Whether in one-on-one or 11-on-11 drills during the Senior Bowl practices, the 6-foot-1, 300-pound Rankins gave offensive linemen fits. He befuddled guards and centers with a spin move that most men his size can’t pull off. He displayed an array of hand moves to set up power or speed tactics for getting through the line and into the backfield. He used good leverage and also displayed an ability to play at multiple positions along the line.

And so, it’s no surprise that most teams and draft analysts project Rankins as one of the top interior defensive linemen in this month’s NFL draft.

The feedback that Rankins received from NFL team executives didn’t come as a surprise to him either, as he considered his own body of work and the benchmarks he strives for.

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“I just feel like my versatility does a lot for me — the fact that I’ve played in a 3-4, I’ve played in a 4-3, I’ve played all up and down the D-line, from ‘zero nose’ to a ‘five technique’,” Rankins said at the combine in February. “I feel like, when you turn on the tape, you see me doing a lot more things. You’re able to see things as far as me being able to adjust to certain formations and things like that. You can see me as far as pre-snap movements and things like that. I think that my versatility and my intelligence really sets me apart.”

NFL talent evaluators agree with Rankins’s self-assessment. They believe he has the ability to play nose tackle or end in a 3-4 defense, or defensive tackle in a 4-3 front.

Rankins credits his versatility in part to his days on the court playing basketball, the other sport he participated in during middle and high school.

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That’s where he first developed the spin move that college opponents have called so difficult to defend.

“I was always kind of the bigger guy on the court, so people always tried to take charges, get me in foul trouble, so going around them wasn’t always the easiest,” Rankins said. “So the spin move kind of came in handy because nobody really expected it, so it just kind of happened on the football field one day and I was like, ‘I’m going to keep using it.’ And once I got to college, coaches were able to hone that in and actually make it into a real move I could use and be productive with it.”

With defenses running multiple fronts across the NFL, Rankins believes that his ability to play multiple positions will serve him well in the NFL. He also views endurance as just as vital to his potential success in the league. And so, Rankins aims to prove himself capable of serving as an every down player in the NFL rather than a rotational defensive lineman. To prepare himself for this, Rankins says he has always put in additional work on his conditioning.

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“I think it’s something that you have to take pride in,” he explained. “One thing that’s big on that is conditioning. You have to take pride in, when it’s time to go condition, be the first guy up. Win the reps and things like that to make sure that, come fourth quarter, you’re not gassed, you’re not huffing and puffing while these guys are over there trying to march down the field to win the game. So I think conditioning plays a big part and mind-set. If you have a mind-set that you’re going to go out there and dominate for every down, I think you can go out there and do that.”

Rankins also said, “I feel like I’m intelligent enough to grasp just about any defense and I feel like I’m dynamic enough to stay on the field all three downs. So when you put all those things together, I just feel like coming into this process, I was looking to set myself apart and I’m looking to continue to do so.”

In less than a month now, Rankins will learn just how far apart he set himself from the pack in a very deep defensive line draft class.

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John Harris’s top 10 defensive line prospects:

Rank Player School Height Weight Position fit 1 Joey Bosa Ohio State 6 feet 5 269 lbs. 4-3 DE/3-4 OLB 2 DeForest Buckner Oregon 6-7 291 3-4 DE 3 Sheldon Rankins Louisville 6-1 299 4-3 DT/3-4 DE 4 Andrew Billings Baylor 6-0 311 4-3 DT/3-4 DE 5 Robert Nkemdiche Ole Miss 6-3 294 3-4 DE/4-3 DT 6 Emmanuel Ogbah Oklahoma State 6-4 273 4-3 DE/3-4 OLB 7 Shaq Lawson Clemson 6-3 269 4-3 DE/3-4 OLB 8 Jarran Reed Alabama 6-2 307 3-4 DE/4-3 DT 9 A’Shawn Robinson Alabama 6-3 307 3-4 DE/4-3 DT 10 Kevin Dodd Clemson 6-5 277 4-3 DE

Mike Jones covers the Redskins for the Post. John Harris analyzes the draft for the Houston Texans and contributes to the Post’s NFL coverage.