Yep, I think they went with some rankings over needs.
NFL.com Review PICK # 64
Davyion Nixon Prospect Info
College Iowa
Hometown Class
Kenosha, WI R-Junior
Height Weight Arms
6’ 3" 313 lbs 35 1/8"
Hands 9 1/4"
Prospect Grade 6.12 Good backup who could become starter
By Lance Zierlein NFL Analyst
Draft Projection Rounds 3-4
NFL Comparison Ross Blacklock
Overview
Three-technique who thrives with his ability to penetrate and disrupt the offensive proceedings. He’s good at getting skinny and darting into gaps in order to attack the run or cause blocking schemes to come off track. He appears to have much more functional strength in his lower body than upper body and has trouble controlling blockers at the point of attack with hand work and shed quickness. His agility and pursuit quickness will help him make plays that other interior defenders can’t get to, but offenses will likely have success running right at him. He has Day 2 (Rounds 2-3) talent and could become an eventual starter.
Strengths
Has experience at three-technique and slant nose.
Maintains knee bend and pad level off the snap.
Slippery with efficient slide-and-go shots into the gap.
Knives in and shoots upfield to disrupt blocking scheme.
Above-average lateral movement for reactive tackles in his gap.
Speedy big man who's able to range way outside home base.
Possesses pursuit agility and change of direction to make plays.
Lower-body flexibility for surprising anchor when hips are unlocked.
Good job of setting up rush moves.
Shows ability to get to his rush edge with finesse or power.
Keeps tight track to quarterback when attacking pocket.
Quick to sniff out screen passes.
Weaknesses
Lacks desired mass and width for interior defender.
Not built for read-and-react football.
Not enough upper-body power to press, separate and control blockers.
Labors to neutralize base blocks and rarely gets quick block shed.
Drops head into contact and loses sight of play development.
Edge-to-edge movements can be a little gradual as rusher.
Below-average rush counters when locked up.
Did not stack sacks on a consistent basis.
GRADE
8.0 The perfect prospect
7.3-7.5 Perennial All-Pro
7.0-7.1 Pro Bowl talent
6.7-6.8 Year 1 quality starter
6.5 Boom or bust prospect
6.3-6.4 Will be starter within first two seasons
6.1-6.2 Good backup who could become starter
6.0 Developmental traits-based prospect
5.8-5.9 Backup/special-teamer
5.5-5.6 Chance to make end of roster or practice squad
But you’re quoting these sources to prove your point, then asking me to ask the sources you’ve quotes as to why they’ve ranked them so high?
No worries, just a difference of opinions I guess. I’m gonna take a nap.
WTF is your problem? I have given you information to digest and you keep whinning, how am I or anyone else suppose to know “why” they have this information and move him around the charts on a whim? How many times do I have to point out that the entire DT class has been ranked this way this year, look at Barmore. EVERY mock I read prior to the draft had him going in the 15-20 range and he wasn’t taken at all.
This is a pretty good take on Barmore, basically what all the writers were saying about him…
Well thats like your opinion man.
Personally I think it has a little more to do with teams moving to offenses that stretch the field. This means you don’t necessarily want 2 DT’s on the field at once now and the position is getting devalued. Much like RB’s.
With the cyclical nature of the NFL this is a buy low moment if I have ever seen one.
I think I can shed some light on this.
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He’s only had one good season at Iowa. That was last year. In a Covid year and in an incomplete year. Iowa had a short schedule and it wasn’t a particularly strong schedule. So that data used to measure his success is tainted to say the least. He was never a top 10 guy … I’ll explain more further down.
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He had academic problems and was forced to enroll in community college. He could not academically qualify to play NCAAF and was unable play at Iowa due to his grades. Iowa had to appeal to the NCAA and offer to provide assistance to get the NCAA to allow his eligibility before he was allowed to even play. Needless to say he was lucky to even get that opportunity. He had to red shirt a year.
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During his redshirt year there was an incident in the dorms at Iowa and he was suspended from the school. He put his name into the transfer portal before the investigation was completed. Which signified that he expected to be kicked off the team and out of school. The details of the incident were never released but the investigation eventually cleared him and allowed him to return to school so he removed his name from the transfer portal.
Now let’s get onto his actual play and why he was never a top 10 player in the draft.
If you look soley at the stats you get the impression he’s a stud but a closer look tells a different story.
He played DE in HS and was only a one year starter at DT in Iowa. So it’s easy to understand why he’s raw and isn’t all that polished as a run defender. He was able to put up some impressive stats in his first year as a starter but the stats don’t tell the full story.
He’s basically played soley as a 3-tech and doesn’t have experience playing other roles. So he lacks positional versatility. Also Iowa’s DC Phil Parker ran a two-gap run defense but they did shoot the gaps on obvious passing plays. Nixon struggled when two gapping on run defense but excelled shooting the gaps.
He’s got good size, acceleration and enough pass rush skills to be an effective 3-tech pass rush specialist but he’s got to get better at taking up space and eating up blockers. Too often RB’s slipped by him because he allowed himself to be taken out of the play by blockers.
He’s raw with a big upside. He has the attributes to be a stud DL. But he’s not a complete DT.
Question is … Is he teachable? His academic struggles may indicate he had a learning disability or that he’s lazy. Teams will need to really dig into that and find out if he can understand his responsibilities.
Personally I think he’s a 3rd rounder and I like him as a player. Even if he’s never anything more than a pass rush DT specialist he has value. But I think he has the potential to be a solid NFL starter but he’s not ready to be one just yet.
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It’s not just my opinion.
Several GM’s and draft specialists have stated such.
It’s not a strong class. That’s why none have been taken so far. There’s some talent it in it but it’s not a particularly strong or deep class.
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I love Nixon. I think with both Barmore and Onwuzurike still on the board, it pushes him down. I think at this point, I’d prefer to snag our Safety (Ritchie Grant) with our pick, then perhaps look to trade back up into the back of the 2nd and take Nixon there.
My take on his film is he does a good job shooting gaps and getting upfield, but OL easily wall him off on run plays which creates lanes for the RB. Would have liked to see more effort/ability from him to close down those lanes. Good athlete and motor though.
I think you’ll see helter skelter rankings like this on a player when they’re strong in one area but weak in another.
On one hand you see a player explode off the ball and attack a gap.
On the other hand, with a little more study, you might find that he has no moves or poor hand usage. That’s likely what happened here.
You might think back to our 2016 draft when we picked up the DT Robinson. He was reported to be a mid-1st talent but we selected him in the 2nd. Why did he last? Well, sometimes things stand out on tape that make you think more highly of a player than you ought. The teams might be looking a little closer at his technique and find that he’s lacking somewhere that is a deal-breaker for them.
Well, not the DT I was looking for but there you go. And for the people who thought Nixon wasn’t all that I just have one comment, he wasn’t just voted best DT in the Big 10, he was voted best defensive player in the Big 10. So was it a down year for ALL defensive players in the Big 10?
You can pound him in the third round now.
Welp 2 DTs and no Nixon.
I’m an idiot lol
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Still have a chance at 101.
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Lol I wanted to say this!
You got DT right
Lol I was completely joking with that reference from our coach…the dude.
But it is your opinion…man
removed
lol … ok bud … it’s been reported on. The info I shared is out there.
I know Kiper and Brugler have both spoke about it. The details have never been publicly released by the school. Iowa is pretty good at keeping things under wraps.
I’m just sharing what I know. You can chose to believe it or not.
Peace
LOL, the info you shared is NOT out there, that’s why I responded. If those guys spoke about it what did they say? Was he or was he not suspended from the school?