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Logan Lee 2024 NFL Draft: Combine Results, Scouting Report For Iowa DT

Originally posted on The 33rd Team | By Greg Cosell | Last updated 4/11/24

The 2024 NFL Draft is getting close, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.

Here's our report on Logan Lee.

Logan Lee's 2024 NFL COMBINE RESULTS

Height: 6-foot-5
Weight: 281 pounds
40-yard dash: 5.05 seconds
10-yard split: 1.77 seconds
20-yard shuttle: 4.37 seconds
Vertical jump: 31.5"
Broad jump: 9'6"
Arm length: 32 ¼”

Logan Lee 2024 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT

STRENGTHS

Aligned in multiple defensive tackle positions in 2022. Showed strong hands as two-gapper to control and displace interior offensive linemen.
Game is built on a six- to 10-inch short area strength with excellent arm extension. Has a strong core and lower half to lock out.
Had run game snaps where he defeated front-side leverage blocks with outside arm extension folding over offensive linemen.
His 2022 tape showed run game snaps where he physically dominated offensive linemen with six- to 10-inch strength and hand usage.
In run game snaps, he played off contact, then showed mobility down the line of scrimmage outside the box to make a play.
Had pass rush snaps where he used his hands effectively to play off contact. Featured arm-over move to clear the offensive guard.
His 2023 tape showed strong powerful hands both in the run game and as a pass rusher. Had strength to control and displace offensive linemen.
Showed upper body and arm strength extension to lock out offensive linemen and make plays in the run game at the point of attack.
Had run game snaps where he controlled and displaced offensive linemen at the point of attack and made tackles — the strength of his game.
When he came off the ball low with hands inside, he controlled interior offensive linemen and made plays in the run game.
Again flashed arm-over move as inside pass rusher, showing balance and body control to flatten rush path.
Flashed pass rush, showing effective hand use and enough lateral quickness to play off contact and win.

WEAKNESSES

Given how he needs to play to be effective — especially in the run game — his arm length will be seen as a negative.
Had a tendency at times to come off the ball a little too high, losing both quickness and strength. Can get stuck at the point of attack.
Had too many run-game snaps where he was washed out of the point of attack both by individual blocks and double teams.
Must get better playing against double teams in the run game — needs to do a better job of splitting and defeating them.
Must continue to develop hand usage and more strength; needs power to better defeat contact as inside pass rusher.
2023 tape showed he was too high and upright at times coming off the ball, which negatively affected his quickness and power.
Has no twitch or suddenness to his movement. Must rely on hand usage and strength-power as his foundation.
Not a true 1-gap defensive tackle. Does not possess the burst and explosiveness off the ball to challenge gaps and penetrate.
Does not possess the quickness and burst off the ball to be 3-technique or 4i pass rusher in sub defense fronts.
May lack the needed short-area and confined-space quickness to play off blocks consistently and effectively.

NFL TRANSITION

In some ways, Lee is an old-school defensive tackle whose game is built on strength and power, although his athletic testing numbers suggest there might be more athleticism in his body than his tape showed. Overall, Lee’s tape showed a workmanlike, rotational defensive tackle without any special traits who grinded on every snap, flashing the point-of-attack strength to control and displace interior offensive linemen and make plays in the run game.

In his tape, I saw little burst or explosiveness off the ball, but I did see much more of a strength profile where Lee was able, at times, to press and extend and lock out offensive linemen, creating enough separation to play off the block and find the ball.

At this point entering the NFL, Lee does not bring much pass rush, although he did show an arm-over move that proved effective at times with the balance and body control to close with some burst to the quarterback. The question with Lee is whether he can develop with coaching and experience into a more meaningful pass rusher or whether he'll make the transition solely as a rotational base defense run defender who will project as a 12-20-snap-a-game defensive tackle playing on first down and selected other down-and-distance situations.

The more I watched Lee, the more I saw just enough flashes with his combination of strong hands and more-than-functional play strength to believe he could develop into an important piece in the 7-8 DL personnel deployments that have become more prevalent in the NFL. But there is no question he will need to generate more explosiveness off the ball, especially in the run game.

Lee’s traits will project better in odd fronts and likely in more 5-2 alignments, as opposed to 4-3 even fronts.

The bottom line with Lee is that he is a grinder who, on occasion, flashed the needed traits to be effective as both a run defender and inside pass rusher. But I did not see enough of those plays. He lacks the kind of explosiveness you’d like to see, but his athletic testing numbers suggest there might be more there as he develops with coaching and maturity.

He's a classic Day 3 pick with physical traits who has extensive college experience in a Power 5 conference.

OTHER NOTES

Lee played four years at Iowa after coming out of high school in Illinois as a defensive tackle and tight end in addition to being a state wrestling champion. He was a 4-star recruit as a tight end, but Iowa made him an exclusive defensive tackle.

In 2022, Lee lined up on the right side of the defensive front on almost every snap playing 3-technique and working back inside to 1-technique. Lee was used as the penetrator in T/E stunt concepts (he was rarely used as the looper). The 2022 game against Wisconsin was a strong snapshot of Lee at his best both as a run defender and inside pass rusher — he showed a desirable combination of strength and short-area quickness; it was a dominant effort.

In 2023, Lee again lined up almost exclusively on the right side of the defensive front playing multiple defensive tackle positions including 3-technique in third-down situations.

This article first appeared on The 33rd Team and was syndicated with permission.

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