Jaylen
Twyman.
Jaylen
Twyman.
Pittsburgh· 6'1"· 301 lb· 5.40s 40
"A 6-1, 301-pound Pitt three-tech with 10.5 sacks as a redshirt sophomore and a 40-rep bench, then a 2020 COVID opt-out — a Round-6 interior pass-rush swing on 2019 tape and rare short-area pop."Pre-draft read
Twyman projects as an interior rusher whose primary appeal is quickness off the ball. He wins with a low pad level, a violent snatch-and-club, and legitimate short-area redirect, converting speed to power with a well-timed long-arm bull. His hand independence is his best trait: he can two-hand swipe a reach block, disengage clean, and finish through the quarterback's numbers, and he flashes an inside-out counter when centers overset.
Against the run he plays with good leverage and can flatten down the line as a backside chaser. His lack of length shows up when tackles or guards land first and lock him out, as he has trouble stacking double-teams and gets moved off his spot when combo blocks arrive with force. His motor comes in bursts, with disappearing quarters against high-tempo offenses.
One-gap 4-3 penetrating front with a strong passing-down emphasis like the Zimmer/Patterson fronts Twyman played in during his brief glimpse in Minnesota.
Year 1 ceiling is a sub-package interior rusher with defined pass-rush reps; Year 2 ceiling is a rotational 3-technique who can hold his own on early downs in a penetrating front.
A true two-gap 3-4 scheme that asks him to consistently absorb double teams and reset the line of scrimmage while reading run keys.
Twyman's skill set, particularly his first-step quickness and hand violence, is best utilized in a scheme that prioritizes a disruptive, single-gap attacking defensive line.
Pittsburgh DL Jaylen Twyman Highlight Reel — 2019 Season
Full 2019 breakout reel: 10.5-sack season showcasing hand violence, inside-out counter and short-area burst at 3-technique.
Pittsburgh DL Jaylen Twyman | 2019 Top Regular Season Play
ACC network's pick of his best 2019 rep — clean pass-rush win illustrating the get-off and finish that drove his draft grade.
Jaylen Twyman with a Sack vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Preseason interior sack for Minnesota — the flash of the pass-rush profile that never carried into a regular-season snap.
Twyman projected as an interior rusher, offering a potential passing-down force with a high ceiling despite only one productive season. His 2019 breakout season displayed legitimate first-step quickness and hand violence—traits with disproportionate NFL value. This formed the core of his evaluation, balanced by concerns about sustained production and development following a year away from football.
Primarily utilized as an over-the-guard 3-technique or shaded nose, Twyman consistently won against ACC competition. His 2019 production, featuring 10.5 sacks and 12 TFLs, was his strongest argument for draft consideration, an outlier for a 3-technique indicating more than single-move wins. His 2020 COVID opt-out forced evaluators to project significant development without recent game film, creating uncertainty in his profile.
Evaluators noted concerns regarding his length and the year away. Pre-draft boards ranged from late Day 2 to undrafted, reflecting the trade-off inherent in his 2019 tape versus identified risks. Minnesota's Round 6 pick (199th overall) was defensible value, acknowledging the medical, developmental, and length concerns that positioned him as a rotational bet rather than a projected starter.
- 01
First-step quickness
His snap anticipation and get-off were elite for an interior player, consistently beating guards to their landmark on his 2019 film.
- 02
Hand violence and independence
A legitimate NFL-caliber snatch-club and long-arm bull, with ability to shed one-handed against reach blocks and finish.
- 03
Interior pass-rush production
10.5 sacks and 12 TFLs as a redshirt sophomore is an outlier number for a 3-technique against Power Five competition.
- 04
Short-area redirect
For his frame he showed rare change of direction on twists and games, flattening to the quarterback on inside stunts.
- 05
Upper-body power
40 bench reps at Pitt’s pro day translated to a functional long-arm bull rush that collapsed the pocket vertically.
- 01
Length deficit
Arms projected under 33 inches means NFL guards will likely get hands on his frame first, locking him out on a lost first step.
- 02
Anchor concerns against doubles
Gets moved off his spot when combo blocks arrive, struggling to stack and shed to reset the line of scrimmage.
- 03
2020 opt-out gap
A full season away from live football raised questions about conditioning, hand refinement, and read progression at the NFL level.
- 04
Inconsistent motor windows
2019 tape showed stretches where he disappeared against tempo offenses, floating through downs rather than resetting his rush plan.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 5.40sp50
- Vertical
- 32.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 104inp50
- Three-cone
- 8.00sp50
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- 40repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Pittsburgh | 13 | 15 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | Pittsburgh | 13 | 41 | 10.5 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Career | — | 26 | 56 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Rotational interior body without positional purity — plays over the guard on passing downs, kicks to nose in even fronts, and stays in the league on situational value rather than starter reps.
Undersized interior rusher whose short-area quickness and hand independence let him win as a passing-down three-tech despite average length — Twyman's realistic ceiling if the frame held and the burst returned.
Backup interior lineman with functional pop but length limitations that cap him as a two-down rotational piece — the archetype for a Round-6 pass-rush swing that doesn't translate.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Pre-draft context. Jaylen Twyman arrived at Pittsburgh as a four-star nose tackle from DeMatha Catholic (MD) and grew into an interior rusher, redshirting in 2017 before breaking out in 2019 with 10.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss — leading all ACC defensive tackles in sacks and earning first-team all-conference honors as a redshirt sophomore. He opted out of the 2020 season citing COVID concerns and family health, so his draft evaluation was built almost entirely on the 2019 tape plus a Pitt pro day where he ran 5.40, benched 40 reps, and jumped 32.5 inches at 301 pounds. Boards were split: some outlets slotted him in the Day 2 conversation on the strength of his 2019 production and hand quickness, while others pushed him to late Day 3 given the year off, short arms, and marginal length for a full-time 3-technique.
NFL fit — Minnesota Vikings. Minnesota took him with the 199th pick as a rotational interior rusher behind Dalvin Tomlinson and Michael Pierce, betting Andre Patterson could unlock the same first-step quickness that flashed on his college tape. The plan never got a snap: on June 21, 2021, Twyman was shot four times in Washington, D.C., while home before rookie minicamp. He survived, spent his entire rookie year on the non-football injury list, and returned in 2022 having lost most of his rebuilt frame and burst.
Retrospective. Twyman never recorded a regular-season snap of consequence. He was waived at final cuts in 2022, bounced through the Vikings, Falcons, and Ravens practice squads over 2022–2023 without earning a helmet on game day, and has not appeared on an NFL 53-man roster since. The scouting take that the 2020 opt-out and short-area frame were real risks proved right, but the outcome was ultimately decided by an off-field tragedy rather than football. He is now a case study in Round 6 opportunity cost: a talented interior rusher whose NFL career effectively ended before it started.