Doug Nester 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Background: 

• Basketball and track & field participant in high school

• Transferred to West Virginia after two seasons of play at Virginia Tech
• Played through a broken right hand in 2021

System: 

• Scheme tendencies: Air Raid offense
• 2022 projected role: Starting guard

Pros: Doug Nester’s skill set has been showcased sufficiently between his time with the Virginia Tech Hokies program and the West Virginia team throughout the course of his college career. Nester’s big frame does well to provide punch and power at the point of attack. He’s an effective mauler in the run game who offers strong hands and sufficient leg drive. Nester has a big frame, too. He has effectively walled off and turned out defenders along the front to seal gaps and create creases. I appreciate his mental toughness and tenacity as a player; working through an injury that very easily could have derailed his season and upended his playing time was a big plus for me when accounting for his 2021 campaign. Nester is playing in the right environment to develop himself as a more well-rounded player, too. I’m hopeful that a season protecting for JT Daniels will have him positioned to be a more pro-ready blocker in protection.

Cons: Doug Nester has a bit of an untraditional build for playing on the interior and there are some instances in which his length and stature work against him playing inside. Quick interior defenders can challenge him with their initial quickness out of the blocks or when crashing across his face. Nester can have a hard time re-adjusting in those instances to anchor and leverage while simultaneously sliding his feet to cut off penetration. Lateral quickness is only sufficient and that should be accounted for in how often you’re leaving him as the post-player in half-slide protections and giving him a two-way go to dual or adjust his set versus both gaps. Nester has the size and length to account for this and continue to polish his sets, but execution is something I’m looking for more consistency in. The foot speed dynamic was something that I thought led to some leaning and balance issues as well when charged with sustaining blocks.

Doug Nester NFL Draft Scouting Report by Kyle Crabbs