Pitt's Calijah Kancey Legitimately Looked Like The Second Coming Of Aaron Donald At The NFL Combine
Being quite literal with the headline here, because look how damn close the physical and athletic profiles are between the two former Pitt defensive tackles. Aaron Donald is obviously one of the best defensive players of all-time. He made the pivotal final play to secure the Rams a Super Bowl and is a beyond-reproach first-ballot Hall of Famer.
So am I saying that Calijah Kancey is going to emulate the type of dominance Donald has throughout his illustrious career? No, but against all odds, Kancey might be the closest thing we've ever seen to Donald as a prospect. It's tempting to draw this Donald parallel whenever a twitchy, slender interior guy pops up, like Ed Oliver out of Houston in 2019. The Bills drafted him in the first round. Only this past season did Oliver really start to live up to that billing.
Back to Kancey. Listed in college at 6-foot even and 280 pounds, there was concern entering the NFL Scouting Combine that he could tip the scales lighter and perhaps be a little shorter. Instead, Kancey was an inch taller and a pound heavier than expected. That may sound trivial, yet the measurements and explosive athleticism were key for Kancey to establish on Thursday.
When you see some of his highlights, those unique traits for a man Kancey's size show up in spades:
On my work-in-progress top 100 big board, Kancey is sitting at 17th overall, so he's most definitely a Day 1 guy. With what he brings as such a polished, powerful pass rush skill set on the inside, I could see him getting drafted as high as 10th overall to the Eagles, with a probable floor of the Vikings at pick 24.
Kancey's impressive total of 27.5 tackles for loss and 14.5 sacks over the past two seasons is plenty enough production to believe it'll translate to the NFL. Is the ACC the absolute best competition? No. Still, I think someone this quick at this size would've wrecked games in the SEC or whatever conference he played in.
There's little doubt that Kancey secured his spot in the first round, though, based on what he did in Indy. He wasn't able to participate in other drills due to a shoulder injury. By the time Pitt's pro day rolls around, he could probably do the bench press and other things he missed out on at the Combine if he so desires.
Check out the little flex here. Guy knows he crushed it. Vibing out. Calijah Kancey is about to get after some NFL quarterbacks. Can't wait to see where he lands on draft day.