Big Board ranking: #70
Positional ranking: #7
Overview
Position: DL
College: Wisconsin
Class: Senior
Age: 21
Measurables
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 309 lbs.
Arm length: 33 7/8”
Hand size: 9 3/4″
Athletic testing
40-yard dash: 5.08 sec.
10-yard split: 1.79 sec.
Vertical jump: 29.5”
Broad jump: 111.0”
Bench press: 25 reps
3-cone drill: 7.34 sec.
Short shuttle: 4.65 sec.
Strengths
Ideal overall size. Impressive penetrative athleticism as a nose tackle. Has the skillset to play all three downs and be used as a three-technique. Will slant to clog gaps and slip between blockers. Great awareness and reaction time. Plays very hard. Relentless with tremendous pursuit hustle. Terrific strength and power. Very strong hands to shed. Excellent quickness and change-of-direction skills at his size. Tremendous in lateral pursuit versus the run. Good range and aggressively wraps as a tackler. Moves his feet very well to stick with opponents and make a tackle. Impressive nimbleness to reach/dive for a takedown. Plus closing speed into the backfield. Very effective hands as a pass rusher. Swipe moves are very strong. Gets full extension with both hands on the bull rush. Will regain leverage with a second push on power rushes if stopped. Uses rip moves. Has shown a spin move as a rusher.
Weaknesses
Would like to see him lower his pad leverage to create more consistent leverage. Needs to clean up his technique to hold his ground more effectively. Will get stiff by bending at the waist rather than getting his lower body more involved. Burst off the ball is inconsistent. Moved off the ball and did not play his best versus standout left guard Donovan Jackson (Ohio State 2022).
NFL comparison
Derrick Brown
Conclusion
Overall, Benton is a slanting nose tackle with a three-down skillset to be disruptive versus the run and effectively rush the passer. The effort and scheme versatility should make him a late second- or early third-round selection.