The defenders inside are tough because everything shows that weight is the most important factor when it comes to predicting NFL success…but then there’s Aaron Donald. Donald is small and light weight for someone in his position. Most people with that type of bracket have a hard time in the NFL, but Donald is the exception. While I’d say that weight obviously doesn’t matter because of Donald’s success, it’s probably best to see Donald as a one-time freak, rather than changing the story entirely. In general, weight is the most important factor. Heavyweight guys tend to throw offensive liners around like nothing happened. They also tend to do very well when running. Vita Vea, Dontari Poe, DJ Reader, Danny Shelton, and Linval Joseph are just a few of the names that weigh more than 320 pounds when combined and continue to dominate the NFL (although Reader’s elite playing stage only lasted for short time ).
Weight seems like such an arbitrary number. There must be something else at play. For defensive handling, the exercise with the most positive impact on results is the vertical jump. Poe, Reader, Joseph, Jonathan Allen, Sheldon Richardson, Aaron Donald, Geno Atkins, Robert Nkemdiche, Ndamukong Suh, Sheldon Rankins and Javon Hargrave all posted photos that are 29 inches or larger. Basically, if they’re heavy but still have good explosiveness in their legs, they’ve got a chance to be great in the NFL.
This year, the interior D-lineman that falls into these categories the most will be… lo and behold, UGA’s Jordan Davis (341 pounds, 32 inches long). Outside of Davis, however, the next best D-class athlete based solely on their combined results would be Michigan’s Chris Hinton (305 pounds, 31.5 inches long). He’s not as heavy as I, or many NFL teams would like to be, but you can always gain weight. We see that happen all the time in the NFL. It will be tough, but Hinton’s outburst will be enough for some teams to want to take out Hinton on Day 2 or early Day 3.
