NFL Draft
2/20/25
6 min read
Jay Higgins 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Iowa Hawkeyes LB
Height: 5116 (verified)
Weight: 226lbs (verified)
Year: Redshirt Senior
Pro Comparison: Shaun Dion Hamilton
Scouting Overview
Iowa Hawkeyes linebacker Jay Higgins is an intelligent multi-year starter from Iowa who has developed a reputation as a tackling machine. His NFL projection is rooted in toughness, anticipation, and technique. He isn’t a standout athlete who will physically overwhelm opposing teams.
He should be given a chance to assimilate to an NFL roster and potentially grow into a starting role, but his appeal in this role would likely be predicated on having some more dynamic players in front and alongside him to help with spacing and line of scrimmage integrity. Higgins can serve as the quarterback of an NFL defense and has the motor to play NFL linebacker, however.
2025 NFL Combine Results
| Position | Name | School | 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Split | Broad Jump | Vertical Jump | 3-Cone Drill | 20-Yard Shuttle | Bench Press |
| LB | Jay Higgins | Iowa | 4.82 | 1.64 | 110 | 33 | 7.01 | 4.35 |
Positives
- Boasts good football IQ and was clearly an assignment privy captain and leader of his defense
- Consistent tackling resume that boasts a single-digit missed tackle rate the last two years as a high-volume snap taker
- Offers in excess of 500+ career special teams snaps to complement his defensive profile
Negatives
- Is not a standout athlete for the position, which may be a disqualifier for some teams when paired with an undersized frame
- Lack of length poses challenges with both stacking and negotiating blocks and maximizing his tackle radius
- Ball production in coverage feels misleading, with many defensed passes coming off pressure tips in a throwing lane
Background
Higgins is from Indianapolis, IN, and played high school football for Brebeuf Jesuit Prep. There, he was a 3-star recruit (247 Sports) who played football and basketball. On the gridiron, Higgins was a two-way player who starred at tight end and linebacker. He received All-State honors in his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons.
Higgins received offers from programs like Toledo, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, and others before enrolling at Iowa. Higgins joined the team as a member of its 2020 recruiting class and played in six games as a true freshman while retaining his fourth season of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a freshman in 2021, Higgins played in 14 games as a predominant special teams contributor. In 2022, Higgins collected his first defensive start and was a core special teams talent. He was awarded the team’s Hayden Fry Award for his special teams performance.
He assumed a full-time starter role in 2023 and was fourth in the nation with tackles among FBS players (171) in 14 games. For his performance, Higgins was named First Team All-American and First Team All-Big Ten. He returned to the starting lineup again in 2024, starting 13 games, and was named First Team All-Big Ten and an All-American.
Higgins accepted an invitation to the 2025 East-West Shrine Bowl.
Tale Of The Tape
This is the kind of underdog that’s hard to bet against. It is easy to love the leadership, toughness, and motor that Higgins plays with. These central pillars of his game make it hard to dismiss his potential as a viable answer for an NFL team on the second level of the defense, but he doesn’t fit the traditional profile for a starting linebacker.
Higgins is sharp. He’s active, engaged, and runs point for communication and calls with his teammates at the line of scrimmage. He’s not afraid to walk out and chat with a teammate or reach down and relocate an interior defender in front of him to make sure everyone is lined up.
In the run game, Higgins shows comfort with playing around traffic to sift through bodies and keep his eyes on the football. More dynamic running teams that run misdirection, tease quarterback run game, or offer speed to the perimeter will test the line he walks with play processing and anticipation and blur his ability to mitigate his athletic tools.
Because he’s not the most explosive or the longest athlete, he thrives with anticipation and play recognition but can be pulled and tugged out of positioning with motions and false backfield keys. If his teammates maintain the front's integrity, he is capable of fighting back into position and helping to clean up plays. However, his margins in this regard are compounded by his physical traits.
Higgins lacks the ideal length to stack blocks and play overtop of blockers on the second level. If he takes false steps, he will need to bubble or run underneath and can be displaced and eliminated by blockers that enter his stratosphere without even touching him.
He’s a tough player who is not afraid of plugging a block with his pads or firing downhill against inside zone or combination blocks that create a crease. Still, when he comes face to face with blockers, he doesn’t have ideal answers for playing off of contact and making the tackle.
In the passing game, Higgins is missing a second gear that allows him to be a dynamic second-level threat or match speed out of the backfield in man coverage. He found the football more frequently in 2024, but most of his ball production came on blitzes where he got his hands up in a throwing lane or off tipped passes.
His ability to convert out of his read steps and hit zone landmarks is in question due to modest foot speed and hip fluidity for transitions that allow him to get depth. Higgins does show good peripheral vision and feel for routes developing into his lane, and his drops are fundamentally sound.
Despite his lack of length, Higgins is a good tackler with a sound blend of pop and balance at contact. He frames his challenges well and does a good job of running his feet at contact to make sure he’s got the momentum to offset forward lean.
That tackling prowess, plus his toughness and motor, make him an obvious candidate to fill a special teams role at the NFL level. He played significant volume on kickoff, kickoff return, and punt return for two seasons and played on punt and punt return in his first season as a starter in 2023.
He is a well-versed, viable core special teams candidate.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Higgins projects as a depth linebacker and potential core special teams talent at the NFL level.
His football IQ is notable and will afford him an opportunity to overachieve, but his lack of length, stature, and modest burst cap his appeal as an every-down player in the NFL.
Grade: 70.50/100.00, Fifth Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
Make sure to check out our new home for all of our NFL Draft content.
