North Dakota State inside linebacker Nick DeLuca has been on the radar of NFL scouts since 2015. He had his best season statistically (135 total tackles) then as a third-year junior when every NFL team watched the Bison play because of Carson Wentz. He was considered a top linebacker in all of college football entering 2016 when named to the Butkus Award Watch List. But a shoulder injury sidelined DeLuca after three games, allowing him to return in 2017 as a fifth-year senior.
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A minor knee injury kept him out of two nonconference games this season while his NFL Draft stock continued to go up and down. But it has reached its peak at the right time. Once ranked the No. 14 inside linebacker by NFLDraftScout, DeLuca has soared to No. 5. He’s projected to be a fourth round pick, but has all the tools to be selected earlier. The top five inside linebackers in the 2017 NFL Draft were taken in the first two rounds.
His stock continues to rise. DeLuca had a solid week during the Senior Bowl with an impressive interception in practice.
Here’s the DeLuca pick:pic.twitter.com/atOjOSX2Ys
— Aaron Brumley (@Dr_Brumley) January 24, 2018
He finished tied for second in tackles for the North squad during the game with six.
At 6-foot-3, 245 pounds, DeLuca is an every-down linebacker. He certainly has the size to man the middle. That was shown at the FCS level as he was dominant in stopping the run.
STUFFED ON 4TH & GOAL AT THE 1. LB Nick DeLuca w/ the stop for the Bison keeping it 14-0 Bison #homecoming pic.twitter.com/Tnu2JjM2Bv
— VNL Sports (@vnlsports) September 30, 2017
Sometimes it looked too easy for the Omaha native.
This is a Nick DeLuca play, but it’ll highlight later why Greg Menard is so important to NDSU’s D and why he’d have made a difference here. pic.twitter.com/agfId8i108
— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) November 8, 2017
He has a knack for finding the football with a combination of instinct and understanding of the game. But it’s in passing situations where his athleticism truly shines. DeLuca took reps at outside linebacker to start 2017 because of his ability to make plays in space and allow senior Matt Plank to get on the field at Mike linebacker.
That knack for the ball was displayed on passing downs when DeLuca stayed on the field even when he moved back to the middle after Plank’s injury. DeLuca is just as effective running the middle of the field in the Tampa 2 zone defense as he is in run defense.
#FargoToFrisco; top play number 14: Nick DeLuca's diving interception in the 2016 #FCSChamp against Jacksonville State sets up Bison touchdown. pic.twitter.com/rPVI5pn5Sp
— Dom Izzo (@DomIzzoWDAY) December 27, 2017
He moves well for his size, something NFL scouts will notice if they do their homework and see his production on special teams early in his NDSU career. The ability to contribute on kickoff and punt teams is where a lot of young NFL linebackers and defensive backs find their way onto the field.
DeLuca led the Bison in special teams tackles as a true freshman in 2013 and was a standout on the punt team the next year when he led that unit in tackles. Once he was inserted into the starting lineup in 2014 as a sophomore, he showed flashes as to why coaches openly said he never should have gotten out of the state of Nebraska.
DeLuca had seven interceptions in his Bison career. He added another tool to his arsenal in 2017 as an effective blitzer, racking up 6.5 sacks.
Strip/sack by LB Nick DeLuca gives @NDSUfootball at the @UNIFootball 38 yd line 0-0 in the 1st qtr. pic.twitter.com/VvseyndJmp
— VNL Sports (@vnlsports) October 28, 2017
DeLuca checks off all the boxes on the field. But his numbers at the NFL Combine, which his dad told WDAY's Kolpack and Izzo radio show he has been invited to, will be heavily scrutinized. He’ll need to perform well to shake off any concern about the level of play he competed in. If you look at the 2016 Iowa game, though, DeLuca had six solo tackles against the 11th-ranked Hawkeyes with an injured shoulder he would later have surgery on.
Nick DeLuca from North Dakota State is an FCS that will get drafted. Tough, instinctual. Makes plays like this routine pic.twitter.com/40bbQhG8yW
— Daniel Parlegreco (@DTPDraftScout) December 20, 2017
Take away what the film shows and what the Combine results are, and DeLuca possesses what a lot of scouts and draft analysts love to talk about: the intangibles. DeLuca comes from a program that's won six Division I national titles in the last seven years. Since 2013, it's developed NFL guys like Marcus Williams, Kyle Emanuel, Joe Haeg and of course the No. 2 overall draft pick Wentz.
Offensively and defensively, the Bison groom players in their system that makes them pro ready.
"Here, they're finishers," Jon Gruden said when he took a visit to NDSU in April to speak at a coaches clinic. "They come here, a lot of them redshirt. They've been in the same program with the same coaches. They get reps. And a lot of these players, these Bison, they come out of here polished. They play five years, and they're mature men when they come out of here."
DeLuca has been a top linebacker in college football for a few years now. He dominated at his level and has the size and speed to be an instant contributor on the field as a rookie.
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NEXT: NFL DRAFT HIGHLIGHTS: Nick DeLuca, LB — North Dakota State
