Jer’Zhan Newton was never the kind of player who would impress you with raw stats.
The Illinois star only had 13 sacks the last two years, or roughly what Laiatu Latu — the first defender selected in the 2024 NFL Draft — had per season at UCLA. But that wasn’t his selling point. Newton was an agent of chaos in Champaign, a bull that couldn’t be lassoed or tamed, forcing double teams and creating space for his teammates to thrive.
Ultimately, that wasn’t enough to convince NFL teams he’s a first round pick. In a draft that set a record with only nine defensive players taken on Day 1, Newton’s name wasn’t called.
There are a few reasons for this. The most obvious is a foot injury prevented him from showing off the explosion and power that made him an All-American at the combine or his pro day. Teams only had his 6-foot-1, 305-pound measurements to work with — numbers that, paired with a sub-76-inch wingspan, are below average for NFL defensive tackles.
Does Jer’Zhan Newton hit him with a WR double move before the swim? This is filthy. pic.twitter.com/C9zaY64Uhc
— Imagidadnation (@imagidadnation) March 23, 2024
There’s also the fact Newton is difficult to quantify. He was a wrecking ball in college, but will he have the same rising tide effect against a better class of offensive linemen? With a scant few defenders taken in the first round — and only one tackle in that mix (depending on where you’d put Darius Robinson) — Newton had too many unknowns to keep him place on Day 1.
Fortunately for him, there are plenty of teams in need of a gap-crushing mutant up front to start Day 2.
