2023 NFL Draft Nose Tackle Rankings

1. Jaquelin Roy, LSU

HT: 6026
WT: 315
4 star (0.9803) Super Sophomore from University Lab (Baton Rouge, LA)
Jaquelin Roy spent his first two seasons in a rotation with Neil Farrell Jr, and now has a chance to shine in 2022 as a starter. He’s flashed solid NFL tools in his time playing so far and showed a good amount of improvement overall from the start to the end of the 2021 season. He will be the best athlete in the class at the position and has room to add to his frame.

Pros:

Considering his size, Roy has some wheels to his game. Has some capacity to stunt and work around between the tackles.
Good upper body strength, will be above average even in the position group.
Has a stout lower body that he uses well to generate power, whether to penetrate and compress the offensive line or recover from a loss off the snap.
Good tackler. Solid run defender.
Has the ability to be a solid gap defender, just wasn’t asked to do it often.
Potential to be a stud on the interior. Generated 32 total pressures in 2021, including 8 hits and 2 sacks.

Cons:

Average first step burst. Flashes the ability to time the snap perfectly.
Very average against double teams. Didn’t really ever demand them with his play.
Very raw hands, doesn’t look like he knows how to use them. Engages the blocker and tries to move them. Can work off of lesser linemen to work back to the play. Hand work got much better over the 2021 season.

2. Keeanu Benton, Wisconsin

HT: 6032
WT: 317
3-star (0.8453) Super Junior from Craig (Janesville, WI)
As soon as you put on the tape, Keeanu Benton pops immediately. He’s a great athlete, very strong, and has so much potential but has yet to put everything together to be a complete prospect. That’s what we will be looking for in 2022, and Benton has a chance to take that step forward.

Pros:

Excellent athlete for his size. Will be a good athlete at the position. Very quick feet.
Very strong upper body. Very stout lower body. Leans on his legs at times to generate power. Has so much absolute power.
Flashes very strong explosion.
Can generate double team attention on his brute strength alone.
Has the ability to win double teams and still win penetration. So much of his ability is based on brute strength – he could be so much more dominant if he learns to use his hands and all of his other technical aspects.

Cons:

First step is decent, certainly not bad. Has very quick feet and it takes him a few steps to generate momentum. Flashes the ability to get off the snap with excellent quickness.
Doesn’t know how to use his hands very well. A lot of useless flailing kind of limits his current impact, would like to see some improvement in 2022.
Benton shows some ability to tackle – but doesn’t tend to wrap up.

3. Robert Cooper, Florida State

HT: 6021
WT: 335
4 star (0.9482) Super Senior from South Gwinnett (Snellville, GA)
Robert Cooper is one of the more technical fighters I’ve seen in this draft class. Florida State ran a multiple scheme front where he was asked to play as both a 3-tech defensive tackle and a 1-tech nose tackle, and I think that he’s capable of playing both but best suited for a nose tackle at the NFL level due to his size and lack of mobility. Doesn’t perform too well as a 0-tech – much better suited in a gap.

Pros:

Has a good, not great, first step. Fairly explosive athlete.
When he drew double teams, mostly from teams scheming to hit a gap with two blockers, showed a strong ability to get off and impact that gap.
Uses long arms to create space and disengage. Very technical hand fighter, has a plan going into every rep. Does a great job neutralizing the blocker and appears to have a plan developed for every game.
Works well off blocks to make tackles. Solid in this regard.
Very instinctive player who is seasoned and has seen a lot of football.
Has the ability to really get into the pocket.

Cons:

Not a particularly great athlete – won’t work to the boundary consistently. Will be relatively average in his position group at the next level.
Not as strong in his upper body as you’d expect. Dominated talent that isn’t to the NFL level, but overall struggled against NFL-level players.
Not going to be much of a pursuit player outside of the tackles.

4. Siaki Ika, Baylor

HT: 6026
WT: 350
4 star (0.9400) Super Junior from East (Salt Lake City, UT)
A transfer from LSU, Siaki Ika is built like a model nose tackle prospect. Ika enters his second season in Baylor with Dave Aranda, his third with the coach of his four-year collegiate career. The pair worked together during the national championship run at LSU in 2019. For someone with the immense size that he has, Ika has not been coached well on technique and is a project prospect with very high upside.

Pros:

Flashes the ability to just throw dudes around, especially in 1v1’s.
First step is good, not great.
4.5 sacks last year over 12 starts. Consistently finds a way into the backfield and generate pass rush. Generated 24 hurries last year per PFF.
Has the ideal size and will be a high-upside prospect in the draft.

Cons:

Decent speed for his build, but will be very average in the position group.
Would really like to see more upper body strength from him. For someone who is as big and physically threatening as Ika, he’s not impressive with his strength consistently.
Drew double teams upon occasion. Didn’t always show the consistency to know what to do with them.
Oftentimes looks lost with his hands, doesn’t know how to use them to get off of blocks. Will mostly just bullrush and slowly compress the pocket.
Not a great tackler by any stretch of the imagination. Uses his size to bully his way around. Doesn’t wrap up.

5. Nazir Stackhouse, Georgia

HT: 6025
WT: 320
4 star (0.9097) Super Sophomore from Columbia (Decatur, GA)
Nazir Stackhouse has been a valuable part of the rotation at Georgia for the last year and should be taking a larger role in that rotation in 2022.

Pros:

Very solid athlete for his size.
Very solid first step and converts explosion to power well.
Explosive for his size. Will be among the better players in the position group in this regard.
Has the ability to generate pass rush, but his role in the defense gave him so many 1v1 opportunities, it’s hard to assess just how much he could bring that to the next level.

Cons:

Has not seen the field often enough yet to get a very good grasp of what he can and cannot do.
Not a solid wrap-up tackler.
Still very raw with his hands.