Daviyon Nixon: DT · Iowa · #54.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Daviyon Nixon
Wins the gap play after play. Second year in the Iowa defensive front. The first career honor came in 2020: All-America (Consensus). A game that shows it: 11 tackles and 3 tackles for loss against Northwestern — Week 9, 2020.
Play style
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
45 tackles. 0 passes defended. 1 interception. 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.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
KCCI Oct 28
FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul Oct 27Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log · Week-by-week
2020 season · 8 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| 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 No. 25 Wisconsin | 4 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 45 | 22 | 13.5 | 5.5 | 1 | 0 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
30%14 TFLSack rate
12%6 sacksHurry rate
2%1 hurry45 tackles · 13.5 for loss · 5.5 sacks · 1 interception.
2 seasons under Kirk Ferentz — 16-5 over that span.
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
Pass share
46.3%
247 pass / 287 run
Plays / game
66.8
8 games
Team sack rate
4.1%
267 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2020
First team on every major selector list.
Selector Grid · 2020
Named Consensus All-American — recognized on 3+ of the 5 NCAA-recognized selector lists.
How it ended
Two seasons at Iowa, 74 tackles, a Unanimous All-American season (2020) — drafted at #158 overall by the Carolina Panthers.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-AMERICA · UNANIMOUS
Unanimous AA (2020)
Named to 8 first-team selectors
ALL-BIG TEN · 1ST TEAM
All-Big Ten 1st team (2020)
Coaching lineage · 2018–2020
1 coachPlayed every college season under Kirk Ferentz.
Next stop · NFL
Carolina PanthersEntering 6th NFL season
Carolina PanthersEntering 6th NFL season
