Today’s prospect is another player often projected to the Lions with the No. 18 overall pick.
Calijah Kancey, DT, Pittsburgh
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 281 pounds (measured at Combine)
Kancey just turned 22 years old
Kancey is often compared to another undersized D from the Panthers program, Aaron Donald. It’s unfortunate for Kancey, who is a different style of player from the future Hall of Famer for the Rams. The 3-star recruit from Miami made an impact in his final two seasons at Pittsburgh, racking up 14 sacks (seven each year) and 27 TFLs in 25 games. Kancey made waves at the NFL Scouting Combine with a 4.67 time in the 40-yard dash and by measuring a little taller and heavier than expected.
Pros
- Great first step as an interior rusher and consistent burst off the snap
- Experience playing all interior DL positions and has dabbled as a stand-up EDGE
- Relentless hand usage and above-average quickness with his movements
- Top-end speed in open space is rare for an interior player; can chase down plays that others cannot
- Movement skills of an off-ball LB with excellent body control and balance for his weight
- Above-average closing burst in the backfield to finish plays
- Can quickly get into the pads of taller blockers and leverage off them to make plays
- Shows a variety of moves including a spin in either direction and an up-and-under move that eats slow-footed interior linemen alive
- Motor runs hot every snap
Cons
- Abnormally short arms to go with his unusual lack of weight and lower-body strength
- Consistently moved by single blocking in the run game
- Will drop his head as a rusher and lose sight of the QB/target (see Tennessee ’22 and Wake Forest ’21)
- Poor sense of being allowed to get too far upfield; frequently runs himself out of screens, draws and containment lanes
- His (impressive) upper-body strength comes in an initial burst that he struggles to sustain
- Very difficult to play behind for linebackers between the tackles
- Didn’t show he could win with quickness when attacking from the outside
Overall
Kancey is a unique player as a dramatically undersized interior rusher whose game is based almost entirely on speed. Unlike Aaron Donald or Geno Atkins or Grady Jarrett, Kancey doesn’t have the stocky strength to balance the freakish speed with adequate power to his game. That makes him a very difficult player to project beyond being a situational pass rusher; he’s far too often a liability in run defense and that won’t improve at the NFL level against better blocking and running schemes. Kancey also isn’t as aware or positionally responsible as any of the aforementioned similar body types.
But man, that speed and quickness. Kancey will be a problem for interior linemen with poor feet or balance issues. His ability to close ground and finish plays behind the line is very strong. Used creatively, Kancey could be a consistent 4-6.5 sack contributor even as a part-time player when balanced with a legit outside threat like Detroit has in Aidan Hutchinson.
The limitations to his game are enough that Kancey would be a pretty substantial reach at No. 18. He’d be a worthwhile gamble with one of Detroit’s two second-round picks.
