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The draft is still ongoing even after the seven rounds are over. Teams begin the process of signing their UDFAs. The Seattle Seahawks have had a lot of success with this under Pete Carroll and John Schneider, with Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, Poona Ford, George Fant, Thomas Rawls, and Jake Bobo. Last year, the team had a standout UDFA in Jalen Sundell, who surprisingly made the roster and took snaps in place of the injured Olu Oluwatimi against the Packers. George Holani was one of the team’s standouts in the preseason, and Dee Williams was (unfortunately) the team’s primary returner in the first half of the season.
This year, the Seahawks have made some very good additions among the UDFAs. That includes one of the most coveted players among the UDFAs, Jared Ivey, DL from Ole Miss. Dane Brugler and NFL.com had him as a fifth round prospect, while Bleacher Report had him rated as a third round prospect. The Draft Network rated him a Day 2 prospect as well.
Could he Make the roster for the regular season?
Who is Jared Ivey?
Jared Ivey, an Atlanta native, played baseball as a kid and began to excel in basketball, where he thought his future would lie. He weighed 175 pounds coming into high school and ballooned to 205 pounds as a senior (just FYI, his current listed weight is 275 pounds). He had offers from Coastal Carolina and Middle Tennessee State to play basketball, but after thinking about it, decided to turn them down.
Shortly after, he received his first football offer from Arizona State. There was a lot of interest in him, receiving offers from Iowa State, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Duke, Miami, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Stanford, and Colorado. He decided to go to GT and was the second highest ranked in the class behind only Jahmyr Gibbs.
After two years with the Yellow Jackets he decided to enter the Transfer Portal. The main interested parties were Miami, Oregon and Ole Miss. He decided to go to Oxford where he earned First-Team All-SEC honors in 2023 (College Football Network), Third-Team All-SEC in 2024 (Coaches) and led the team in TFLs in 2023.
Poor numbers at the Scouting Combine
As we have already said, there are a few reasons why highly ranked players end up making it to Day 3 and UDFAs. Injuries and off-field issues are the most common reasons. Ivey doesn’t have any of these issues on his record, only missing one game in 2024 due to a foot injury.
Regarding off-field issues, he’s a positive standout. His coaches loved him and called attention to his intelligence on the field. His teammates praised his charisma and his presence in the locker room.
The only thing we can think of is that his poor Combine numbers caused him to fall so much. A RAS grade of 2 is really bad. And yes, he has his get-off issues and doesn’t have a good bend, but those numbers clearly don’t represent Ivey’s tape.
Versatility and Pass Rush
In today’s NFL, with quarterbacks throwing the ball quickly to neutralize pressure on the pass, defensive linemen need to be able to get their hands in passing lanes. This requires awareness, vision, and timing. Ivey has shown that he can bat down passes. He had five total passes defended in college, but three of those were in 2024.
Jared Ivey has great hand strength and uses this separation at the point of attack to smoothly transition between chops, swipes, swims, and variations of the swipe-rip, club swing, and push and pull. Because of this, he is able to win as a pass rusher in almost any alignment, which allows him to be used in favorable matchups.
He also likes to add this jump move to his moves when attacking the outside.
He has good versatility in his moves, but this one is his favorite. He has good timing for a swim move and adds the club to create separation.
A total of 72% of snaps were as an EDGE in 2024 (much more than in 2023) and Ivey has a lot of experience attacking B gaps, head-up over tackles and outside.
Notice that he can create space with the strength of his hands, but lacks flexibility to get around the OL.
These are two points that bother me about his game. He takes a while to react to the snap and uses this lateral step frequently. Some coaches call it a read-step, but he uses it much more frequently and this causes him to waste (more) time in passing situations.
He is sometimes aggressive in attacking the B-gap and improvising stunts in an uncoordinated way. This allows him to leave the edge open for QBs to escape and gain time.
In addition to his high pad level, which is very inconsistent in his game, on some snaps he seems to “rest” and this clashes with his current effort snap after snap.
Run Defense
His pad level fluctuates a lot. He plays too high and allows the OL to make contact first.
He has trouble maintaining position against double teams. His anchoring in the run game can be inconsistent. Sometimes he gets kicked out of the base with a high pad level and is taken off the line of scrimmage easily.
When it comes to the fundamentals of run defense. His athleticism allows him to close quickly for a tackle at or near the line of scrimmage.
He completely seals his gap with good leverage and prevents the OL from advancing. This forces the RB to change paths and allows other defenders to get to the play as well.
He has the experience to read developing blocks and protect against the run. His 125 combined tackles at Ole Miss were no small feat, and his sack count has steadily increased each year.
Final Thoughts
Despite his athletic limitations, Ivey is very smart and versatile, something that is very useful in Mike Macdonald’s scheme. He has incredible potential as a pass rusher, playing both standing and with his hands on the ground, and is a good run defender (who still has room for improvement).
When we talk about the selection of Rylie Mills and his versatility, names like Mike Morris and Roy Robertson-Harris come to mind. Mills and Ivey are excellent options to replace those two names.
