Jared Ivey, who stood out in a loaded Ole Miss defense littered with NFL draft prospects, has officially declared for the 2025 NFL draft. After transferring from Georgia Tech, Ivey has made a name for himself in red and blue. In three seasons with the Rebels, he’s racked up 21 sacks, 95 pressures, and 28 tackles for loss. These performances have him in a prime position to hear his name called in the earlier portion of the draft.
Jared Ivey NFL Draft Profile
Strengths
Play Strength
When watching Ivey, the main component of his game that shines is play strength. At 6’6, 285 pounds, he’s bigger than your average edge rusher. He’s often creating knockback against opposing blockers or resetting the line of scrimmage against the run. You’ll rarely see him get displaced.
Ivey especially uses this power while pass-rushing. Lined up at edge, if he’s given a runway, it’s similar to a bulldozer running straight at you. He will push you back. The pop he creates at the point of attack is impressive. Blending his pure power with consistent hand placement and a low pad level makes for an offensive tackle’s nightmare. If he wins leverage over the blocker, his speed to power is unstoppable.
Run Defense
Ivey’s play strength pops up time and time again. Against the run, he’s able to drive blockers back into the backfield. He has the ability to reset the line of scrimmage. He’s also impressive from a technical standpoint. He consistently wins at the point of attack and controls blocks. Gets his hands in the blocker’s frame, stacking, then shedding. Additionally, he displays solid gap discipline.
Athleticism for his size
It’s easy to assume a player as big as Ivey won’t have the movement skills to match. However, that’s not the case with Ivey. His physical tools check every box. He isn’t the quickest in short areas. However, he’s shown the ability to pursue football well. Impressive athleticism married with his relentless motor makes him a respectable defender in pursuit.
Versatility
Ivey played all over the field for Ole Miss. He played as a standup edge rusher and with his hand in the dirt. His alignments ranged from a wide nine to a three-technique.
Weaknesses
Bend
It doesn’t matter how good you are at beating your blocker. If you can’t bend the corner and shorten your angle towards the quarterback, your life is going to be significantly more difficult. And that’s going to be a problem for Ivey. He doesn’t have the ability to bend the corner. More often than not, he’s slipping or getting pushed upfield when he attempts to do so. Winning against the outside shoulder of a blocker will be hard without flexibility. Winning his initial move is only half of the recipe. He doesn’t have the short area quickness to explode past the blocker nor the flexibility to get low and flatten his angle to the quarterback.
Finishing pass rushes against the outside shoulder
This ties into his lack of bend, but it isn’t quite the same. Although Ivey doesn’t have bend, it’s not entirely impossible to win against the outside shoulder. He can compensate for that if he refines his pass-rush plan. Ivey does a good job winning in hand-to-hand combat. He shows flashes of using moves like a cross chop or a double swipe to beat his assignment initially. But the job doesn’t finish there. He needs to finish his rush. The blocker can still recover, so he needs to completely discard them.
Since he doesn’t have the athleticism or the flexibility, he needs to win with technique. Making his pass rush plan slightly more sophisticated by pairing a primary move, which he already has a variety of, with a finishing move, would be crucial.
Hand Timing
Ivey has shown flashes with his hand usage, however he needs to refine it a bit more. He’s often a bit late with his punch which allows the blocker to get into his frame. Making first contact is crucial as it would allow him to dictate where his hands get placed. When he’s attempting to perform a move on a pass rush, these late hands allow the blocker to get into his chest, shutting down the move.
Position
Although Ivey is versatile, he doesn’t have any true position. His upside is capped on any position he would play in the NFL. If he plays edge, his flexibility would hinder his ability. Although his strength is great for an edge, if he plays on the interior, question marks would emerge on whether he would have the playing strength to hold up.
NFL Outlook
The consensus on Ivey currently projects him as a second-round pick. I’m a bit higher than the consensus on him with a late first grade. Power is the centerpiece of every pass-rush plan. Having blockers worried about blocking speed to power opens everything else up. And there are not many edges in this class with a better bullrush than Ivey. He’s not a one-trick pony either. He has ways to win through hand-to-hand combat. Along with that, his size and run defense stand out.
As for his scheme fit, he would be best as a 4-3 defensive end. Early in his career, I see him mainly playing early downs. He thrives against the run, especially as a strong side run defender where he can stack and shed to make a play on the ball. He seemed to be at his best rushing with his hand in the dirt as well. Ideal landing spots for him include the Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles.
Main Image: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
