A shorter report today—or rather, a slightly less detailed one—given Nash Hutmacher’s projection as a likely late-round pick in the upcoming draft. This also allows me to move a bit faster on other reports.

This also shows in his explosiveness off the stance. While Nash is a relatively slow player, he has a very explosive takeoff, which often allows him to catch opposing offensive linemen off guard by initiating contact quickly. His strong power and burst also enable him to execute a solid, heavy Rip move. Though, as we’ll see, his pass-rush arsenal is quite limited, this Rip move—his go-to weapon—is genuinely effective.

Thanks to these two attributes, Hutmacher has promising potential as a run stopper for a team in need of a nose tackle with a gap-eater profile. In other words, a player capable of drawing the attention of multiple offensive linemen, which in turn frees up his teammates. In this role, Nash has a real opportunity, as he excels against double teams due to his strong lower body and low center of gravity.

 

On the weakness side, Nash Hutmacher already has physical limitations in terms of his size, as well as athletic capabilities, which will likely keep him from being anything other than a nose tackle in the NFL. This already limits his appeal to teams. Additionally, these limitations could also impact his on-field production.
Between his glaring lack of speed and agility, it’s not uncommon to see him ineffective in certain situations. Nash tries to make a play, but he’s simply too limited.

As we saw in the strengths section, his main asset lies in his run-stopping ability, but it’s important to note that Nash still has a lot of room to improve in this area as well. Specifically, his separation is virtually nonexistent at the moment. It’s incredibly frustrating to see Nash not use any punch when you can see the strength he’s capable of generating. If a coach can get him to consistently extend his arms, Nash could become a much more impactful player than he is right now. Indeed, Nash still misses too many tackles that are within his reach, often because he’s too frequently stuck on his blockers.

Speaking of missed tackles, this is clearly one of Nash's biggest weaknesses. He misses far too many in my opinion, and the reason he misses so many is largely because he tends to dive in too much. Hutmacher knows he’s somewhat slow and lacks agility, so to compensate, he throws himself into tackles. It's a shame.

Another area that needs work is his tendency to play with too much weight forward. Nash relies heavily on his weight to enhance his power, but in doing so, he places himself off balance, which in turn allows his opponent to use his own weight against him to redirect him. He’ll need to learn to play in a more balanced manner, but to do that, he’ll have to work on another area: his footwork.

When it comes to footwork, it’s quite mediocre. Nash has a bad habit of narrowing his base and releasing his power angle too quickly, despite having good initial leverage. He could be much more decisive with a stronger foundation and a wider base, which would give him far better balance.

Hutmacher is also far too weak at the moment in his pass rush to be considered for an early draft selection. While he’s occasionally able to generate pressure in pass-rush situations due to his power, he still has a lot of work to do to become a more threatening presence for opposing quarterbacks. His technical arsenal is simply insufficient, and the flashes of power rush are far too few.

Adding to that the fact that he’s 23 years old and approaching 24, it becomes very difficult to justify taking this type of player—solid against the run but with significant development needed in his pass rush—high in the draft.