IDL Calijah Kancey Scouting Report: Could He Be The Next Aaron Donald?

While it sounds clickbaity to say he might be the next coming of Aaron Donald, his skillset is not far off from where Donald was at as a young player. He has the movement skills of an EDGE and played a lot of 1i, where he held his own. He often was double-teamed and drew a lot of attention from opposing offenses. As a pass rusher, Kancey won some dominant reps where he flashed unreal athletic traits. For being undersized, he also considerably excels as a run defender, using his low leverage to his advantage. Many things pop up on film, and it won’t be surprising to see him turn into a truly elite NFL player.

Two all-22 games and two more Youtube games were evaluated. This scouting report includes grades on all relevant traits which were based on his film. His scouting report also factored in stats and analytics, such as PFF grades. We also break down his traits through clip analysis. Use promo code TREYSCHNEIDER on Underdog Fantasy to match your deposit up to $100. Please gamble responsibly and leave your feedback on Twitter @FBIntellect.

D-line Stats

2022:

2021:

Clip Analysis

In the clip above, Kancey executes a very quick and feisty swim move. To win with this type of quickness is pretty incredible.

Here he executes what appears to be an arm over. He executes it very efficiently and shows the power in his lower half.

In this one, against a good O-line, he gets a hurry after beating a double team. He shows his relentlessness and active hand usage.

Grades

Traits/ Skills (see bottom of the page for scale)

Each trait/attribute is graded 1-7.

Player Notes

Calijah Kancey Bio

• Calijah Kancey is an undersized but feisty interior lineman with an elite first step. Played an unconducive role and still dominated. He is currently ranked 16th on The FBI 2023 Draft Board and has the 12th-highest potential grade out of any prospect.

Pros

• One of the many who made ‘College Football Freaks List 2022‘ by Bruce Feldman and reportedly ran a 4.69 40-yard dash which is outrageous. He also benched 425 lbs.
• Is an absolute technician in the trenches; demonstrated proper hand placement time in, time out
• Extremely active and robust hands – the pop shows on film.
• Has a deep arsenal of finesse moves and flashes the ability to bull rush effectively.
• Lightning-quick first step with off-the-charts speed.
• Quick and efficient at shooting gaps – it’s where he wins as a run defender.
• Very strong lower half with great flexibility in his hips.
• Aaron Donald-esque ability to gain leverage as he has is so quick and short.
• Has the speed and bend to be used as a hybrid EDGE.
• Has the upside to be a very good run defender as a 3-tech.
• Flashed the ability to sniff out screens.

Cons

• He is obviously undersized, which will force him to win with technique.
• Lacks arm length.
• Won’t have the flexibility to move to 1i or 0-tech at the pro level.
• Has the possibility of getting overpowered by some interior offensive lineman.
• Doesn’t make great use of countermoves.

Final Conclusion

The chances of him actually becoming the next version of Aaron Donald are slim to none. However, he has a legitimate chance of being a more imperfect version of Donald which is still saying a lot. The most significant difference is Donald has had unreal power over his career, while Kancey just has good power. Kacey will also likely never match the consistency of Donald, but he could still very well become an all-pro.

Combine

40 yd: 4.67

10 yd: 1.64

Shuttle:

3 cone:

Broad:

Vertical:

Bench:

Arm Length: 30 5/8″

Hand Size: 9 1/8″

Scales And Keys

Grading Key

POT – Potential: players’ highest upside

IMP – Impact: player’s immediate impact

Stats Key

PR – Pressures

SK – Sacks

TKL – Tackles

TFL – Tackles for loss