Although the Michigan Wolverines had a down year following their undefeated national championship season, they still have many highly-touted NFL draft prospects. One top prospect is defensive tackle Kenneth Grant, a massive nose tackle with all the size, strength, and athleticism a prospect needs to find success in the NFL.
Kenneth Grant 2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report
Measurables:
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 331 pounds
Arms: 33 1/2″
Hands: 10 1/8″
Bench press: 22 reps
Kenneth Grant Background
After a quiet start to his collegiate career in 2022, Kenneth Grant started to make an impact in his second season. In 2023, Grant started five games for Michigan and accumulated 29 tackles, five tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, and six pass breakups. His performance during the Wolverines’ undefeated season earned him a second-team All-Big Ten selection. Grant again performed well last year, racking up 32 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, and five pass breakups. He was selected as a third-team AP All-American and was again honored with second-team All-Big Ten.
Strengths
What makes Grant such an intriguing prospect is his size and strength coupled with his athleticism and agility. He has the mass that is needed to plug the middle of a defensive line. Though he is best suited to play nose tackle, especially as a rookie, Grant has the versatility to line up at different spots along the defensive front. Early in his career, as he becomes a more technical rusher, Grant’s biggest strength will likely be eating up double teams as a nose tackle and freeing up lanes for his teammates to get into the backfield.
While he is not an elite pass rusher, Grant has shown flashes that he can be more than just an early down nose tackle. His explosiveness out of his stance is a huge part of his pass-rushing success. Based on his size, it would be easy to assume Grant gets by with pure strength. That is not the case, though; he has a respectable repertoire of pass-rush moves. The moves need some refinement, but the foundation is there. And even when Grant doesn’t get home as a pass rusher, he can still affect the passing game by getting his active hands in the passing lanes and knocking down passes.
Weaknesses
An obvious concern for Kenneth Grant at his size is his pad level. Despite his strong base, he will lose reps when he comes out of his stance too high. This bad habit opens Grant up to losing to blockers who are less physically dominant than him. Bump up a level of competition to the NFL, where offensive linemen are just as strong as Grant and more technical, he will take his share of lumps early.
Grant could also do a better job of utilizing his long arms and strong hands to not let defenders get inside of his frame so easily. These general technical flaws help explain Grant’s inconsistency in college. Sometimes he was dominant; other times he was pedestrian. Finding consistency in the NFL will allow him to stay on the field for more than early downs.
Potential Team Fits
Kenneth Grant NFL Projection
Kenneth Grant will likely be drafted in the mid-to-late part of the first round. A strong defensive front has become a huge priority for NFL front offices. With Grant’s size and strength, teams will love the opportunity to plug him into the middle of their defensive line to help stop the run. And the potential is there for him to develop into a productive pass rusher, too. If that happens, Grant will have himself in All-Pro discussions for years.
Main Photo: Junfu Han-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
