To get a better look at the Detroit Lions sixth-round pick, defensive tackle John Penisini, let’s take a look at how draft analysts evaluated him in their 2020 NFL Draft guides and website profiles.
The Athletic
Evaluator: Dane Brugler’s “The Beast”
“A two-year starter at Utah, Penisini lined up at defensive tackle in defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley’s even and odd fronts, mostly as the three-technique and often in a frog stance. He has a rugby background and although he isn’t mentioned often when talking about Utah’s stacked defense, the coaches go out of their way to praise his impact. Penisini has large, physical hands and embraces the “worker bee” mentality to control the point of attack. He doesn’t flash the same type of power as a bull rusher and has a small radius of impact. Overall, Penisini is aimless as a pass rusher and needs to develop his upper body technique, but he battles with powerful leverage and loves doing the dirty work, projecting as a rotational one-gap run plugger in the NFL.”
NFL.com
“Backup nose tackle with the girth and anchor to clog the drain as a run-stopper. Penisini can twitch and club off the snap for occasional early wins or punch, extend and two-gap when needed. He has massive, violent hands and quality upper-body strength but will find the going much tougher against bigger, stronger competition. He has lower body strength to push into the pocket once he gets to an edge, but he doesn’t offer much rush value. He has backup potential as an early-down nose for odd or even front schemes.”
Pro Football Focus
“While run defense may not have near the value that pass-rushing prowess does, it’s still fun to watch someone as dominant as Penisini go to work one-onone in the run game. The man is a technician who fires with his hands and hips in unison snap after snap. It’s rare to see him lose a leverage battle single-blocked — and even more rare to see him moved backward. The surprising thing is that he wasn’t simply limited to plays right in front of him, as Penisini can get moving up and down the line. He’s a one-hitter pass-rusher with little bull-rush to speak of, but that’s not why you’re drafting
him.”
The Draft Network
“John Penisini projects as a bottom of the roster nose tackle at the pro level. He’s a viable option preferably on early downs and he has requisite length and enough punch power to offset upfield charges and neutralize defenders in their tracks. There’s some pleasant spring in his first step, but he’s got much work ahead of him if he’s going to develop into a pressure presence up front for a defense. He’s a solid player and should be able to lock into an active roster as a rookie.”