New York Giants Draft Prospect: DL Braden Fiske
Braden Fiske, DL
Height: 6’4
Weight: 295 lbs.
Class: Senior +
School: Florida State
College Stats
A former three-star recruit out of Michigan City, Indiana, where he attended Michigan City High School. He was the 15th-ranked Indianan recruit and the 63rd offensive guard in the 2018 cycle. He made the switch to defense in his first year at Western Michigan.
Fiske was one year off from Van Wilder status; he spent five seasons at Western Michigan before using his final year of eligibility as a transfer student to Florida State, where he was the second defensive lineman and the 20th-ranked player in the transfer portal.
Fiske recorded 131 pressures throughout his college career. 48 of those came in his final year with Western Michigan. He assimilated well in Florida State’s aggressive defense that relied heavily on gap-exchanging at the snap. Fiske, along with future first-round pick Jared Verse, where excellent in their twist game. Fiske will attend the 2024 Reese’s Senior Bowl.
Strengths
- Solid overall upper-body thickness thickness
- Good athlete
- Solid first step quickness/burst
- Gets upfield quickly keeps his chest clean
- Hands and feet are synced well with excellent change of direction
- Solid overall hand usage (location, timing, placement)
- A ton of slanting/exchanging gaps
- Good angles, limits chest exposure on exchange
- Sniffed out screens/misdirections - smart player
- Keys the snap well to maximize his first step
- Knack for splitting double teams vs. pass
- Maintains low leverage and gets himself through narrow crevices
- Armover + COD, good feel when containing wide
- 3rd & 8 sack vs. Louisville
- Hands are active with excellent ability/feel on twists
- Angle discernment is great with twists and he does a good job to contain
- Does a good job maneuvering around the half-man relationship
- Capable run defender against base blocks
- Good job in pursuit
- Elite competitor with an exceptional motor
Weaknesses
- He’s slightly undersized for an IDL
- Seems to have short arms
- Pad level would get high - has some stiffness in his lower-half
- Will be limited in a two-gapping, reading, type of system
- Needs to finish tackles better near the LOS
- Had a career 15.3% missed tackle rate
- Play strength when tasked to hold the point of attack is modest
- Will be a 24-year-old rookie
Braden Fiske is best utilized by penetrating and gap exchanging to leverage his quick first step, adaptability, and processing as a football player. He may struggle in a system inside the 4i-shade where he has to stack, read, and shed. He has elite competitive toughness, and his motor never runs out of gas.
A team that uses four-man pass-rushing concepts (twists, simulated pressures) should love the idea of adding a player like Fiske. Especially from the twisting standpoint, his angles of approach and first step are excellent in these situations.
He may not be the strongest at the point of attack, but he’s not a liability either. Fiske has the upside to start but will be a good complementary piece with a pass-rushing upside when he is selected in the upcoming draft.
test
GRADE: 6.25
Nick Falato
- Follow and like us on Facebook
- Submit your questions for our mailbag
- Check out the Giants Country YouTube Channel.
- Subscribe and like the LockedOn Giants YouTube Channel
