Quinton
Bohanna.
Quinton
Bohanna.
Kentucky
"A 6'4", 357-pound Kentucky nose tackle with SEC-tested anchor and 61 career tackles as a rotational two-gapper — a Round-6 run-down NT bet on rare mass and short-area power over any pass-rush upside."Pre-draft read
Bohanna aligns as a 0/1-technique nose, operating within two yards of the snap. He maintains a wide, low-hipped base, effectively attacking half-man. He uses heavy, well-timed hands to lock out and stack double-team blocks, freeing linebackers. His hand placement is consistently inside, and his anchor holds firm against down blocks, preventing him from being pushed off the ball on gap-scheme runs.
His profile is limited on movement snaps. His average get-off and limited pad drop from his stance restrict speed-to-power. He lacks a pass-rush plan beyond a weight-reliant bull rush. Heavy change-of-direction and lateral pursuit make him slow to react to screens, wide-zone cutbacks, and pulling guards. Consistent effort is present, but conditioning restricts him to short bursts, defining him as a two-down player.
3-4 two-gap power run defense, or a 4-3 one-gap defense that prioritizes block absorption for its linebackers.
Rotational two-down nose tackle who can absorb double teams and protect linebackers inside -- ceiling is a good run defense component.
Movement-heavy one-gap systems or schemes that value interior pass rush productivity.
Bohanna offers a very specific skill set as a true nose tackle, excelling at block absorption in power run schemes, but his lack of movement and pass rush limits him to a two-down, rotational role.
Quinton Bohanna – DT – 2021 NFL Draft
Full pre-draft cutup showing 0/1-tech alignment, double-team anchor and hand usage vs SEC interior lines.
Quinton Bohanna Highlights | Preseason Debut
Cowboys preseason snaps: base-down NT reps, double-team stacking and early-down A-gap collapse.
Seahawks Sign NT Quinton Bohanna – 2023 Highlights
Late-2023 cutup illustrating his continued NFL role as a size-specific early-down nose across multiple stops.
Bohanna projected as a pure nose tackle whose value was centered on early-down block absorption and 0/1-technique double-team work. He was evaluated as a two-down player with limited pass-rush upside, suited for teams seeking a true early-down anchor to protect linebackers. His listed mass, as high as 364 pounds, allowed him to contend with double teams effectively.
His role at Kentucky involved occupying blockers rather than generating splash plays, which reflected in his modest tackle and TFL numbers across 46 career games. He contributed for four years in the SEC, facing high-level offensive lines. Given the limited pro day testing in 2021 due to COVID, the evaluation relied heavily on his game film and considerable mass. His usage was specific: a run-stuffing specialist.
Evaluators consistently viewed him as a Day 3 selection, recognizing his specialized skill set but also his movement limitations and lack of pass-rush influence. The risk in his projection lay in the league's trend toward lighter, more penetrating interior fronts, potentially limiting his ceiling to a rotational role. He was ultimately drafted in the sixth round.
- 01
Play Strength
Rare listed mass provides genuine 0-technique volume, allowing him to contend with double teams on early downs unlike most prospects.
- 02
Holds Ground
Consistently stacks and holds ground against combination blocks and double teams, ensuring linebackers can scrape freely.
- 03
Hand Placement
Hand independence at contact is effective; inside placement is clean, and he uses his hands to lock out chest plates.
- 04
SEC Experience
Four years of SEC experience against top-tier offensive lines demonstrates a proven baseline for his two-down role.
- 05
A-Gap Collapse
Short-area power at the point collapses the A-gap effectively when pad level is maintained, forcing lateral movement from runners.
- 01
Limited Pass Rush
Strictly a two-down player with minimal pass-rush production or influence; sub-package usage was rare throughout his college career.
- 02
No Pass Rush Plan
His bull rush is his primary and often only pressure tool, lacking counters, secondary moves, or consistent hand fighting.
- 03
Movement Limitations
Movement limitations in lateral quickness, redirect ability, and pursuit angles make him vulnerable to misdirection.
- 04
Unverified Athletics
Lack of verified athletic testing from the 2021 cycle meant evaluators had to rely solely on game film for movement assessment.
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Kentucky | 12 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2018 | Kentucky | 13 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | Kentucky | 13 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2020 | Kentucky | 8 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Career | — | 46 | 58 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Big-body early-down nose who bounces between rotational roles and short-term starts without ever becoming a three-down interior piece.
Best-case outcome as a plus-sized two-down nose who becomes a genuine run-defense difference-maker in the right scheme.
Rare-mass NT who never carves out a stable role because the league keeps shifting away from true two-down interior body types.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Pre-draft context. Bohanna arrived at Kentucky as a rare-frame interior recruit (6'4", listed as high as 364 pounds) and became a four-year contributor for the defensive scheme, closing his career with 61 tackles, 3.5 TFLs and a role centered almost entirely on eating blocks against the run. He tested inside the top 1% of the class in listed mass but never ran a verified forty at the COVID-affected 2021 pro day cycle, and boards uniformly treated him as a two-down space-eater with a Day-3 grade — PFF slotted him outside the top 250 overall and top 20 among interior linemen. The scouting question was simple: does a 350-plus-pound nose still have a positional home in a lighter, more nickel-heavy NFL?
NFL fit — Dallas. The Cowboys took Bohanna at #192 explicitly to replace Antwaun Woods as the base-down nose in their defensive front, giving them a true 0-technique to protect Micah Parsons and the second-level linebackers on early downs. He played 267 defensive snaps as a rookie, mostly on run downs, and stuck as rotational nose depth through 2022 and into the 2023 preseason before Dallas waived him at final cuts. He landed on Seattle's practice squad late in 2023 and has since bounced through the Bengals and Giants systems as a size-specific NT stopgap.
Retrospective. Bohanna hit as a Round-6 role player: he delivered exactly the two-down anchor Dallas drafted him for, and his tape as a rookie against Washington and Philadelphia held up against double teams. But he never expanded that role, never became a sub-package factor, and by his third season the league's continued move toward lighter, more penetrative fronts squeezed him out of a stable roster spot. A rotational hit — not a miss, not a starter.