NFL Draft
4/14/25
4 min read
Nick Kubitz 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For North Dakota State Bison Linebacker
Height: 6021 (verified)
Weight: 229lbs (verified)
Year: Sixth-Year Senior
Pro Comparison: Garret Wallow
Scouting Overview
North Dakota State Bison linebacker Nick Kubitz projects as a potential special teams demon and depth linebacker at the NFL level. He’s been a standout teams star for the Bison throughout the course of his college career (421 snaps on teams) while serving as a primary starter at MIKE linebacker for the last three years.
Kubitz is rangy, urgent, and plays with infectious energy. Although he can play a bit wild at times, his blend of size and tempo can burn him when first coming into contact.
2025 NFL Combine Results
DNP
Positives
- Posted crazy good explosion scores as NDSU pro day — 41" vertical & 10’09” broad
- Love the energy that he plays with in his pursuit of the football
- Special teams demon who has been a key standout in all four units
Negatives
- Modest size and tackle radius to play as an NFL MIKE
- Can be prone to out-of-control tackle challenges (16% missed tackle rate)
- Ability to stack and negotiate climbing blocks onto the second level can prompt getting stuck on linemen
Background
Kubitz is from Dubuque, IA, and played high school football for Dubuque HS. There, he was a two-year starter who was named Second Team All-State for his play while also lettering in basketball, baseball, swimming, and track and field—where he finished fifth in the State for the long jump.
Despite his athleticism, Kubitz was unranked as a recruit before enrolling at North Dakota State in 2019.
Kubitz redshirted in 2019 before contributing to the 2021 spring season as a special teamer. He would go on to appear in all 15 games in 2021 and made a whopping 15 tackles on kickoff coverage. Kubitz made his first career starts for the program in 2022 (10 in 15 games) before starting 13 of 14 games in 2023 and starting all 14 games he played during the National Championship season of 2024.
Tale Of The Tape
Kubitz gave his draft stock a major jolt with eye-popping numbers out of NDSU Pro Day during the pre-draft process. He’s a lean and wiry stack linebacker with explosive athleticism that, in the right conditions, could yield a valuable game-day contributor.
His primary value to a roster initially will lie in his kick and punt coverage reps. With the league’s evolving kickoff rules and the added pressure to allow opposing teams to field kickoffs, having rangy and physical players to win in space and make plays on the ball is paramount.
Kubitz’s special teams experience is littered with coverage tackles and blocked kicks across 400+ special teams snaps. He most recently blocked a punt against Towson in 2024.
Kubitz has a sideline-to-sideline range but is not the most physical stack linebacker. When playing off-ball, he’ll make reads on inside runs to duck underneath blocks and take himself out of a position to make a tackle challenge. When dipping underneath, he struggles to play through and shrug off contact.
Kubitz has not frequently been charged with pressure assignments. He’s instead spent most of his passing downs in coverage. He does have the hips, foot speed, and sufficient length to be an effective zone dropper. Kubitz has not illustrated a high level of competitiveness to drive and/or sink into throwing windows, but he’s generally a solid after-the-catch pursuit player.
More of his tackling challenges come from run fits and a failure to come to balance prior to contact. He posted a career-high 17 percent missed tackle rate in 2024.
Kubitz does not have a great deal of appeal as a plug backer and lacks the block deconstruction skills and heavyweight pads to be a stalwart when triggering downhill into run fits. Still, as a scape/pursuit backer who can zone drop, he holds value as a depth piece of the puzzle at linebacker. More importantly for a late Day 3 prospect, he holds the ability to play on special teams and be an immediate contributor.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Kubitz projects best as a core special teamer at the NFL level. With the right front aligned to protect him, he could serve as a free-flowing scrape defender as a linebacker in the NFL, but he will need to be more disciplined in his tackle challenges if he’s going to be successfully trusted to make that leap.
Grade: 69.50/100.00, Sixth Round Value
Big Board Rank: 225
Position Rank: LB19
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