Silver And Black Pride
Diving into the sixth-round pick’s game
The Las Vegas Raiders got a unique player in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, selecting Ole Miss defensive lineman JJ Pegues with the 180th overall pick.
Pegues is a versatile defender who took 866 snaps at defensive tackle, 359 snaps as a defensive end and 426 at nose tackle during his college career, according to Pro Football Focus.
Last season, he stood out against the run with an 81.8 PFF run defense grade that ranked eighth among interior defenders in the SEC, and he tied for 11th with 17 defensive stops. On top of that, he recorded the fourth-most pressures within the position group, logging 31 in 2024.
But pigeonholing the former Rebel as a defensive lineman isn’t an accurate description of what he brings to the table. Pegues also contributed offensively as a short-yardage running back and scored seven rushing touchdowns, tied for 15th in the SEC.
So, let’s dive into the tape and see what the Swiss-army knife can bring to the Raiders.
Here, Pegues is lined up as a 3-technique defensive tackle and takes on a base block from Miles Frazier, who was drafted in the fifth round by the Detroit Lions.
Pegues wins the rep by taking on the block with good pad level and uses his strength to win at the point of attack, resetting the line of scrimmage and getting extension on the block. That allows him to not only do his job by taking away the B-gap but also make the tackle in the adjacent gap for a short gain while Frazier is hanging onto him.
The Ole Miss product is playing the same alignment against Florida in the clip above, but faces a combo block from the left guard and center this time.
Post-snap, he does a good job of attacking the man he’s lined up across from (the guard) and keeping his pads down. Then, once the pressure from the center comes, Pegues turns his body to get skinny and help split the two offensive linemen. As a result, he’s able to stay in his gap and get involved in the tackle.
The Raiders could use a defensive tackle who’s effective against double teams, so this is an encouraging rep.
This time, Pegues lines up at defensive end and takes on a puller against a counter run from Oklahoma.
Now, his technique here isn’t good as he should use a ‘wrong-arm’ to get underneath the puller’s block and spill the running back to the outside. However, the Ole Miss product has the strength and power to still defeat the block and make the tackle for a short gain.
The sixth-round pick may not get away with this in the NFL, but he clearly has some impressive strength to work with.
Pegues has some work to do as a pass-rusher, especially on the interior, but he does have an impressive cross-chop move like the one seen above. He lines up as a wide-9-technique...
