Welcome to the 13th daily installment of the NFL Draft 1-through-32 series on DK Pittsburgh Sports, intended to introduce you, a prospect at a time, to the top 32 players in the class on a consensus basis, leading right up to the main event.
That, of course, will be April 27-29, in Kansas City, Mo., though all 32 teams, including the Steelers on the South Side, will operate from their local headquarters.
NO. 13: CALIJAH KANCEY
Pitt defensive tackle
Kancey is the No. 13-rated player on Pro Football Focus' big board. Being perceived as an undersized defensive tackle by NFL standards does not faze Kancey, whose athleticism on the interior has gone unmatched and unrivaled, and has given him comparisons to former Pitt great and all-world defensive tackle Aaron Donald.
COLLEGE BACKGROUND
In building off of a 2021 in which he was named a third-team All-American and to the All-ACC first team, Kancey had a career-defining 2022 season after which he was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and a unanimous All-American selection, the first for Pitt since Donald in 2013. He is Pitt's first ACC Defensive Player of the Year since ... again, you guessed it ... Donald in 2013. He tallied 31 total tackles, 14.5 for loss, and 7.5 sacks as he missed the final two games of 2022 with a shoulder injury. He led all Football Bowl Subdivision interior defensive lineman in tackles for loss, despite the time missed because of injury.
The Miami native was a three-star recruit in the class of 2019 who converted from running back to defensive line in high school. Kancey measured at 6-foot, 264 pounds as he chose Pitt among 19 total offers, the majority of which came from Group of Five schools. His Power Five offers were from Pitt, Georgia Tech, Kansas State, Louisville, Rutgers, South Carolina, and Miami, per 247Sports.
NFL COMBINE, PRO DAY
Kancey stole headlines at the NFL Combine with his record 40-yard dash time of 4.67 seconds, which only turned the flicker of debate of Kancey versus Donald into a cooler-talk headline. That time edged Donald's 4.68 seconds in the 2014 Combine as the fastest 40-yard dash time by a defensive tackle at the Combine dating to 2000.
Calijah Kancey officially ran a 4.67 forty yard dash
β PFF College (@PFF_College) March 2, 2023
Fastest 40 time by a Defensive Tackle since 2000π³
pic.twitter.com/HQ30fCaz1n
The 40-yard dash is the lone event which Kancey participated in during the Combine. He earned a prospect grade of 6.39 at the Combine, which measures to "will eventually be plus starter" within its evaluation system. NFL Next Gen Stats graded him at 82, or "good." Each of those grades ranked second to Georgia's Jalen Carter among defensive tackles. His athleticism score of 94, of course, ranked first among Combine DTs.
As for Kancey's pro day, just watch for yourself:
And listen for yourself:
Kancey measured at 6-foot-1, 283 pounds, jumped a 33.5-inch vertical and a 9-foot-4 broad jump, and ran a 6.82-second three-cone and a 4.33-second 20-yard shuttle at the Pitt pro day. His weight was two pounds heavier than what he measured at the Combine.
"They thought I was 5-10, I came in 6-1, 283," Kancey said after his pro day. "I kind of surprised a lot of people."
Among Combine defensive tackles, Kancey's vertical would have been second by an inch, his broad jump would have tied for fourth, his three-cone time would have finished first, and his shuttle time would have finished first.
MOCK DRAFT
The USA Today mock draft consensus tracker has Kancey going at No. 24 overall to Jacksonville, with an average draft slotting at 24.33. Our own latest mock draft has Kancey going to Philadelphia at No. 30.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE STEELERS' STANDPOINT
Here is where it gets tricky. Kancey would not typically profile as a 3-4 nose tackle based on his size alone. That said, perhaps Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin and defensive line coach Karl Dunbar could have other ideas? It's worth noting the Steelers, naturally, had a massive turnout in representation at Pitt's pro day. Dunbar, however, was not at the Steelers' pro day, and Kancey specifically said at the time he did not have a plan to meet with the Steelers.
So, read into that how you may.
It's also arguable that the offensive line and the secondary are higher priority addresses at pick No. 17. If Kancey falls to 32, then the conversation will surely heat up about the possibility of the Steelers going after him to kick off Day 2. Again, that is ONLY if Tomlin and Co. deem him as a fit for the Steelers' defensive line.
COREY'S TAKE
The above paragraphs are meant in absolutely zero amount of disrespect to the type of player Kancey is. He is a freak athlete for being an interior defensive lineman, and his ability to get to the quarterback last season was unmatched across all of college football. He has a solid chance at thriving in the right defense -- let's maybe slow down the comparisons to Donald and give him a chance? -- and has a blend of power and speed which is simply rare for defensive tackles coming out of college.
How high is the internal NFL world on Kancey? In his post-Combine evaluation, NFL analyst Lance Zierlein compared Kancey to John Randle.
Yes. Pro Football Hall of Famer John Randle.
Just from watching Kancey last season, I'll say this: He was Thanos out there. Why? Because it was inevitable that Kancey would get into the backfield nearly at will and make a play.
If you watch the highlight reel posted above, you'll notice that. There were plays where the center or guard -- usually both, actually -- were totally unmatched by Kancey's abilities. Some team will be lucky enough to land him simply for how special of an athlete he is.
THE REST
You can view the rest of our 1-through-32 NFL Draft stories below.
1. Alabama QB Bryce Young
2. Georgia DT Jalen Carter
3. Alabama DE Will Anderson Jr.
4. Kentucky QB Will Levis
5. Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud
6. Florida QB Anthony Richardson
7. Illinois CB Devon Witherspoon
8. Texas Tech DE Tyree Wilson
9. TCU WR Quentin Johnston
10. Oregon CB Christian Gonzalez
11. Northwestern OT Peter Skoronski
12. Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
