NFL Draft
1/30/25
6 min read
Darius Alexander 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Toledo Rockets DT
Height: 6035 (verified)
Weight: 304lbs (verified)
Year: Sixth-Year Senior
Pro Comparison: Muhammad Wilkerson
Scouting Overview
Toledo Rockets defensive tackle Darius Alexander is a rocked-up, twitchy defender who boasts loads of potential in a variety of defensive schemes. Alexander has top-tier length and some flashes of strong gap control at the point of attack — he has the needed strength to live and play in any gap along the front.
As a pass rusher, Alexander has an explosive first step and surreal power at his disposal when he’s well-coiled and can unload into blockers with his power rushes. He leans on his heavy hands to jolt with counters or pull blockers off their base. He has consistency questions and would benefit from refinement of his block leveraging, disengagement skills, and pass rush plan to be a more constant threat to offenses, but his physical ability is that of an impact starter.
2025 NFL Combine Results
TBD
Positives
- Loads of power through his frame. He’s capable of overwhelming amounts of push as a bull rusher thanks to his explosive athletic profile
- Has elite length to play at the fringes of his wingspan when he’s able to secure a firm hand fit
- Offers scheme, alignment, and assignment responsibilities to play in penetration or gap control systems
Negatives
- Consistency looms as his biggest question — both game over game and play over play
- Is irregular with his timing of the snap, robbing him of some of the impact of his potential first-step explosiveness
- Pad level & hand leverage can both deteriorate throughout the course of a rep, costing him control of the point
Background
Alexander is from Fort Wayne, IN, and played high school football at Wayne HS. There, he was a 3-star recruit (247 Sports Composite) as a defensive end talent. He was an accomplished prep athlete on the gridiron. He was twice named All-State ahead of enrolling at Toledo for his college commitment as a member of the 2019 recruiting class. As a freshman in 2019, Alexander redshirted with the program as an offensive tackle before converting back to the defensive side of the football for the 2020 COVID-19 shortened season. That 2020 season saw him play in six games and log his first career sack.
Alexander would play in 26 games and post four starts across the next two seasons at Toledo before assuming a prominent starting role on the defensive line in 2023. Across his final two seasons of college eligibility, Alexander posted 7.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss across 26 contests. He was named Third Team All-MAC in 2023 and Second Team All-MAC in 2024.
Alexander was also recognized by The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman as a member of his annual "Freaks List." He was credited with a 400lb bench press, a 30” vertical jump, and clocking in at 20mph on GPS tracking.
Tale Of The Tape
When everything clicks into place for Alexander, look out. This is an absolute load of a defender who pops with a blend of quick twitch ability, length, and dynamic power to win the point of attack. Alexander is not a finished product and leaves some opportunities on the field on account of the inconsistencies in his game, but his production profile does not necessarily match his skill set on account of some of the extra attention he garnered at Toledo.
Alexander offers explosive hands and jolts blockers to create point-of-attack knockbacks. When he catches an opponent in the strike zone, he’s capable of fully claiming the rep and creating a stack within the full jurisdiction of his extension. These reps afford him total control to lock, peek & shed, or deconstruct blocks and work into adjacent gaps effectively. Alexander shows enough athleticism to separate into an adjacent gap and shows some viable two-gapping ability as a result.
That said, his punch placement and pad level are too irregular for him to live up to his full potential on a snap-by-snap basis. It is too often that Alexander concedes his chest or fails to sync his punch up before conceding some contact into his own chest.
These reps highlight the need for secondary work with his hands to reset and put himself in a position to deconstruct hands and work free after losing initial contact. Alexander can get bubbled against doubles and needs to have a better plan for preserving real estate when facing combos to achieve his ceiling and warrant reps as a starting talent at the pro level.
There’s plenty of value in the passing game to go with Alexander’s ceiling as a run defender. He offers a twitchy first step and generates loads of power in short spaces. When he’s faced with softer sets, he is capable of rolling speed to power and whitewashing guards and centers back to completely obliterate the integrity of the interior of the pocket. When facing jump sets and early contact, Alexander shows a willingness to rip, club, push/pull, or long arm rushers. He’s savvy to flashing a ghost hand to force a punch before attacking with a counter.
Alexander ideally continues to develop better secondary plans, as his value as a rusher can be stymied when his initial momentum stalls. That, plus some irregularity with timing up his get-off at the snap, can rob him of some of his appeal and impact as a rusher.
Adding to Alexander’s presence as a pass rusher is his athleticism and length to occupy throwing windows. He’s gotten his hands on a lot of footballs by putting arms in throwing lanes and successfully batting down passes at the point. Alexander has often been charged with dropping into shallow hot windows — highlighted by his pick-six against Pittsburgh in Toledo’s 2024 bowl game. Sim pressure squads will love his experience in this realm.
Athletically, Alexander is certainly more impactful and consistent as a gap shooter in linear situations. His pad-level inconsistencies can prompt some top-heavy moments where lateral contact knocks him off the block, and he can struggle to recover. But when he’s well-postured and playing with leverage, he’s got redirection ability, nimbleness, and agility.
Alexander has played up and down the front, mainly in the B-gap in various 2, 2i, and 3T alignments. Nearly 1,700 of his career 2,054 snaps have come in the B-gap. Physically, he profiles as a 3-tech for even front teams and a 4i end for odd front schemes.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Alexander projects as a universal talent but should be regarded as a developmental starter. He has the length, upper-body power, and lateral disengagement agility to play gap control schemes as a 4i while also boasting the raw first-step quickness and rush counters to attack in a penetration scheme.
Grade: 77.50/100.00, Second Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
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