Prospect Profile: Defensive End Isaiah Nixon
A defensive end with tremendous upside is Lakewood High School product Isaiah Nixon.
Isaiah Nixon
Isaiah Nixon
Size: 6’4”, 220-pounds
Position: Defensive End
High School: St. Petersburg (Fla.) Lakewood
Class: 2023
Recruitment
Programs from across the country continue to recruit Nixon. He’s not close to a decision yet, and he is continuing to add offers. Just between Feb. 12 and Feb. 17, Nixon earned offers from Florida, Alabama, Georgia and LSU. Other offers of note include UCF, Florida State, Miami, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Utah, Louisville, Auburn, and Coastal Carolina.
Prospect Evaluation
Long and lanky, Nixon’s frame is like many other talented edge defenders from the South over the past several decades. From as far back as the mid 1990s with Peter Boulware and Reinard Wilson both signing with Florida State, and the Hurricanes bringing in future long-time pro Kennard Lang, the Gators having Jevon “The Freak” Kearse, and then Notre Dame finding Justin Tuck in a small town in Alabama in 2001, the edge defenders in the South have been fantastic for a long time. Nixon’s frame fits into the profile of any of those players, or a player like Nolan Smith (UGA) from modern day.
The reason this is so important is there’s so much to work with. As an example, Boulware, Wilson, Tuck and Kearse all went to college at roughly 215-pounds. All of the above players, sans Smith who’s about 235-pounds, in time, grew to above 250-pounds and could still move well laterally.
Each of those defensive ends ended up being long-time NFL players. Smith is headed to the NFL in time as well. Bottom line, the frame of Nixon fits the mold of former greats and one current college standout. Now, can he harness that frame and build it into something special over time? That’s mostly up to Nixon himself. Based on the effort he shows on film, there’s good reason to believe he will do just that and put in the effort to be a great football player. He's so athletic that he even played tight end during the 2022 Miami Under Armour Camp.
Long term, he's likely best as an edge rusher. From that lanky frame of Nixon, his excellent get off from the snap of the football is fantastic. He’s often hitting the crease between two offensive linemen and creating havoc in the backfield before anyone can stop him. While not yet consistently technically sound just yet, Nixon’s athleticism, length and especially his effort create the desired result of negative plays.
He uses a rip move and a good hand swipe to cut back underneath offensive lineman. Nixon is also good at “bending the hoop” as he goes around the edge of the offensive tackle during a speed rush. With more weight training, technical work, and experience, Nixon could be as good as any player in the country from the class of 2023. He’s still somewhat raw, but that’s a good thing.
Nixon is like a piece of clay that’s beginning to be molded and yet there’s still a long way to go until he’s a dominant player. Imagine him at 255-pounds and with a bigger arsenal of moves. That’s what college coaches are banking on. Nixon is truly one of the most intriguing prospects in the entire class of 2023.
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