In the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft, the Chiefs selected Derrick Nnadi from Florida State. Nnadi was projected to be their 3-4 nose tackle. How was Nnadi in 2018, and does he present traits that new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo likes?
Scouting Report:
Nnadi, a 6-foot-1, 317-pound nose tackle, was known for his run stuffing in his college career. In his four-year career, Nnadi was wildly impressive as a run stuffer, helping make Florida State one of the best defenses in football.
What makes Nnadi special is his athleticism. He is a massive dude, with elite first step quickness for his size. Nnadi blows players off the ball, and also is a freak laterally. His lateral agility is very impressive, which allows him to defend zone blocks very well. Nnadi’s pocket push is really good as well. His pass rush skills are concerning though, as his hand usage is poor. He has no pass rush moves with his hands, which limits his pass rush skills.
The Numbers:
When grading interior lineman, I don’t differentiate much from edge rushers. In fact, everything I look for is the exact same, except I don’t chart how often they drop into coverage. For me, it is irrelevant to see how often they drop.
Against the run, I mainly look for win and loss rates, as well as run-stuffs. The number of double teams was important as well, and since Nnadi played nose tackle, the number of double teams that he faced was important. The role of the nose tackle is to take on double teams, so seeing how much and how effective they were against it was a major thing.
| Derrick Nnadi Run Snaps | ||||||||
| Game | Snaps Charted | Run D WIn | Run D Loss | Run D Neutral | Double Team | Stuff Run | Run Win % | Run Loss % |
| Chargers | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 33.3% | 0.0% |
| Ravens | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 27.3% | 4.5% |
| Seahawks | 23 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 30.4% | 17.4% |
| Raiders | 14 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 14.3% | 14.3% |
| Colts | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 12.5% | 0.0% |
| TOTALS | 73 | 18 | 7 | 48 | 14 | 8 | 24.7% | 9.6% |
Nnadi is really good against the run. It truly was fun watching Nnadi play the run. His numbers are very good for a rookie. Nnadi had very few snaps that he didn’t have an impact against the run. It makes sense why Nnadi is good against the run. His strength is very good, and he can push any blocker backward. To make Nnadi ineffective, you have to send a guard in a double team. Luckily, Nnadi still has plenty of leg drive to keep his balance, and his lateral agility is impressive. Nnadi is quick enough to move around multiple gaps to defend the run. He can clog any run from one direction, then quickly turn to plug the other gap. Nnadi was asked to defends two gaps, or clog up two holes on the offensive line.
Whenever Nnadi was on the field, the Chiefs run defense was much better against the run. A 25 percent win rate is high for a rookie. Being able to win that much with little time to develop is impressive. His loss rate was also very low for a rookie. With better coaching this year in the new 4-3 scheme, Nnadi will only improve against the run. Even now, he has very little weaknesses vs the run.
| Derrick Nnadi Pass Rush Snaps | ||||||||||
| Games | Snaps Charted | Pass Rush Win | Pass Rush Loss | Pass Rush Neutral | Double Team | Pass Deflection | Pressures | Pass Rush Win % | Pass Rush Loss % | Pressure Rate |
| Chargers | 12 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 8.3% | 8.3% | 8.3% |
| Ravens | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 20.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% |
| Seahawks | 20 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 20.0% | 10.0% | 10.0% |
| Raiders | 11 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9.1% | 18.2% | 0.0% |
| Colts | 13 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7.7% | 7.7% | 0.0% |
| TOTALS | 66 | 9 | 8 | 49 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 13.6% | 12.1% | 4.5% |
Now, one thing that is concerning is Nnadi’s pass rush abilities. His bull rush is impressive, but that is it. His hand development and usage are very poor. Nnadi has little secondary pass rush moves, which makes him easy to guard. Unlike run snaps, Nnadi doesn’t require double teams very much.
That being said, Nnadi did get better at using his hands as the year went on. There was definitely a pattern of him getting better with his hands as time went on. That makes sense, as he had time to develop those moves. Still, if Nnadi wants to become a three-down player, he is going to have to work on his hands. Luckily for Nnadi, new defensive line coach Brendan Daly has the reputation of developing defensive lineman at a high level, so Nnadi should get better this season.
The Film:
Starting a Derrick Nnadi Review currently, and already is making a good impact against the run. Here, he is supposed to control the A gap, which he does good at. Keeps his left shoulder out to stop the inside run, but turns right to collect the TFL. pic.twitter.com/n0BBuPBibB
— Nate Christensen (@natech32) May 27, 2019
What I mean by defending two gaps is this. As a nose tackle, Nnadi is tasked to defend both A gaps, also known as the right and left holes by the center. His lateral agility and strength allow him to do it. In this play, he shows him clogging right A gap, but then moves laterally while staying engaged to stuff the left A gap. Nnadi defends two gaps well, which allowed the Chiefs’ run defense to be much better.
Nnadi's play recognition got better as time went on. Recognizes zone block well, attacks gap, times his tackle well, and gets a -6 yard play. The drive stalls after this. At the beginning of the year, Nnadi had trouble reading offenses, but definitely improved #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/EPfzRRKDoI
— Nate Christensen (@natech32) May 28, 2019
Nnadi moves well vertically as well. Here, Nnadi recognizes the zone block from the guard, and the jet sweep coming to his direction. He shoots the A Gap quickly and gets the six-yard loss. Nnadi is just an impressive athlete overall, and his play recognition drastically improved as the year went on.
The problem with a bull rush is that it can be ineffective if that is your only move. Nnadi can't just push the center around the entire time. Tries to bully the center, but center keeps good power, and Nnadi loses traction pic.twitter.com/SrDRJdAAyO
— Nate Christensen (@natech32) May 27, 2019
This is what I mean by the lack of hand usage. Nnadi only ever presented a bull rush when rushing, so centers knew that they just had to get their hands on Nnadi’s chest, and he couldn’t move them back. Nnadi needs to have a changeup move, such as a swipe move. If Nnadi could get his hands on the outside shoulder of the center, he could get under him and chop his inside handoff.
Conclusion: What role will Nnadi play?
Going into this review, I didn’t know what to expect. Even though I watch defensive line coaching closely, as it is my favorite position group, I didn’t get that chance to really evaluate him. After finishing this review, I feel very excited about Nnadi in 2019. Nnadi’s skills against the run are impressive. His lateral agility and play recognition are high for a rookie. Clearly, he had good coaching in college, and it showed last year.
Now, he needs to develop his hands. If Nnadi never develops his hands, he will never get better. As a rookie, I give Nnadi a pass for not knowing proper hand usage yet, as he never had to work on that in college. He needs to develop a few hand moves. Some popular ones are chop, rip, and a push/pull move. If Nnadi can develop those moves as a pass rusher, he could seriously turn into a three-down player.
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has one technique in his scheme, and Nnadi will play it well. He will be asked to do very similar things that he did for Bob Sutton. The key for Nnadi is his development as a player. I have full confidence that Nnadi can improve in 2019, and should continue to flash as a potentially elite player at his position. He needs a lot of work, but I think he has only scratched the surface of his potential. His athleticism is top-notch for his position.
