Jonathan
Marshall.
Jonathan
Marshall.
Arkansas· 6'3"· 310 lb· 4.94s 40
"A 6'3", 310-pound Arkansas interior lineman with a one-year SEC breakout and Pro Day athletic profile — a Round-6 rotational nose bet where the frame and get-off carried a thin production résumé."Pre-draft read
He aligns primarily as a 1-technique and shaded nose. He plays with a heavy first step, extends his arms on contact, and works to a two-gap read against interior zone. His hands are strong at the point of attack, allowing him to walk single-blocker guards back into the pocket. He flashes a functional swim against down blocks and displays legitimate pop through his lower half when maintaining a low pad level.
His pass-rush plan is thin; he too often defaults to a bull rush without a counter. When his initial punch is neutralized, his hand-fighting slows. His motor runs hot in bursts, but conditioning shows in the fourth quarter. He does not offer sub-package rush juice. His range lateral to the line is average for his weight, and he does not close on the quarterback when kept clean.
A 3-4 two-gap defense or a 4-3 one-gap penetrating front that prioritizes stout run defense.
Ideal as a Year 1 rotational nose tackle in a two-gap system, with a ceiling as a long-term starter at 1-technique if he develops a pass-rush counter and improves conditioning.
Spread RPO or a West Coast offensive system that thrives on quick passing and requires interior linemen to consistently win with quickness and get-off.
Marshall's strength as a run defender and his physical tools make him a solid fit for schemes requiring a stout interior presence, but his limited pass-rush repertoire and conditioning concerns cap his upside in pass-heavy systems.
Jonathan Marshall 2020 Arkansas Highlights
Full breakout-season tape — stack-and-shed against SEC guards, run-game anchor reps, and the bull-rush interior flashes that put him on Day 3 boards.
Jonathan Marshall Arkansas Pro Day Recap
Pro Day interview and testing context — 4.94 forty, 34.5-inch vertical at 310 pounds, plus his own explanation of the position change from end to nose.
Jonathan Marshall Arkansas Media Day Interview
Pre-breakout media day: Marshall on the position transition from defensive end and the added mass that unlocked the 2020 SEC production.
Marshall projects as a run-down 1-technique who offers length and a two-gap playing style. He holds the point of attack effectively against interior zone schemes, leveraging his upper-body strength and leg drive to control blockers. While his pass-rush repertoire is limited, his run-stopping ability, coupled with a 4.94 forty, positioned him as a rotational interior lineman for two-gap systems.
His breakout 2020 season, a 10-game SEC-only slate, saw him post 3.5 sacks and 7 tackles for loss, earning Second-Team All-SEC honors. This single season showcased potential against high-level competition, following four quieter seasons. Used as the primary interior disruptor for the Razorbacks, his production stood out after previously being a depth player.
Evaluators noted concerns about the limited sample size (one COVID-shortened season) and an underdeveloped pass-rush counter package. Additionally, prior arm and hamstring issues appeared in his medical file. These flags, combined with the one-year production, led to a consensus Day 3 projection, with Marshall ultimately selected in the sixth round by the New York Jets.
- 01
SEC nose-tackle frame
6'3" and 310 pounds with 33-inch arm length, allowing him to press and extend against single blockers without conceding ground.
- 02
Two-gap read against the run
heavy hands and sufficient leg drive allow him to hold the point against a single guard and flow laterally to the correct gap.
- 03
Clean Pro Day testing
4.94 forty and 34.5-inch vertical at 310 pounds, placing him in an athletic band desired for a rotational 1-technique.
- 04
One-year SEC production
Posted 3.5 sacks and 7 tackles for loss, earning Second-Team All-SEC in 2020 against top-tier competition.
- 05
Punch and hand strength at the point
initial jolts are impactful, he proactively resets his hands against combo blocks, and can bull rush single blockers.
- 01
One-year producer
a single season of significant production in 2020 after four less productive years, raising questions about consistency.
- 02
Undercooked pass-rush plan
frequently leans on a bull rush without developed counters, slowing his hand-fighting when stalemated.
- 03
Conditioning and rep-to-rep motor
heavy legs are evident in the fourth quarter, indicating a need for managed snap counts.
- 04
Injury profile
prior arm and hamstring maintenance issues at Arkansas carried into his NFL career, impacting availability.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.94sp50
- Vertical
- 34.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 115inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- 6repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Arkansas | 11 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | Arkansas | 12 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | Arkansas | 11 | 17 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | Arkansas | 10 | 35 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Career | — | 44 | 71 | 1.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Traits-and-testing Day 3 SEC interior body who bounced between practice squads and short defensive rotations — the honest median outcome for a one-year producer at his archetype.
Late-round Jets nose who grew into a functional two-down interior anchor — Marshall's realistic upside if the run-game plan translated and the pass-rush counter came.
Fellow Arkansas 1-tech whose length and length-adjusted testing didn't translate to a defensive snap count once camp bodies got healthy.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Pre-draft context. Marshall was a converted defensive end who spent four seasons buried on the Arkansas depth chart before a redshirt-senior 2020 season under a new defensive scheme finally unlocked him. In a 10-game SEC-only slate he posted 3.5 sacks and 7 tackles for loss as the Razorbacks' primary interior disruptor, earning Second-Team All-SEC. At 6'3", 310 pounds with the length of a five-technique, he tested cleanly at Arkansas Pro Day (4.94 forty, 34.5" vertical, 9'7" broad) after skipping the truncated 2021 Combine cycle. Boards had him firmly in the Day 3 pile — the Athletic's Dane Brugler ranked him 216th, a rotational-nose projection.
NFL fit — New York Jets. The team selected Marshall with the 207th pick as depth behind Quinnen Williams and Foley Fatukasi in the new 4-3 front. The fit was clean on paper: an over-the-nose body who could two-gap on run downs and give the front a rested body without asking him to be a pass-rush answer. The complication was health. Marshall spent most of his rookie year on injured reserve after arm and hamstring setbacks, appearing in just four games with two tackles before the Jets waived him in August 2022. Kansas City, Chicago and Detroit rotated him through practice-squad tenure over the next two seasons without a meaningful defensive snap count.
Retrospective. This was a length-and-testing bet on a player whose production window was one COVID-shortened season, and it played out exactly the way Day 3 bets on late bloomers usually do — a rotational body without the disruption profile to survive a roster crunch. The pick itself did no damage; the Jets were mining sixth-round tonnage for a rebuilt defensive front and Marshall's traits merited the flier. But the developmental leap he needed to become a real NFL rotational three-technique never came, and by 2024 he was out of the league without a defined role on any roster he touched.