We are breaking down the Notre Dame football prospects ahead of the NFL Draft which begins on Thursday, April 27th in Kansas City, Missouri. Today we’ll take a look at a former highly touted recruit hoping to have his named called later this month.
SPECS
Name: Jayson Ademilola
Hometown: Jackson, New Jersey
Position: DT
Height: 6-3
Weight: 280
Bench: 25
Vertical: 33″
Broad: 9′ 2″
40-Yard: 5.02
20-Yard: 2.85
10-Yard: 1.67
Shuttle: 4.59
3-Cone: 7.6
*Numbers via the Notre Dame Pro Day from March.
STATS
| YEAR | SOLO | TOTAL | TFL | SACK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 10 | 18 | 1.5 | 0.5 |
| 2019 | 9 | 25 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| 2020 | 6 | 13 | 1.5 | 0.5 |
| 2021 | 29 | 50 | 8.5 | 4.0 |
| 2021 | 9 | 29 | 5.0 | 3.0 |
| Total | 63 | 135 | 20.5 | 8.0 |
BIO:
Ademilola was a top 150 recruit who committed to Notre Dame along with twin brother Justin in late June of 2016. He would fend off interest from other top programs like Alabama, Ohio State, and Clemson but signed in December with Notre Dame before enrolling on campus in the summer of 2018.
During his freshman season, Ademilola showed a lot of promise seeing the field with regularity and slowly built up his playmaking until a meniscus tear in 2020 brought him back down to earth. However, Ademilola had a big true senior season and looked poised to jump to the NFL while the iron was hot. Instead, both he and his brother made the decision to return to Notre Dame for one more season.
STRENGTHS:
A very good motor. Pass rushing skills have developed nicely over his career. Offers a nice blend of size and speed. Played a lot of football in his college career and has a NFL-ready body-type for the 3-tech position.
WEAKNESSES:
Pass rushing skills are good but don’t stand out for a NFL prospect. Decent in the run game but doesn’t always use his size well on the interior. Tended to disappear for long stretches over his career and didn’t end his career on a productive note. His development curve slowed down after a promising 2021.
OVERVIEW:
We just covered offensive lineman Jarrett Patterson in the last article in these scouting reports and Ademilola is in the same boat as someone who came back for a 5th season with the Irish but didn’t seem to help his NFL stock. That’s okay, in this day and age I appreciate the players who want to play for Notre Dame even if they think it’s ultimately a better business decision.
PREDICTION:
7th Round, 253rd Overall to the San Francisco 49ers
The consensus around the league while looking at defensive linemen and interior prospects rankings is that Ademilola is unlikely to get drafted. In some ways, it makes sense. He’s an older college player who probably peaked a while ago. He wasn’t invited to the Combine which wasn’t a good sign, either.
However, the 49ers have a ton of picks in the late rounds and could be a promising landing spot to develop. San Francisco has 4 picks in the 7th round and I think they might swipe Ademilola really late in the process.
I was surprised he didn’t even get a combine invite, thought he was more highly regarded than that. I guess I didn’t realize the 2022 stats were that unimpressive.
In the FWIW category, The Athletic’s Dane Bruger has Ademilola as the 34th DT prospect, only two ahead of Chris Smith. Just one opinion but that feels off to me.
Hope someone likes him and he gets a chance but I tend to doubt it will be as a draftee.
Hmm, some quick math and I don’t think 34 defensive tackles are going to get drafted.
Bruger isn’t the GM for everyone, but yeah, someone is going to have to like him a lot more than that.
Should Jayson last until the bottom of the seventh and 253th (out of 259 picks), it may be better for him to go undrafted where he could negotiate a signing bonus and pick a team needing a DT to maximize his chances of making the roster.
Good contract comparisons in that situation would be Ben Skowronek (#249 in 2021 -picked near that 253 spot) and Kurt Hinish (undrafted in 2022 – another DT). The contracts are nearly the same, though Ben’s is for four years and Kurt’s is for three. Neither has guaranteed money in 2023.