Gracen Halton DL Oklahoma |
NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
| Jersey: #56 SUB-POSITION: NT/DT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Updated: 03/25/2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Draft Year: 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FORTY time: 4.82 seconds (74%*) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Age: 22.6 DOB: 01/27/2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowl Invite: Senior Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
SHARE THIS PROFILE:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jersey: #56 | |
| SUB-POSITION: NT/DT | |
| Last Updated: 03/25/2026 | |
| Draft Year: 2026 | |
| Forty time: 4.82 seconds (74%*) | |
| Age: 22.6 DOB: 01/27/2004 | |
| Bowl Invite: Senior Bowl | |
|
SHARE THIS PROFILE:
|
| Overall Rating: | 83.7 / 100 | |
|---|---|---|
| Average rating of opposition Offense player has faced | ||
| Offense Rating: |
|
77% |
| Click the links below to view how player ranks vs other prospects. | ||
| Tackling: |
|
73% |
| Pass Rush: |
|
84% |
| Run Defense: |
|
91% |
|
DRAFT PROJECTION:
4th
Overall Rank:
#128
Position rank:
#24 (DL)
|
||
| College Games: 45 College Snaps: 989 | ||
ESPN RATING: 81/100
|
||
247 RATING: 91/100
|
||
RIVALS RATING: 5.8 (95%)
|
||
| Player Comparison* (Similarity level) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Kobie Turner - Wake Forest |
|
90% |
| Isaiah McGuire - Missouri |
|
86% |
| Keion White - Georgia Tech |
|
85% |
Drafted: ROUND: 4 - Pick Number: 107 (SF)
Draft Profile: Bio
Gracen Halton came out of St. Augustine High School in San Diego as a consensus four-star recruit, a two-way player who racked up 75 tackles and 20 tackles for loss on defense while also catching 14 passes for five touchdowns as a senior. He originally committed to Oregon before flipping to Oklahoma over offers from Miami, USC, and others. ESPN slotted him 264th in their top 300 and ranked him the 24th defensive end nationally.Halton's first two years in Norman were quiet. He played in 10 games as a true freshman in 2022, then appeared in 11 as a sophomore with 3.5 tackles for loss to show for the season. His junior year in 2024 changed the conversation: starting three games, he put up 30 tackles, six TFLs, five sacks, two forced fumbles, and a safety against Houston that earned him SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week.
As a senior captain in 2025, Halton started seven of 13 games and finished with 33 tackles, seven TFLs, 3.5 sacks, seven QB hurries, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown. He earned another SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week nod for his performance against Missouri and accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl.
Scouting Report: Strengths
- Gets off the ball before guards can settle their feet, wins the snap count consistently.
- Swim move has real pop; times it well and clears the shoulder cleanly.
- Hands are busy and violent on contact, stuns linemen with initial punch.
- Keeps rushing after the first move stalls, works the edges of the pocket.
- Takes tight, efficient angles as the looper on twist games.
- Showed noticeable improvement holding gaps against the run as a senior.
- Finds the ball carrier laterally and slides down the line to meet him.
- Had his best run defense reps against LSU and Missouri, two physical SEC fronts.
Scouting Report: Weaknesses
- Short arms mean he rarely controls blockers; they stay on his body too easily.
- Stands straight up at contact and gets walked back by double teams.
- False steps at the snap waste his quickness before he even engages.
- Gets reached and scooped on zone runs, loses his gap assignment.
- First chop as a rusher misses more than it should; hands need better aim.
- Combine agility numbers were surprisingly poor for how he moves on tape.
Scouting Report: Summary
Halton's clearest path is as a passing-down 3-technique. You see it when he fires off the snap and splits a guard before the set is finished, or when he takes that tight arc on a twist game and finds the quarterback moving into his lap. He generated real pressure against SEC interiors in 2024 and 2025, including a sack and a forced fumble at LSU as a senior and a seven-tackle performance against Missouri. When he gets his hands inside a guard's chest, he can push the pocket. Those reps are not fluky. He does it week to week.Where it gets complicated is between the tackles on early downs. At 293 pounds with arms that measure just over 31 inches, he gets washed by combo blocks and driven off his spot when bigger guards get into his frame. He looked better against the run as a senior than he did in 2024, which is worth noting, but NFL guards are a different conversation. He needs a scheme that asks him to penetrate and disrupt, not anchor and hold gaps. A one-gap front that rotates him heavily on passing downs is where he fits.
His ceiling is a productive interior rusher who works his way into 30-plus snaps a game as he adds strength and cleans up his hand technique. His floor is a third-down specialist who does one thing well and stays in that lane. Both outcomes have value, but the scheme has to match.
Gracen Halton percentiles vs other Defensive Lines (NFL Combine historically - higher value represents better perfomance)
How other scouting services rate Gracen Halton (Overall Rank)
All Scouts AverageOverall Rank
99.1
All Scouts AveragePosition Rank
28.0
*Percentile Ranking in Player's Position Group (NFL Combine Historical Data): This percentile reflects how a player's specific statistics rank
in comparison to historical performances at the NFL Combine, specifically within their position group. A higher percentile indicates a better performance.
For instance, being in the 90th percentile for a particular stat means the player outperformed 90% of their peers in that category.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.
