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Why Illinois’ Johnny Newton is NFL Draft’s most underrated defensive player
Football is a cyclical sport. Ideas and concepts are rarely new, and as adjustments get made they force both offenses and defenses to change personnel and the body types they look for. As free agency began to unfold, it’s looking more and more like having good defensive tackle play is increasing in value. Offenses are leaning more into bigger bodies up front and more gap scheme run games, simply because many linebackers are now 210-pound former safeties in the box. If teams want to play like that defensively, having good tackles up front will become more important.
As defensive tackles begin to get paid more and become more valuable, it lines up perfectly with the 2024 NFL Draft class, and who I believe is the best defensive player of the bunch: Illinois defensive tackle Johnny Newton.
For the last two seasons, Newton has terrorized Big 10 offensive lines to the tune of 89 pressures, 13 sacks and 23 tackles for loss, and the Illini defense put up record numbers in 2022. Let’s dig into his game to figure out why he’s the best defensive player in the class.
PHYSICALS:
6’2
304 lbs
32 3/8 inch arms
9 1⁄2 inch hands
While Newton doesn’t have the longest arms or biggest hands, what stands out about Newton’s game is how violent his hands are. He’s rarely losing the hand fight at the line of scrimmage in the run or passing game, and his ability to shed defenders in both facets makes him a true three-down threat. In Illinois’ five-man defense, Newton was mirror-stepping with offensive linemen, meaning he would react before attacking. Despite that, he was still consistently beating linemen to the punch and making plays, due to his violent hands which allow him to redirect into other gaps to make plays on the ball.
He’s really good against outside zone runs, where he has the lateral speed to stay flat down the line of scrimmage to track down ballcarriers, or the discipline not to get too far upfield and get into cutback lanes. His hand usage always comes with a plan, and we see that show up in the run game. On this rep against Iowa, he’s able to displace the hands against a zone run, then squeeze back down the line of scrimmage to make the tackle. Special stuff for a 300+ pound defender.
Newton also has the quickness to track down plays from the backside, making his play against the run come with multiple tackles for loss. His foot quickness off the ball plus disciplined run defending makes him a true pain to try and block. Michigan State found out the hard way in 2022. Watch his ability to stay lateral, but keep one arm free to make this play on the backside. His ability to redirect and make plays is really good.
Here you can see how Newton uses his first step and violent hands not to make the tackle, but to overall cause chaos on this play. He blows up this run by simply depositing the guard in the back’s lap and letting his teammates clean it up.
Against the pass, Newton is an absolute terror. He always has a pass rush plan and has exceptional closing burst to get to the QB. Newton loves a two hand swipe move, and has the hip flexibility to turn the corner once he gets the hands off of him and finish at the QB. Newton’s ability to flatten kinda comes and goes, but when he’s on, there’s no more destructive force defensively in this draft. Against Minnesota, Newton rushes from off the edge because the Illini drop their two edges into coverage. Watch his ability to bend this angle flat and chase down the QB … at 305 pounds. Pretty crazy mover!
When he’s rushing against guards and centers, he does such a great job of working one half of the lineman. He’s always aiming to get to their outside shoulder and can collapse a pocket from that point as well as anyone in the class, regardless of position.
Newton steps into an NFL locker room and immediately becomes a pressure cooker with his ability to win going both across the face of a linemen and straight down the outside shoulder is going to unlock a lot of other pass rushers for whatever team gets Newton. Watch this rep against Wisconsin, Newton loves to finish off the swipe with an arm-over, or swim move, as he gets past the linemen’s shoulder, and it causes a lot of problems for opposing linemen.
Newton also is effective on stunts and games up front. As the NFL shifts to changing the picture up front defensively, having players who can win on pass rush games and cause havoc that way is always a plus. Newton’s quickness and hand usage really show up in this department, effectively deconstructing blocks on his way to pressuring QBs.
Overall, Newton is a dynamic three down prospect who has positional versatility, lining up as a 3T, 4i or 5T in Illinois’ five man front. His quickness and disruptiveness with his hands make him an easy evaluation as both a run and pass defender, and the ability to finish in the pass rush game makes his ceiling extremely high. Defensive tackles are all the rage right now, and Newton is the best of the bunch.
