing in 30 career games.

Career numbers:

202 tackles, 32.5 TFL, 12 sacks

Individual superlatives:

All-American (2003); All-SEC (2003); SEC Def. POTY (2003); National Def. POTY (2003)

NFL Draft:

No. 142 overall (fifth round) in 2004

14a.) BOB SUFFRIDGE, TENNESSEE (1938-40)

It was impossible to leave this two-way star off the list, the only three-time All-American in Tennessee football history. During Suffridge’s tenure, the Vols won two national championships and never lost a regular-season game (30-0) under legendary coach Robert Neyland.

During the 1939 season, Tennessee’s defense didn’t allow a single point during the regular season and outscored its opponents, 212-0. Thanks to his dominance in the trenches, Suffridge won the Knute Rockne Award in 1939 and 22 years later was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

The three-time SEC champion played five NFL seasons before his career was cut short by World War II. After returning home, Suffridge spent time on the caoching staff at N.C. State from 1946 to 1951.

Career numbers:

N/A

Individual superlatives:

All-American (1938-40); Rockne Award (1939); Member of the All-Time SEC Team; College Football Hall of Fame (1961)

NFL Draft:

No. 42 overall (sixth round) in 1942

14b.) JOHN HENDERSON, TENNESSEE (1998-01)

Henderson was a man among boys during his tenure in the SEC, a run-stopping, quarterback-harassing force for Phillip Fulmer’s squad that captured 41 wins in four seasons.

For multiple years, the Vols had the SEC’s best interior line thanks to Henderson and Albert Haynesworth. Henderson was awarded the first of back-to-back All-American honors as a junior in 2000 when he posted 21 tackles-for-loss and 12 sacks. He also took home the Outland award.

Henderson countered his impressive junior season that with a 48-tackle, 4.5-sack senior campaign in 10 starts. A first-round pick in 2002, Henderson played eight seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars before ending his career in Oakland in 2011.

Career numbers:

165 tackles, 39 TFL, 20.5 sacks

Individual superlatives:

All-American (2000-01); All-SEC (2000-01); Outland Trophy (2000)

NFL Draft:

No. 9 overall in 2002

13.) BOB GAIN, KENTUCKY (1947-50)

The only player in program history to be named a two-time All-American and win a conference championship, Gain was a four-year starter and three-time All-SEC standout on both sides of the ball for the Wildcats.

As a senior, Gain was recognized as the nation’s best lineman with the Outland Trophy and was chosen the SEC’s top blocker twice by the Atlanta and Birmingham Touchdown Clubs.

Gain played 12 NFL seasons with the Cleveland Browns and was a seven-time All-Pro at defensive tackle. The awards continued as he was named the league’s lineman of the year in 1957.

Career numbers:

N/A

Individual superlatives:

All-SEC (1948-50); All-American (1949-50); College Football Hall of Fame (1980); Outland Trophy (1950)

NFL Draft:

No. 5 overall in 1951

12.) LEROY COOK, ALABAMA (1972-75)

A situational defender his first two seasons with the Crimson Tide, Cook achieved All-America status as a junior and first-year starter in 1974 with 81 tackles and six sacks. He followed that up with a 85-tackle, nine-sack senior campaign which earned him SEC Player of the Year accolades.

His final game was one of his best, a dominant performance as the defensive most valuable player in the 1975 Orange Bowl. Second-ranked and unbeaten Alabama lost to Notre Dame that afternoon, 13-11.

Career numbers:

200 tackles, 27 TFL, 15 sacks

Individual superlatives:

All-American (1974-75); All-SEC (1974-75); Alabama Team of the Century

NFL Draft:

No. 290 overall (10th round in 1976

11.) REGGIE WHITE, TENNESSEE (1980-83)

Tennessee’s all-time sack leader as college football’s (and the NFL’s) ‘Minister of Defense’, White recorded perhaps the most impressive single-season ever for a defensive lineman in Knoxville as a senior in 1983, winning the SEC’s Player of the Year honor after posting a 100-tackle, school-record 15-sack campaign.

He wasn’t done.

White quickly transitioned into a cornerstone defensive end for the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers after spending his first two seasons of professional football with the Memphis Showboats. The 13-time Pro Bowl pass rusher won two NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards and a Super Bowl during his illustrious 15-year career.

The Pro Football and College Football Hall of Famer retired from football in 2000 as the NFL’s all-time sack leader (198). His recognizable No. 92 is retired for three different franchises.

Career numbers:

293 tackles, 19 TFL, 32 sacks

Individual superlatives:

All-American (1981, 1983); All-SEC (1981, 1983); SEC POTY (1983); College Football Hall of Fame (2002)

NFL Draft:

Supplemental Draft (1984)