Cleveland Browns Comprehensive NFL Draft Review: Siaki Ika, DT Baylor

With the 98th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns selected Siaki Ika, defensive tackle out of Baylor. There are troubling areas on his resume he will attempt to overcome in order to become a factor on the Browns defensive line.

The Cleveland Browns used the 98th pick of 2023 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns selected defensive tackle Siaki Ika out of Baylor. After starting his career at LSU, Ika transferred and played his last two seasons in Waco, Texas.

Joining a defense that was the eighth worst run defense both in total rushing yardage and yards per carry in 2022, the behemoth nose tackle is the biggest addition this offseason in their effort to control the line of scrimmage.

Athletic Profile

Ika's athletic profile is incomplete and dreadful. He clearly tried to lose weight for the sake of testing and still performed terribly in the handful of drills he participated. His flexibility and agility are his best features, though his 10-yard split isn't bad for his size.

Ika's immense size is the appeal, but it's worrying that he did so little with it in this forum. Part of the problem for Ika was that he was expected to test reasonably well for his size based on his tape. That didn't happen.

Now, he has decent length. His arms aren't all that long but aren't problematic. And his age doesn't help nor hurt him. The hope is that the tracking data on Ika on the field was far better than his athletic testing.

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Production

Best Season (2021)

Solo Tackles: 17 (3.1%)

Tackles for Loss: 6 (5.7%)

Sacks: 4 (9%)

Last Season (2022)

Solo Tackles: 10 (1.9%)

Tackles for Loss: 2 (3.1%)

Sacks: 0 (0%)

Ika had a promising 2021 season. According to PFF, he also had 33 pressures that year. In 2022, his effectiveness was reduced dramatically. His pressures dropped to 18 this past season as well.

It's worth pointing out that he played a different shade more often this past season. In 2021, 47.6 percent of his snaps were in the A gap and the B gap in 51.9 percent of the time. This past season, Ika spent 67.5 percent of his snaps in the B gap. Ika also played 90 fewer snaps overall in 2022. than he did in 2021.

In many ways, 2022 was a wasted season and did real damage to his production profile.

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Transferring to the Big XII did Ika no favors. Not only does the style of play common to that conference impact Ika's ability to make an impact, but the level of competition isn't great.

Ultimately, Ika's production profile is poor and there are Big XII nose tackles were far more impactful than he was this past season. It's a hole in his resume.

Jim Cobern @Jimetrics

Game Tape

Ika's a bull in the middle of the line. He is dangerous going forward and when he has momentum, he can become almost impossible to stop, but he struggles when changing direction and has no range. He causes chaos in how much damage he can do, so long as the play is going in the right direction.

At his best, Ika is charging forward and daring opponents to try to block him. He's surprisingly quick off the snap and can catch opposing blockers by surprise. So when opponents try to single block him, he has the ability to blow up the play. Team often double him as a result, but that isn't always enough to stop him and allows his teammates to win with numbers.

Whether he charges into the backfield and misses or he simply moves the line of scrimmage back, he forces opposing ball carriers to bubble, change course which can allow teammates to stop them for little or no gain.

Ika absolutely facilitates production for his teammates. In head coach Dave Aranda's defense, it's common to see Ika force a double team as teammates overwhelm the opponent with numbers swarming the ball. What stands out most is that even on passing downs, Ika is still Baylor's top threat. Most teams still felt compelled to double him, which gives teams one one matchups. When they blitz, there are often free rushers.

There are a few problems for Ika that stand out. First, he's a poor tackler. The 2022 tape is littered with opportunities where he simply whiffs on tackles. If the opponent is not right in front of him, Ika has a difficult time making the play. He gets exposed when he's forced to try to tackle in space. As a result, there's a Shawn Bradley-like highlight reel of opponents looking great at the expense of the Baylor behemoth.

The flip side is that Ika will occasionally catch opponents by surprise with his burst, pouncing to tackle ball carriers trying to run past or bounce away. Unfortunately, Ika's production is often a product of his teammates creating a tunnel he can charge through to catch the ball carrier. The defense around Ika was far more effective in 2021, which was one of the reasons his production was better. In 2022, Ika found often found himself on an island and his production reflected it.

Ika usually plays with good leverage, especially in short yardage situations where he is outstanding. The Bears were able to win on any number of 3rd-and-1 or 4th-and-1 situations. A goal line stand allowed them to seal the victory in the 2021 Big XII Championship against Oklahoma State.

Ika's extremely difficult to move off the line of scrimmage and protects the linebackers effectively. He's also good at avoiding getting cut. Opponents are often hoping to get him to take the easy way out on a play so he flies past the play rather than trying to anchor against him. Even when he ends up on the ground as a result of getting knocked off balance sideways or being too far over his feet, he still takes up space. Teams attacked the perimeter specifically trying to avoid Ika in the middle.

Rushing the passer, Ika will obviously bull rush and push pull quite a bit. However, he will try to catch opponents off guard with a swim move. In 2022, he flashed a spin move which looked impressive, but didn't actually give him any meaningful advantage.

Baylor didn't slant or stunt an overwhelming amount with Ika, but when he slants, he creates a hole. It's bad enough for blockers that anticipate Ika, but when he's able to catch an opposing blocker unaware, he can clear them out.

As an extension of Ika's lack of range is poor pursuit. Even when he's going with full effort, he doesn't offer much. That's another element that limited Ika's production.

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Fit, Usage and Projection

Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz told Siaki Ika he was going to be a ferrari as opposed to a dump truck in Cleveland. Presumably, he wants Ika to attack up the field, which is where he's at his best. Fire off the ball and create havoc. Within a scheme that hopes to feature a number of big bodies that can do that, it can put a ton of stress on the blocking scheme, take away running lanes and collapse the pocket around a quarterback.

With Myles Garret, Dalvin Tomlinson, Alex Wright and fellow rookie Isaiah McGuire, the Browns could have the capability to do just that.

Ika projects to be the backup at the nose behind Tomlinson. Part of Schwartz having Ika charge on every snap is going to be reducing his snap count from college. In his two years at Baylor, Ika averaged 36.8 snaps per game. If playing 15-20 snaps allows him to go 100 percent, that should allow Ika to be more efficient and get better results.

On short yardage situations, the Browns can put Tomlinson and Ika next to each other and try to push back the line of scrimmage. That's not realistic to do much beyond that because Ika simply doesn't have that big of a gas tank at this point. The highest percentage of snaps Tomlinson has ever played in his career has been 60 percent.

Schwartz appears poised to use slants and stunts. Ika doesn't have a ton of experience, but the flashes are impressive. With a player like Ogbonnia Okoronkwo or even Myles Garrett, they could easily loop inside and get to the quarterback with Ika potentially wiping out a guard and shielding off the tackle.

It will be interesting to see how Ika does as a pass rusher in the NFL. If it's 3rd-and-10, he's probably not going to be on the field. However, Ika drew double teams at an eye-opening rate as a pass rusher in college. He's no longer the primary threat, so he's going one on one with either a center or guard. If he can drive them the into the backfield, he can muddy the pocket and create sack opportunities for everyone else.

Ika is also going to get every opportunity be a battering ram on field goal block.

Tomlinson's deal may be paid out over four years, but it's a two-year deal. The Browns are hoping that Ika can become the starter in that time.

Based on the historical data, Ika projects to be a backup. He will attempt to defy his miserable athletic testing and poor production to be more than that. There are certainly some traits and tape that suggest there's a path to get there, but even if just relying on his game film, he looks like a role player that requires his teammates to complement what he does even if that still could prove valuable.