Drake Nugent NFL Draft 2024: Scouting Report for Michigan IOL

BR NFL Scouting DepartmentContributor IApril 13, 2024

Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

HEIGHT: 6’1½”

WEIGHT: 298

HAND: 9″

ARM: 33″

WINGSPAN: 78¼”

40-YARD DASH: 5.23

3-CONE: 7.33

SHUTTLE: 4.5

VERTICAL: 29.5″

BROAD: 8’5″

POSITIVES

— Operates with spark-plug energy, aggression and initial quickness.

— Can work inside/under his target to win the initial leverage battle on base and overtake blocks.

— Quick feet and processing skills put him in proper position to adjust to slants and gap exchanges.

— Works in an effective snatch-trap technique to steal leverage and give him a shot against nose tackle bull-rush attempts.

— Fights and claws to stay attached to blocks with active feet and excellent effort.

NEGATIVES

— Short, compact frame and build with mediocre play strength and stopping power.

— Buttery soft edges routinely are captured and exploited against movement across his face.

2023 STATISTICS

— 15 starts at center

— First-team All-Big Ten

— National champion

NOTES

— Born Feb. 9, 2001

— 3-star recruit from the 2019 class, per 247Sports

— Three-time Colorado state champion in the shot put

— His father, Terry, played quarterback for Colorado State before being drafted in the sixth round by the Browns and playing for two seasons in the NFL

— Transferred to Michigan for the 2023 season after playing four seasons, starting 24 games at center and earning his degree at Stanford

— 39 career starts at center

OVERALL

Drake Nugent is a three-year starter with 39 career starts at center, including for Michigan’s 2023 national championship-winning team that deployed a run-heavy (61-39 run-pass split), downhill and multiple run scheme with extensive heavy formations. Nugent has a short, compact frame and build with minimal mass and girth, solid athletic ability and marginal power.

Nugent wins in the run game by operating in tandem on double-teams with the initial quicks to get into proper position and fits before overtaking and releasing to the second level in a timely manner. He fights and claws to stay attached with active feet and max effort, which leads to some splash finishes. But overall, he struggles sustaining, steering and recovering out of compromising positions due to his middling size, play strength and power. That leads to him routinely getting stalemated, pressed back and/or edged.

In pass protection, Nugent is largely protected by the scheme’s run-heavy, pass protection-based approach that limits one-on-ones. He is best on play action when he can eliminate the runway of rushers, get his hands on quickly and work in a snatch technique to drop top-heavy bull-rushes. He struggles to protect his edges and will get knocked around against pick attempts.

Overall, Nugent is a spark plug at the pivot who plays fast and hard, but he lacks the necessary size, play strength and power to hold up as a starter in the NFL without positional versatility to fall back on. His best chance of sticking around would be a change in scheme to a more zone-based approach rather than the gap-heavy system he was in at Michigan where his quickness will become more of a focal point in his game.

GRADE: 5.4 (Backup/UDFA with Roster Potential — UDFA)

OVERALL RANK: 241

POSITION RANK: IOL33

PRO COMPARISON: Jimmy Morrissey