Jack
Nelson.
Jack
Nelson.
Wisconsin· 6'7"· 314 lb
"A long-tenured Wisconsin technician with the ideal frame and versatility for a zone scheme, Nelson's NFL viability hinges on whether his inconsistent pass-protection habits can be sufficiently refined."Pre-draft read
Five-year Wisconsin starter who lined up at right guard as a redshirt freshman before settling in as the Badgers' left tackle for three straight seasons. Long-limbed at 6-7 with a wide, flexible frame, he plays with real range in the run game: he reaches the backside on zone, climbs cleanly to second-level linebackers and finds work in space instead of waiting for it to come to him.
The pass set is where the tape splits. He mirrors well when his posture stays stacked, but the kick can get frantic against speed, the hands arrive late and independent, and the anchor is more technique than raw power against long-arm bull rushers. The separator is versatility and availability: guard and tackle reps, 50 starts, almost no missed time.
Outside and wide zone run game that lets him work angles, reaches and cutoffs instead of asking him to displace a nose tackle from a static gap set.
Year 1: sixth lineman and swing tackle across both sides. Ceiling: average starting left tackle in a zone-heavy offense with play-action and chip help.
Drop-back seven-step passing offense that leaves him alone against wide-9 speed with no help — his sets get hurried and the anchor gives.
Movement and versatility are the currency here; power football is not.
Jack Nelson Left Tackle Highlights
Left tackle reps from his Wisconsin starting seasons: zone reaches, climbs to the second level and pass sets against Big Ten edge rushers.
Jack Nelson College Highlights | 2025 NFL Draft
Official Falcons draft reel of his Badgers tape after the No. 218 selection.
Why the Atlanta Falcons selected Offensive Tackle Jack Nelson
Team breakdown of the fit as swing-tackle depth behind Jake Matthews and Kaleb McGary.
Nelson is the classic Wisconsin offensive line product: a legacy recruit whose father started at tackle for the Badgers, who redshirted, took over a starting job as a sophomore and never came off the field again. He is a technician-and-range blocker rather than a mauler, and the evaluation always hinged on whether the pass-protection habits could be cleaned up at the next level.
The production is durability more than dominance. Fifty starts across four seasons, honorable-mention All-Big Ten in 2021 at right guard and again in 2024 at left tackle, plus run-game tape that holds up: backside cutoffs, angles on pullers, patience on duo. The flags are consistent — inconsistent balance in his sets, hands that fire from the hip instead of the chest, and a base that gets narrow when he is rushed. Against Big Ten speed those reps show up on third down.
The board treated him as a Day 3 developmental swing lineman rather than a starter-in-waiting: enough length, movement and position flexibility to keep, not enough anchor to project outside right away. Atlanta took him at 218 as the fifth lineman behind Jake Matthews and Kaleb McGary, a low-cost bet on a five-year starter who can cover both tackle spots and slide inside. At that pick, that is exactly the right kind of swing.
- 01
Run-game range
Reaches the backside on zone, climbs to linebackers without stalling and finds contact in space instead of waiting for it to come to him.
- 02
Positional versatility
Started at right guard as a redshirt freshman and at left tackle for three straight years; can cover four of the five spots in a pinch.
- 03
Availability
Fifty starts in four seasons with no significant missed time, the kind of durability that keeps a swing lineman dressed and active on Sundays.
- 04
Frame and length
Six-foot-seven with 33-and-a-half-inch arms and a 10-inch hand; the reach is there to recover on a rusher who beats him off the ball.
- 05
Pedigree and recognition
Second-generation Badger tackle who diagnoses stunts and games quickly and rarely gets caught passing a rusher off late.
- 01
Frantic pass sets
The kick slide gets hurried against speed, and once his posture breaks the rep tends to be lost rather than salvaged with a recovery.
- 02
Anchor versus power
Holds up on technique more than raw strength; long-arm bull rushers walk him back into the pocket before he can reset his base.
- 03
Hand timing
The punch arrives late and often independently, letting rushers into his chest and turning clean reps into hand-fighting scrambles.
- 04
Play strength at the point
Sustains better than he displaces; in short yardage he seals a lane rather than creating one off the snap.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— No athletic data recorded
| Yr | Team | G |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Wisconsin | 1 |
| 2021 | Wisconsin | 13 |
| 2022 | Wisconsin | 12 |
| 2023 | Wisconsin | 13 |
| 2024 | Wisconsin | 13 |
| Career | — | 52 |
Offensive linemen have no box-score production; games and starts only. Redshirt year 2020: one appearance, no starts. Wisconsin lists 51 games played and 50 starts from 2021-24, which the season splits above reconcile (13+12+13+13 games, 13+12+13+12 starts). Honorable-mention All-Big Ten in 2021 at right guard and 2024 at left tackle. No pressure or sack-allowed totals are individually verified, so none are listed.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Long, athletic swing tackle who dresses every week and starts in a pinch.
Guard-to-tackle convert whose technique and range outgrew a modest athletic profile.
Practice-squad-to-spot-starter tackle who never locked down a job.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Atlanta kept him. Nelson made the Falcons' 53-man roster out of camp as a rookie and appeared in ten games in 2025, working as the swing tackle and in jumbo packages behind Jake Matthews and Kaleb McGary rather than as a starter — the exact role the pick was made for. He was not asked to protect a blindside on Sundays, and the Falcons never had to hand him an emergency start, which is close to the best outcome a seventh-round tackle can produce in year one: a roster spot, live heavy-package and special-teams work, and a full NFL offseason of strength training ahead of him.
The retrospective on a pick like this is simple. Nobody taken at 218 is expected to start, and Nelson did not need to; he needed to prove he belonged in an NFL room, and a rookie year on the active roster says he did. The developmental question is unchanged from his Wisconsin tape: the anchor and the hand timing are what stand between swing depth and a real starting look, and those are exactly the traits that a pro weight room and positional instruction can move. Too early to grade the outcome, but the floor already looks like a multi-year backup rather than a camp body.
Data note: Offensive linemen have no box-score production; games and starts only. Redshirt year 2020: one appearance, no starts. Wisconsin lists 51 games played and 50 starts from 2021-24, which the season splits above reconcile (13+12+13+13 games, 13+12+13+12 starts). Honorable-mention All-Big Ten in 2021 at right guard and 2024 at left tackle. No pressure or sack-allowed totals are individually verified, so none are listed.