Jer'Zhan Newton, IDL Illinois: 2024 NFL Draft Profile

Newton was a three-star recruit from Clearwater Central Catholic High School in Clearwater, Fla. in the class of 2020

Illinois defensive tackle Jer'Zhan Newton was an All-American in 2022 and will try to solidify himself as a first round pick this coming season. Newton has a case as one of the best run defenders eligible for the 2024 NFL Draft.

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Jer'Zhan Newton, IDL Illinois: 2024 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Redshirt junior defensive tackle from St. Petersburg, Fla.

Background: Newton was a three-star recruit from Clearwater Central Catholic High School in Clearwater, Fla. in the class of 2020. He was the No. 1,057 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 1,064 for On3.com. Newton was an unranked three-star recruit for Rivals and an unranked three-star recruit for ESPN with a 76 grade out of 100. He originally committed to Maryland before flipping to Illinois. Newton amassed 244 tackles, including 45 for loss, 24 sacks, and five forced fumbles in his high school career. He produced 104 tackles, including 29.5 for loss, 16 sacks, and three forced fumbles as a senior. Newton was a MaxPreps All-American in 2019. According to MaxPreps, he carried the ball as a running back 144 times for 1,229 yards and 13 touchdowns across 12 games as a sophomore. Newton also played basketball in high school. His brother, Jerjuan, is a Second Team All-MAC wide receiver for Toledo. The defensive tackle’s cousin, Pro Wells, was a Second Team All-Big 12 tight end at TCU. Newton was born on Aug. 31, 2002.

Injuries & Off-Field: N/A

Awards: 2021 Honorable Mention All-Big Ten (Media), 2021-22 Academic All-Big Ten, 2022 First Team All-Big Ten, 2022 Second Team All-American

Pros: High motor, plays aggressive football, upper body strength pops, good balance and is rarely on the ground, euro steps and takes wide strides to generate space, powerful hands, hand usage covers for some issues with his arm length, flashes of quick hand swipes and counters, constantly clogging running lanes in 2022, keeps his eye on the ball carrier, stacks, peaks, and sheds blocks against the run, counters to get off of blocks in the run game, excels at shedding or escaping from blocks, quickly redirects to the football, upper body is quick and uses the offensive lineman’s momentum against him, plenty of hand swats and swipes, swim move, push-pull move, some success with a long-arm move despite arm length, spins off blocks toward the football, builds momentum on stunts, sells stunts well by pushing vertically before looping, relentless pursuit of the quarterback

Cons: Arm length, undersized for an interior player, not an explosive or dynamic athlete, short-area agility is limited, pursuit speed, elevated pad level, opens himself to rib shots by playing too high, play strength and pad level lead to him being sealed in the run game, powerful tackles wash him down the LOS, anchor is tested in the run game, doesn’t offer much against double teams, lack size to keep 0-tech snaps in the NFL, only ends up on the ground when diving for a tackle because of a lack of speed or agility, lacks bend to play off the edge, struggles to get skinny and shoot gaps, pass rush arsenal is underdeveloped, bull rush is lacking, struggles to flatten rush angle to the quarterback and finish sack opportunities, agile quarterbacks give him the slip

Overview: Newton aligns as a 4-tech, 4i, 3-tech, 1-tech, and 0-tech for the Fighting Illini. He is an aggressive defender with a high motor and impressive upper body strength despite lacking traditional arm length. Newton displays good balance and is rarely on the ground. He takes wide strides and euro steps to generate space as he probes for an opening. His powerful hands and advanced hand usage cover for some issues with his arm length. Newton flashes quick hand swipes and counters. His pass rush plan includes plenty of swats and swipes, swim moves, push-pull moves, and long-arms. He spins off blocks to redirect to the football. Newton sells stunts well by pushing vertically before building momentum on the loop. His relentless pursuit of the quarterback led to him generating pressure on nearly 14% of his pass rush attempts in 2022. Unfortunately, Newton is an undersized interior player who lacks the bend to play on the edge. He struggles to get skinny and shoot gaps, and his pass rush arsenal is underdeveloped. The redshirt junior’s bull rush is lacking, and he struggles to flatten his rush angle to the quarterback and finish sack opportunities. Agile quarterbacks easily evade Newton’s rush. As a run defender, Newton constantly clogged running lanes in 2022. He keeps his eye on the ball carrier and is a master at stacking, peaking, and shedding blocks to disrupt run plays. Newton excels at escaping from blocks with counters and is quick to redirect to the football. He even uses the offensive lineman’s momentum against the lineman by executing quick hand strikes and swims. The All-American is not an explosive or dynamic athlete and offers limited short-area agility and pursuit speed. He plays with an elevated pad level that opens him to rib shots from linemen. Newton’s play strength and pad level lead to him being sealed in the run game. Powerful tackles wash the Florida native down the line of scrimmage. Newton doesn’t have the anchor to offer much against double teams and lacks the size to keep his 0-tech snaps in the NFL.

Overall, Newton demonstrates a high-end understanding of stacking and shedding blocks to wreak havoc in the run game, but his potential as a pass rusher is less promising than his pressure totals from 2022 suggest. This questionable ability to contribute as a sack artist at the NFL level puts a cap on Newton’s projection to the pros.

Role & Scheme Fit: Eventual starting 3-tech who specializes in run defense

Round Projection: Third Round

Size: 6'2", 295 lbs. (Unofficial)

Submitted: 07-19-23