Siaki Ika 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Background: 

• Transferred to Baylor after spending one and a half seasons at LSU

• Invited to All-American and Polyneasean Bowl as a high school prospect
• Four-star recruit rated as the No. 1 recruit in the state of Utah

System: 

• Scheme tendencies: Exotic odd/bear front defense with blitz schemes 
• 2022 projected role: Starting nose tackle

Pros: You get some Danny Shelton vibes with the movement skills and the frame. Siaki Ika is pleasantly quick for a big bowling ball of a player and you can see some potential present for a more impactful player with further refinement and consistent pad level. Ika offers a wide frame and if he’s charged with playing through centers or shooting gaps, he’s very difficult to anchor against. Instead, you’ll need to use his own momentum against him—until he hits a hump counter and works back across your face. This allows him to keep offensive linemen off guard, particularly when the game script worked in Baylor’s favor and teams needed to press early on. I was impressed with his finishing ability and his skills to get off of blocks late in the play to challenge ball carriers on interior gaps. While he isn’t super dynamic laterally, he’s not a linear-only player and offers above-average range to play the run beyond just the A-gaps as well. Baylor let him off the leash in 2021 and was rewarded with ample interior push—and he still feels to have more room for improvement to become even more impactful in 2022 and beyond. 

Cons: For all of his mass and strength, I did not think Siaki Ika anchored particularly well against double teams. He’s more of a penetration player than he is a gap penetrator and as a result, I think some teams will struggle to find the right role without improvement in stacking blocks and controlling gaps. He’s got the frame to do it, but it hasn’t been where he has shined thus far as compared to pushing through gaps and creating chaos to force the back off their track early in the down. Baylor also went out of their way to sub him out in games when teams were forced into high-volume passing; multi-score games in favor of the Bears saw Ika out of the game much more frequently on the early downs. What is the ceiling as a pass rusher and every-down player? If teams deem it to not be high, then Ika’s draft stock will certainly take a dip as a result. I’d love to see him play in 2022 slightly reconditioned with his frame and showcasing a little bit more raw explosiveness to try to unlock potential in this phase of the position.

Siaki Ika NFL Draft Scouting Report by Kyle Crabbs