Jared Ivey gets lost in the conversation when discussing the Ole Miss Rebels’ impressive 2024 defensive front. Princely Umanmielen, Walter Nolen, and even JJ Pegues received much of the national love while Ivey quietly outproduced them for most of the season. What does his scouting report have to say about his NFL potential?
Jared Ivey’s Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6055
- Weight: 279
- Position: EDGE
- School: Ole Miss
- Current Year: Senior (fifth Year)
Jared Ivey’s Scouting Report
Strengths
- Flashed awesome speed-to-power bluff arc rush vs. Oklahoma
- Understands attack angles and will give OTs different lower-half looks consistently to keep himself a moving target
- Really utilizes pace-changes and stutters to set up hands to find a crease through the shoulder
- Cross-chop to win arc impresses
- Flashes full commitment to option responsibility
- Nasty swim move utilizing a small surface area and natural height advantage
- Displays legitimate violence in hands when pass-rushing
- Flows downlane quickly as a backside zone-run defender
- Impressive long-arm push-pull; he can shoot both ways off of it
- Strong proactive rush plan
- Flashed on the interior during the bowl game as a rusher
- Lacks wasted movement when crossing face and moving downhill
Weaknesses
- Heavy feet
- Underwhelming ankle flexibility in a class of freaky flexible 270+ pound rushers
- Underdeveloped eyes versus the run to see through trash
- Lacks violence versus the run at times
- Rushes can be out of control and comical when his original plan goes awry
- Oftentimes provides a large surface area for longer blockers to attack
- Looks lost when an initial plan doesn’t land
- Proactive rush plan far outweighs the counter ability
Summary and Draft Projection
Ivey is an old-school base defensive end in build and athletic quality. He produces quick wins on the edge with an impressive rush plan that maximizes his natural length advantage and the power he possesses in his hands. His frame and naturally stout anchor also make him a decent edge setter, which could come in handy as a rotational defensive end in even-front defensive schemes.
Unfortunately, Ivey will likely get a bit lost in the 2025 NFL Draft. The EDGE class is chock-full of freakishly built athletes boasting length, strength, explosiveness, and flexibility. While Ivey certainly boasts the former two, the latter two escape the Rebels rusher.
The other potentially worrying part of his evaluation was how inconsistent his eyes were against the run. Gaps in his processing ability leave him susceptible to washouts and mismanaged positional leverage. Ivey must become more confident and seamless with his eyes to round himself into a three-down player.
Although Ole Miss didn’t often use him as an interior rushing option, Ivey proved capable there against the Blue Devils in their bowl game. His manipulative footwork and reach could be problematic for interior blockers on obvious passing downs.
Ultimately, Ivey feels like a potential top-100 selection but will more than likely slide into the Day 3 range unless he shocks us with testing results in Indianapolis.