Former defensive tackle at Iowa. 2020: 5.5 sacks, 13.5 tackles for loss, 45 tackles.
6′3″ · 305 lb · Kenosha, WI
Recruiting
WDE recruit
No. 1661 nationally · Signed with Iowa
No college snaps yet.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Former defensive tackle at Iowa. 2020: 5.5 sacks, 13.5 tackles for loss, 45 tackles.
Daviyon Nixon
Second year in the Iowa defensive front, same address the whole way. In 2020 the league put his name on paper for the first time: All-America (Consensus). The receipt: 11 tackles, 3 TFL against Northwestern — Week 9, 2020.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
How it ended
Two seasons at Iowa, 74 tackles, a Consensus All-American season (2020) — drafted at #158 overall by Carolina.
His career
Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.
Career arc
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-AMERICA · CONSENSUS
Consensus AA (2020)
8 first-team selectors
ALL-BIG TEN · 1ST TEAM
All-Big Ten 1st team (2020)
Where He Ended Up · NFL
CarolinaEntering 6th NFL season
Season context · Team result + system
2 seasons under Kirk Ferentz — 16-5 over that span.
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Elite: tackles for loss (99th percentile). Strength: sacks (98th percentile). Concern: passes defended (21st percentile).
Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.
Splits · Per-game
2020 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 6.5 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| Road4g | 4.8 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 8+8g | 5.6 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Kirk Ferentz
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Player standing · 2020
First team on a majority of the recognized selector lists.
Selector Grid · 2020
Named Consensus All-American — recognized on 3+ of the 5 NCAA-recognized selector lists.
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 15 · 2020
W 28–7
vs Wisconsin
0 TFL · 4 TOT · 1 SOLO
Dominant 21-point win at home against Wisconsin.
With T. Taylor — 42 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 49 LONG · I. Smith-Marsette — -2 rush yds (1 car)
Game log · Week-by-week
2020 season · 8 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 8 | L 20-24@ Purdue | 7 | 4 | 2.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | 2.5 TFL |
| Wk 9 | L 20-21vs Northwestern | 11 | 6 | 3.0 | 1.5 | — | 0 | Season-high 11 tackles |
| Wk 10 | W 49-7vs Michigan State | 3 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 35-7@ Minnesota | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 41-21@ Penn State | 5 | 1 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 26-20vs Nebraska | 8 | 5 | 3.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | 3.0 TFL |
| Wk 14 | W 35-21@ Illinois | 5 | 3 | 1.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 15 | W 28-7vs Wisconsin | 4 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 45 | 22 | 13.5 | 5.5 | 1 | 0 |
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
45 tackles. 0 passes defended. 1 interceptions. 13.5 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.