NFL Draft 2021 Scouting Report: DT Daviyon Nixon, Iowa

*DL grades can and will change as more information comes in from Pro Day workouts, leaked Wonderlic test results, etc. We will update ratings as new info becomes available.

I’ve watched/fully studied two defensive tackles prospects so far in 2021 – Alabama’s Christian Barmore and Iowa’s Daviyon Nixon. And I gotta tell ya – they are both really good defensive end NFL prospects…from what I’ve seen so far (and we’re getting pretty deep into the prospects now), better at that position than any two EDGE rusher prospects you want to name. The great ‘supply’ of talent in 2021, on the defensive line, is at defensive tackle, not defensive end.

Nixon and Barmore are both 1st-round talents in 2021…and potentially better than any DT duo of prospects from the last draft or more. Which one of them is the better of the two? The computer says Nixon. My eyeballs lean Nixon, but I’m totally fine with Barmore as well. You’re happy to get either.

6’3”/313, 35.1” arms, 4.90 40-time, 1.72 10-yd, 4.71 shuttle, 7.56 three-cone = Nixon

6’4”/310, 33.6” arms, 4.98 40-time, 1.76 10-yd, 4.75 shuttle, 7.81 three-cone = Barmore

They are both similar, athletically, with the edge to Nixon overall.

Both play fast…with power, and are fast plus slippery/slithery/agile. Both see a fair amount of double teams, and both are a handful for two blockers to try and stop…with them bursting through double teams to go make plays.

Nixon just seems to me to be a tad faster off the snap and a touch more more nimble. Barmore has an edge in that he plays to the whistle most every play…chasing everything he can. Nixon does that maybe 70% of the time, which is good but not as grinding as Barmore.

There’s not a lot for me to debate or try to paint scenery to make the Nixon case. It’s pretty straight forward. He’s a terror to try to block one-on-one. He takes on double teams and wins sometimes on those too (and that’s a rare feat in my years of DT study). He can rush the passer as a 4-3 DT, because he’s got such nice pop off the snap and power to move/leverage a blocker and slide right past them and into the backfield, but he also can chase running plays at a higher end for a defensive tackle.

Nixon, like Barmore, is nearly without flaw. Neither are ‘the next Aaron Donald’ but whatever other DTs you cherish/respect after Donald in the NFL, that’s where Nixon and Barmore will come in – up with the Quinnen Williams, Leonard Williams, Daron Payne, Christian Wilkins, etc.

Nixon is a really nice, engaging young man off the field. No issues off the field. He didn’t qualify for D1 academically out of high school and went the JUCO route. He found out he had a learning disability, corrected it, and earned his way to D1 play after one JUCO year. Iowa had him originally. Alabama tried to snatch him out of his JUCO transfer, but Nixon stayed loyal to Iowa. In 2020, Nixon was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

You will not go wrong with drafting Daviyon Nixon…a top 10-20 overall draft talent, who might not get drafted until the 2nd-round.

Daviyon Nixon, Through the Lens of Our DT Scouting Algorithm:

 -- 2018 redshirt. 2019 starter. 2020 breakout: 

#1 in TFLs (13.5) in the Big Ten. 

#2 in sacks (5.5). 

Led (tied) the Big Ten in interception return TDs…as he picked off a pass and went 71 yards for the score, which is pretty impressive for a 300+ pounder, no? The video: https://youtu.be/oz_Cd7HsOpM

 -- 1.5 TFLs or more in a game in five of his 9 games in 2020 season. 

 -- At least 0.5 sacks in a game in seven of his 9 games in 2020 season.

2021 Pro Day:

6’3.1”/313, 9.4” hands, 35.1” arms

4.90 40-yard dash, 2.95 20-yard, 1.73 10-yard

4.70 shuttle/7.56 three-cone

29” vertical, 8’10” broad jump

The Historical DT Prospects to Whom Daviyon Nixon Most Compares Within Our System:

The computer is seeing a Quinnen Williams as a close match for Daviyon Nixon…that’s a good thing for Nixon. It means he should be a top 10-20 overall prospect. 

*A score of 8.00+ is where we see a stronger correlation of DTs going on to become NFL good/great/elite. A score of 10.00+ is more rarefied air in our system, and indicates a greater probability of becoming an NFL elite DT.

All of the DT ratings are based on a 0–10 scale, but a player can score negative, or above a 10.0 in certain instances.

Power-Strength Metrics = A combination of several measurements. An attempt to classify the DT prospect as more of a battle-in-the-trenches type of DT, and/or a DT prospect who has nose tackle capabilities.

Speed-Agility Metrics = A combination of several speed, agility, size measurements. A unique measuring system to look for DTs who profile for quickness, and/or a DT prospect who might have some DE capabilities.

Pass-Rusher Rating = A combination of physical measurables, and college performance, graded historically for future NFL profiling. In the simplest of terms, this is an attempt to classify whether a particular DT is likely to achieve high sack totals in the NFL. We know the ‘system’/scheme the DT goes on to play in has a part in future success...but so do the player’s skills and performance history.

Tackling Rating = A combination of physical measurables, and college performance, graded historically for future NFL profiling. In the simplest of terms, this is an attempt to classify the DT as one more likely to be involved in a heavy amount of tackles, tackles for a loss, and forced fumbles. Lower scoring DTs in this sub-category tend to be more pure ‘pluggers’, and not as active on the stat sheet. It also gives some insight of the ‘toughness’ of a player, if it is possible to quantify that (this is our attempt to).

NT Profile = This is an attempt to show which of these DT prospects has a profile to become a pure nose tackle/‘space-eater’ in the middle. It is not a 1–10 scale rating of a prospect’s skill/profile, it’s an attempt to point us in a direction of what this DT can be useful as (or not). Some DT prospects will grade off the charts on the NT profile, essentially a worst-case scenario of “put him in the middle and just let him be a wall.” There is NFL value in that ‘ability’.

2021 NFL Draft Outlook:

I see Christian Barmore ALWAYS as a 1st-round prospect now…but Nixon is almost always a 2nd-round prospect. You see…Barmore WENT to Alabama, so he’s more special in the mainstream’s unstudied, knee-jerk rationale. Nixon only turned down Alabama, so he’s lesser-than actual, holy played-at-Alabama guys. In the end, I bet Nixon slides into the 1st-round on draft day. 

If I were an NFL GM, and I was needing/wanting a defensive tackle in 2021 – it’s a great year to be alive, because at least two top 10-20 prospects in the draft should be available after pick #20 according to current consensus rankings (Barmore and Nixon…and more could be on the way in upcoming studies). If I could get Nixon in the 2nd-round, that would be a huge steal/win!

NFL Outlook:   

Will be an instant starter, a long-time player, a Pro Bowl name on and off through the years. Book it. 

4/10/2021