Justin Evans C Nebraska |
NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
| Jersey: #51 SUB-POSITION: Guard/Center | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Updated: 08/03/2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Draft Year: 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FORTY time: 5.15 seconds (73%*) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Age: 22.3 DOB: 04/21/2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Jersey: #51 | |
| SUB-POSITION: Guard/Center | |
| Last Updated: 08/03/2026 | |
| Draft Year: 2027 | |
| Forty time: 5.15 seconds (73%*) | |
| Age: 22.3 DOB: 04/21/2004 | |
| Overall Rating: |
82.8 / 100
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| Average rating of opposition Defense player has faced | ||
| Defense Rating: |
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78% |
| Click the links below to view how player ranks vs other prospects. | ||
| Pass Blocking: |
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80% |
| Run Blocking: |
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78% |
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DRAFT PROJECTION:
4th
Overall Rank:
#126
Position rank:
#19 (OL)
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| College Games: 37 College Snaps: 1989 | ||
ESPN RATING: 73/100
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247 RATING: 79/100
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RIVALS RATING: 5.6 (92%)
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| Player Comparison* (Similarity level) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Zach Frazier - West Virginia |
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79% |
| Sam Hecht - Kansas State |
|
77% |
| Hunter Nourzad - Penn State |
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77% |
Draft Profile: Bio
A New Jersey product out of Irvington, Evans-Jenkins was a havoc-creating defensive lineman in high school, racking up 14.5 sacks as a senior while leading his school to its first sectional title in 102 years before flipping to the offensive line at Nebraska. He grew into a multi-position interior starter for the Cornhuskers.After starting all thirteen games at left guard in 2024, Evans-Jenkins moved to center and started all thirteen games there in 2025, taking more than 440 pass-blocking snaps and 355 in the run game while allowing just ten pressures and drawing three penalties. A powerful, versatile blocker who can play guard or center, he anchored the Nebraska line across two full seasons of starts. The 14.5-sack senior year and the sectional-title run flagged his motor, and the move from defense to a two-position interior starter speaks to his football intelligence and toughness.
Scouting Report: Strengths
- No sacks surrendered across thirteen starts and 443 protection snaps.
- Pass and run tape sits within two points, the most balanced file in this center group.
- Paved the interior for the Big Ten's running back of the year.
- Moves well by the stopwatch, and it shows on reach blocks and climbs.
- His coordinator publicly called him the best center in college football.
- Three-time academic all-conference, the processing resume the position demands.
Scouting Report: Weaknesses
- Shortest lineman in the group; NFL length will test the catch radius.
- Michigan's heavy interior bent his run blocking in the toughest matchup.
- A converted-position background leaves only two seasons of center film.
- Anchor relies on leverage wins; pure mass can stalemate him.
Scouting Report: Summary
Balance is the brand: zero sacks allowed across thirteen starts, pass and run tape within two points of each other, and an interior that paved the way for the Big Ten's running back of the year. Evans is the most complete two-phase center in this group, a good mover on reach blocks and climbs whose coordinator spent the season calling him the best center in college football, with three years of academic all-conference honors backing the processing claims.The case against is mostly measured in inches. He is the shortest lineman in the group, and Michigan's heavy interior, the one true mass test on the schedule, bent his run blocking for an afternoon, the template NFL nose tackles will copy. The conversion background means just two seasons of center film, and his anchor wins with leverage rather than bulk, a margin that narrows every level up.
Short centers with clean protection sheets and elite processing have a long NFL lineage, and he fits the profile to the letter. A senior season repeating the zero-sack standard, ideally with a better answer for the Michigan-style fronts, makes him a day-two conversation; the floor is a day-three pick who makes a roster on snaps, smarts and special-teams-adjacent reliability. The trajectory points to a decade of Sundays.
How other scouting services rate Justin Evans (Overall Rank)
All Scouts AverageOverall Rank
167.3
All Scouts AveragePosition Rank
23.0
*Percentile Ranking in Player's Position Group (NFL Combine Historical Data): This percentile reflects how a player's specific statistics rank
in comparison to historical performances at the NFL Combine, specifically within their position group. A higher percentile indicates a better performance.
For instance, being in the 90th percentile for a particular stat means the player outperformed 90% of their peers in that category.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.