Nelson Ceaser, Edge Houston: 2024 NFL Draft Profile

Ceaser was a three-star recruit from Ridge Point High School in Missouri City, Texas in the class of 2019

Houston pass rusher Nelson Ceaser has the opportunity to make a splash in a weak edge class. The team captain projects as a late third round selection who could rise for a team depending on their defensive scheme.

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Nelson Ceaser, Edge Houston: 2024 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Fifth-year redshirt junior defensive end from Missouri City, Texas

Background: Ceaser was a three-star recruit from Ridge Point High School in Missouri City, Texas in the class of 2019. He was the No. 463 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 498 for On3.com. Ceaser was an unranked four-star recruit for Rivals and an unranked three-star recruit for ESPN with a 79 grade out of 100. He finished his high school career with 131 tackles, including 38 for loss, 21.5 sacks, seven forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and one interception. Ceaser amassed 40 tackles, including 12 for loss, seven sacks, and a forced fumble as a senior while earning All-District 20-6A honors. He was a unanimous First Team All-District 20-6A selection as a junior when he amassed 42 tackles, including 14 for loss, seven sacks, four forced fumbles, three passes defensed, and one interception. Ceaser was the 2016 District 20-6A Defensive Newcomer of the Year when he totaled 55 tackles, including 14 for loss, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and 7.5 sacks. 

Injuries & Off-Field: N/A

Awards: 2023 Team Captain

Pros: Special teams experience on the kick coverage, punt coverage, field goal block, and field goal units, appears to have NFL-caliber arm length, explodes off the line, good closing burst, long-arm move, rip move, cross-chop, double-handed swipe, speed rush to win up the arc, chains long-arm into a double swipe and finishes with a rip, yanks the o-lineman’s arms to throw him off balance, good ankle flexibility, enough bend to turn the corner and flatten rush to the QB, displays contact balance at the top of the arc, examples of finishing plays while being held, long arms help stack and shed, easily able to discard blocking tight ends, potential to make plays as a backside run defender, high effort in pursuit, gets hands up for passes defensed

Cons: Lacks alignment versatility, inconsistent competition level, lacks elite bend, doesn’t counter inside to the B gap frequently, instances where his rush carried him too far upfield, spin moves are ineffective, bull rush dies out against larger linemen, struggles to play through the frames of linemen, rush disrupted by chip blocks, running backs can halt his rush, still needs to build an arsenal of counters, room for pass rush plan to diversify, lacks elite agility to tracks down mobile QBs in the pocket, desire to rush the passer opens running lanes, inconsistent setting a hard edge, anchor at point of attack can be light, hands need to be heavier and more violent to shed in the run game, slips off tackle attempts

Overview: Ceaser has special teams experience on the kick coverage, punt coverage, field goal block, and field goal units. He is a wide-alignment rusher who deploys from a two-point stance. Ceaser appears to have NFL-caliber arm length. He explodes off the line and finishes plays with his closing burst. His pass rush plan includes long-arms, rips, cross-chops, double-handed swipes, and speed rushes up the arc. He chains his long-arm into a double swipe and finishes with a rip. Ceaser yanks the offensive lineman’s arms to pull them off balance. He has good ankle flexibility and enough bend to turn the corner and flatten his rush to the quarterback. The redshirt junior displays his contact balance at the top of the arc, sometimes even finishing plays while being held. Against the run, Ceaser uses his long arms to stack and shed blocks. He easily discards blocking tight ends. Ceaser threatens to make plays as a backside run defender. He is a high-effort pursuit defender and gets his hands up to deflect passes. The Texas native lacks alignment versatility. He has to deploy from wide alignments or at least as a 5-tech. Ceaser doesn’t have the power or lower body mass to line up head-up on a tackle and play through the frame of a lineman. His inconsistent competition level makes it difficult to evaluate how he will fare against NFL linemen. Ceaser has good but not elite bend. He doesn’t counter inside to the B gap despite linemen oversetting to reach his wide alignment. Because he doesn’t work back inside, he is often carried too far upfield by his rush plan. Ceaser’s spin moves are ineffective, and his bull rush dies out against larger linemen. Chip blocks easily disrupt his rush plan. The former three-star recruit still needs to build an arsenal of counters and diversify his rush plan. His desire to work upfield opens running lanes. He is inconsistent at setting a hard edge against the run and struggles to anchor at the point of attack. Ceaser’s hands need to be heavier and more violent to shed blocks. He slips off tackle attempts.

Overall, Ceaser is an explosive wide-alignment rusher with a strong set of basic pass rush moves and enough athleticism to challenge offensive tackles vertically. Ceaser has flashes of shedding blockers in the run game, but he’s more inconsistent in that aspect of the game. He projects as a rotational pass rushing outside linebacker (possibly a designated pass rusher) as a rookie.

Role & Scheme Fit: Wide-alignment rusher in a 3-4 scheme

Round Projection: Third Round

Size: 6'3", 250 lbs. (Unofficial)

Submitted: 09-22-23