NFL Draft
1/16/25
6 min read
Jared Ivey 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Mississippi Rebels DL
Height: 6060 (unofficial)
Weight: 285lbs (unofficial)
Year: Redshirt Senior
Pro Comparison: Denico Autry
Scouting Overview
Jared Ivey is a powerhouse defensive end with some notable versatility that should offer him appeal and opportunities in most NFL defenses. Ivey has heavy, heavy hands and effective length to jolt and press blockers off of his chest. He illustrates some teach tape with his lock, peek & shed ability at the point of attack against the run.
There’s room for more consistency in his fundamentals, but the foundation is obvious and will serve him well for early playing opportunities. Ivey also showcases a hot motor rushing the passer and some surprisingly polished rush counters that have allowed him to consistently pressure opposing quarterbacks as a part of a loaded defensive front at Ole Miss.
Ivey should be considered an early-down player to start, but as he acclimates to the NFL level, it would not be surprising if he commands bigger snap shares and a wider menu of alignments to help impact opposing quarterbacks.
2025 NFL Combine Results
TBD
Positives
- Tremendous power in his hands to jolt the point of attack and reset blocks into the backfield
- Strong deconstruction ability as a point-of-attack defender to uncover and with an initial pass rush move
- Illustrates significant alignment versatility and is capable of situationally winning all over the front
Negatives
- Possesses modest first-step explosiveness to threaten with speed off the edge
- Can get caught with undisciplined eyes and high pads once stacking blocks at times
- Must slingshot with hands for optimal lateral disengagement — only modest lower body flexibility and twitch
Background
Ivey is from Suwanee, GA, and played high school football at North Gwinnett HS. There, he was a 4-star recruit (247 Sports) who also received offers to play basketball at the college level, including programs like Middle Tennessee State.
Ivey broke out on the gridiron his senior year of high school, posting 20 sacks before he committed to and enrolled at Georgia Tech for his college football experience. There, he played in 20 games across his first two seasons of eligibility, including the COVID-19 pandemic season in 2020, which granted him a fifth year of eligibility.
Ivey entered the transfer portal after his sophomore season in 2021 as a 4-star transfer and one of the best five-ranked transfer defensive ends in the country (247 Sports). He landed with Ole Miss and played more than 500 snaps with seven starts in 13 games in his first season. He finished his Ole Miss career in 2024 with 30 starts in 38 games with the program — 43 starts and 58 total games played in college collectively. He was named the 2023 Peach Bowl Defensive MVP and named Third Team All-SEC in 2024.
Ivey accepted an invitation to play in the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl at the end of his collegiate career.
Tale Of The Tape
Ivey is a versatile talent who boasts winning skills at the point of attack. He will check all the boxes for length and block deconstruction ability for gap control schemes, thanks to his reach and punch timing. It is impressive to watch Ivey lock out and control a blocker before discarding the man and uncovering for tackle challenges along the line of scrimmage. This is predominantly where Ivey offers immediate value at the NFL level, but he does pair this play with a rush IQ that lands on the higher end of the scale of prospects in this year’s class.
The challenges Ivey faces in unlocking that ability are tied to his dynamic athleticism. As such, he is a sufficient-level pass rusher whose production is tied to power and technique.
Ivey’s get-off is sufficient on the edge but holds more power and potential on the interior, especially as a crashing or slanting talent to press for a gap and force a lineman to change their angles early in the rep. In these instances, Ivey shows good lateral contact balance to play through a punch and has the body contortion skill to reduce surface area through the contact window.
He’s an effective rip, club, chop, or swim rusher in these opportunities and times his counters well. Many of Ivey’s wins come from power on the inside and out. He has enough mass and length to roll through a heavy landed punch and long arm or walk back a blocker to open multiple exit angles to the target.
Ivey has played a lot of football, and it shows. He’s pretty keen on blocking assignments and late-developing plays that involve pullers. He reacts accordingly to spill or slip these blocks in space, although he is prone to quick-hitting action as the unblocked defender to the front side. He lacks the lateral burst or acceleration for quick misdirection unless he’s crashing to the mesh point and can simply engulf a longer developing action.
Ivey needs to be vigilant about his pad level moving forward. He’s a bigger framed player on the edge and double teams can roll his pads up, risking the desired anchor at the point. There are times when he’ll create initial control of a gap but lose his leverage while peeking to try to locate the football. But when he’s sound and disciplined to stay in his power posture, he’s capable of fully controlling the block.
Multiple front teams will love the versatility. He’s taken nearly 400 snaps in the B-gap, another 500 plus snaps head-up over tackles, and in excess of 1,300 snaps outside of the tackle. His best NFL role likely will be more from tighter alignments, where his strength, gap control ability, and hand usage can shine — and his modest first step is mitigated or can be unleashed against heavier-footed blockers on the inside.
Ivey may not ever be a starring player for your front, but his diverse power can help keep it impactful year after year amid attrition and personnel changes.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Ivey is a versatile talent in scheme, front, and alignment. He lacks the raw explosiveness off the edge to be a dominant force rushing the quarterback, but his active and precise hand counters and his ability to collapse angles afford him multiple pathways to disruption.
Ivey is best suited to play as a base end and be given opportunities to rush inside on long and late downs as he develops. This is a potential impact NFL starter by the end of his rookie contract.
Grade: 77.50/100.00, Second Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
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