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Why Did Ivan Pace Go Undrafted? | 2023 NFL Draft Review

Why Did Ivan Pace Go Undrafted? | 2023 NFL Draft Review

Every year there are a few big time talents who slip through the cracks and go undrafted.

Fans will always look back and ask “how did the NFL miss this guy?” Well this year, there’s no better undrafted talent than linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. from Cincinnati.

I was a massive Ivan Pace fan leading up to the draft, tabbing him as the most underrated player in the draft and grading him as a top-75 talent.

I knew he wasn’t going to be drafted nearly as high as I had him graded, but when the 5th round closed and he hadn’t been drafted yet, I started getting pretty surprised. When the 7th round came to a close, he was officially undrafted.

Despite being undrafted, I still thoroughly expect Ivan Pace to develop into a consistent contributor in the NFL. Immediately following the draft, Pace signed with the Minnesota Vikings, a team who will provide him with a good system fit and a real path to earn playing time as a rookie.

Today we’re going to look at what may cause a talented player to go undrafted, and what specifically happened with Ivan Pace Jr.

 

Ivan Pace Jr. Draft Profile

Ivan Pace is an undersized linebacker who still managed to be the most dominant linebacker in college football this past season.

Ivan pace had a host of accolades and accomplishments this past season:

  • Unanimous 1st team All-American
  • AAC Defensive Player of the Year
  • 1st team All-Conference
  • Second-Highest Rated Defensive Player in the Nation (by PFF)
  • Chuck Bednarik Award Finalist (Best Defensive Player in College Football)

On top of the accolades, the stats were massive. In 13 games, Pace totaled 136 total tackles, 20.5 TFLs, 9 sacks, 4 passes defended, and 3 fumbles forced.

I’ve rated 351 linebackers in this draft class. Among those 351, Pace finished 3rd in total tackles (2nd in the FBS), 2nd in TFLs (1st in the FBS), and 6th in sacks. Again, out of 351.

While stats are great to see, they aren’t really a great tool at predicting NFL success. You usually need to watch film and look at athletic traits for that.

Scouts see 5’10 1/2″ 231 pounds and assume he’s one of those scrappy over achievers with a limited ceiling, but that isn’t the case at all.

While his 40 time is only average, his on-field speed is impressive. He gets sideline-to-sideline as well as any linebacker in the draft, and his closing speed is legit.

He clocked 20.58 mph on field at the Senior Bowl, which exceeded Troy Anderson from the year before (who ran a 4.42 40).

With that level of speed, lateral quickness, and playmaking ability, it doesn’t matter how big he is.

Pace weighed in at a respectable 231 pounds. For a modern NFL linebacker, that’s a standard weight. The 5’10 1/2″ is definitely shorter than you’d want, but multiple linebackers like Devin Bush and Denzel Perryman were highly touted prospects despite being in the 5’10”-5’11” range.

He’s also incredibly powerful for his size. Here’s a video of him knocking over a 330 pound top-50 pick with ease.

 

Reasons Why Players Go Undrafted

Usually when a player takes a big fall to go undrafted, there are one of 4 issues: Undisclosed injury, personality issues, competition level, or they just aren’t that good.

While it’s possible that Pace gave some poor interviews at the combine or Senior Bowl, there haven’t been any credible reports of injury or personality issues.

 

Problems for Pace

There are a few reasons why NFL teams may have opted not to select Ivan Pace.

First off, we’ve mentioned the size. Height is one thing, but other linebackers who have succeed at his size usually have longer arms to compensate in coverage. Pace has short arms, which will limit his ability in coverage.

Length didn’t particularly bother him in college as his coverage was decent, but it projects to a bigger issue at the next level.

Competition level can also be noted to an extent. Pace began his career at Miami of Ohio (MAC conference), then spent one year at Cincinnati (American Conference / AAC). While the AAC is a solid conference, it isn’t on par with the SEC or Big10.

Athletic traits is also an interesting discussion for Pace. While he plays very fast on the field, he didn’t run a 40 at the combine and had an average time at his pro day. On field speed is way more important than a 40 yard dash time, but it can certainly be a distraction for NFL scouts.

Finally, the biggest reason why Pace went undrafted is because his ideal playing style wouldn’t fit well in a lot of NFL schemes. Pace is an inside linebacker who prefers to get in the backfield and play aggressive. Inside linebackers at the NFL level are often used more going side-to-side at the 2nd level and playing in zone coverage.

If you’re not going to allow Pace to constantly crash the line of scrimmage, you’re taking away his greatest strength and emphasizing the weaker parts of his game. Only a few teams would be able to take full advantage of Pace’s playstyle, so quite a few teams probably weren’t interested in having him in their scheme.

 

Quick answer: Why did Ivan Pace Go Undrafted?

After a dominant college career, Ivan Pace went undrafted primarily due to his short frame and arms, combined with only average lateral quickness. This will limit his scheme versatility and limit his upside in coverage.

Assuming he gets in the right scheme that provides him with the freedom to play aggressively and get in the backfield, most of these problems shouldn’t matter. But only a few teams would have been able to use him properly, and none of those teams saw the right opportunity to take him.

Now that Ivan Pace has signed with the Vikings after going undrafted, he finds himself in a great situation. Brian Flores likes to bring pressure from everywhere, and the Vikings don’t have an inside linebacker on the roster who is good at blitzing. That will provide Pace with the opportunity to make the 53 man roster as a specialist, and potentially have a chance for some early playing time.

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