Scouting Profile: Jared Ivey - EDGE - Ole Miss
Sales Pitch: Long powerful rusher with inside-out versatility. A tweener build may limit his landing spots but good power and run defense brings a high rotational floor.
*Gold Numbers Indicate NCAA T-25 for 2024*
Scouting Report
Jared Ivey is a former 4-Star recruit from Georgia where he was a two sport star in both football and basketball, receiving Division 1 offers for the latter. He spend his first two seasons at Georgia Tech before transferring to Ole Miss prior to the 2022 season. In his three seasons with the Rebels, Ivey logged 5 or more sacks in each campaign, receiving All-SEC honors in 2024.
Ivey is a long powerful defensive lineman with a tweener build that rests right on the edge of being an interior defensive lineman. He is at his best in the run game, where he uses excellent play strength to set a strong edge. Ivey has the length and grip strength to control 1-on-1 reps in the run game in both single and two-gap systems. He doesn’t shy away from contact when pullers attack his side and consistently wrecks TE’s when left alone with them. Ole Miss would ask him to slide inside to the B-Gap at times, where he showed the block shed ability and quickness to create penetration versus interior lineman. Ivey primary wins as a power rusher when aligned on the edge, leveraging his massive wingspan and strength to collapse the edges of the pocket. Similar to the run game ,he is able to reduce inside and use his speed and length to overwhelm guards on obvious passing downs. He has a solid collection of rush moves, including the two hand swipe and arm over, both of which display the old high school basketball background when he uses those moves from a 2-point stance. When his rush fails, Ivey shows a knack for getting hands in throwing lanes and tipping balls at the line of scrimmage.
Ivey is on the larger side for an edge defender and lacks the lateral movement skills and balance traditionally seen from the position. When left in space as a tackler he can struggle to drop his pads and corral quicker players despite his big tackling radius. He tends to be slow to uncoil his frame out of a 3-point stance, resulting in him consistently being reached on zone concepts. Ivey’s lack of top end movement skills hamper his ability to beat offensive tackles who can match his power. He lacks the bend or top end speed to consistently turn the corner and close on the quarterback in a controlled manner. His limitations in terms of lateral movement lead to poor production as a looper on stunts and twist as well. Ivey struggles with firing his hands quickly as a rusher from the edge position. He can be slow to get into his rush moves and savvy lineman are able to get hands on his longer torso and negate his rush early in reps. Ivey plays with good toughness but his motor can run too hot and cold over the course of a game. For a player who will not likely be a star for his NFL defense, he will have improve his effort levels if he wants stick as a starter.
Ivey profiles as a starting DE in an odd front but does have the versatility to play some 5T or 3T in an even front. His length and power indicate an ability to live in both single or two gap run systems. His frame and ready made run defense project favorably to the NFL level but given his tweener build and average athletic ability he likely finds himself as a rotational Day 2 pick with starter upside in the right scheme.