NFL Draft
4/7/25
5 min read
Jack Kiser 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Notre Dame Fighting Irish LB
Height: 6015 (verified)
Weight: 231lbs (verified)
Year: Sixth-Year Senior
Pro Comparison: Jack Sanborn
Scouting Overview
Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Jack Kiser is an undersized but instinctive prospect. He boasts good play processing ability and a wide field of vision as a space player. He needs high-level instincts to help him mask sufficient athleticism and his stature limitations, but Kiser boasts a powerful tool in his play.
He’s self-aware of how he needs to play, the angles he needs to take, and the limitations he’s working with. Playing within himself provides consistent yield as a productive tackler. He isn’t overly fluid or long or disruptive in coverage, and his ability to attack and deconstruct blocks is minimal, considering his play length.
Still, he’s gritty and tough and does a lot of dirty work on special teams, which should make him a welcome addition to anyone’s linebacker depth.
2025 NFL Combine Results
TBD
Positives
- High football IQ player with record-setting playing experience with the Irish
- He is a disciplined and refined tackler who plays within his frame — career missed tackle rate is under 5%
- Nearly 1,000 career special teams with more than 200 career snaps on each kickoff, punt, and punt return units
Negatives
- Possesses only sufficient range and burst for his size, making the height/weight/speed profile below average
- Possesses a smaller wingspan and reach, limiting effectiveness by playing off of blocks and cutting down his tackle radius
- Turns 25 years old during September of his rookie season
Background
Kiser is from Royal Center, IN, and played high school football for Pioneer HS. There, Kiser was a marquee two-way talent who contributed in every imaginable way to Pioneer. He was named the Indy Star’s Mr. Football in 2018 and was rated as a 4-star recruit by 247 Sports. Kiser enrolled at Notre Dame as a member of the program’s 2019 recruiting class.
Kiser played in four games as a true freshman in 2019 before redshirting and then logged his first start among the 10 games he played in 2020 during the COVID-19 season. That set the stage for him to be a third-year freshman in 2021; he started eight of 13 appearances that season for Notre Dame.
It would be the most games Kiser would start in a season until 2024 — when he started all 16 games for Notre Dame on their road to a National Championship Game appearance. Kiser completed his career with more games played (70) than any other player in program history, and he started just short of half of them (34).
He was Notre Dame’s Special Teams Player of the Year in 2023 and a team captain in 2024. Upon completion of his college eligibility, Kiser accepted an invitation to the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl.
Tale Of The Tape
Kiser is an unassuming build at linebacker, but he’s not the kind of player I’d bet against finding a niche role for his NFL franchise. Going back to his prep days, this is a diverse player whose instincts for the game have allowed him to claim a number of impactful roles. Then, at Notre Dame, he became a core special teamer before claiming a starting role in 2024 and offering a lot of success in that role, too.
He’s not a universal talent, and his ceiling is undoubtedly situational based on who he’s got playing around him and the buffers that are available to him.
Kiser has effective straight-line speed and enough lateral agility to dart through traffic and pick his way toward the football. He offers sufficient hip mobility to flip and open and is technical with his coverage drops while anticipating routes.
However, his lack of length and initial explosiveness create a smaller sphere of influence as both a zone coverage defender and a tackler running underneath blocks to the backfield.
Despite his lack of influence as a three-dimensional player in space, he’s potentially more impactful here than he is as a plug or take-on player. Kiser does not offer the consistent thud or extension ability to stack blocks and disengage. He’s too often stuck on blockers as the run fits inside and will struggle to make plays off of contact as a result.
As a result, he may be considered best as a depth player at the position who could be a zone dropper if called upon to execute.
Gap control schemes that ask their line to control and occupy blockers at the line of scrimmage would open up his play processing to serve as a MIKE backer and flow sideline to sideline — where he has enough speed and range to flow and make tackles.
Kiser is a sturdy tackler despite his reach because he takes proper angles and understands his need to frame and wrap up the ball carrier properly. The blend of sufficient speed, disciplined tackling, and good eyes should set him up to continue being a vital special teams role player for his NFL team when all is said and done.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Kiser should be considered a depth linebacker and core special teams talent at the NFL level. He’s got good reactive quickness and movement skills in space, as well as the tackling technique and discipline to win in open-field situations.
In the right environment, he could potentially be a gem starter down the line, but he’ll need significant protection from a stout front to keep him clean.
Grade: 70.00/100.00, Fifth Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
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