Prospect: YaYa Diaby
Position: Defensive End
School: Louisville
Year: Fifth-Year Senior
Born May. 30, 1999 (age 23) to parents Mariama and Mohamed Diaby. A native of Atlanta, Ga., he lettered in football, basketball, wrestling and track & field at North Clayton High School. During his senior year, he earned All-State and First-Team All-Region honors, and led North Clayton to the Class 4A playoffs.
Despite this, Diaby was an unranked recruit in the Class of 2017 and received no collegiate interest, mainly due to a then-undersized frame. He spent the 2017 season out of football working at nearby Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, but received chance to join Georgia Military College in 2018.
During his first season at the JUCO institution, he saw action in nine games, logging 19 tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. He took a large step forward as a sophomore, collecting 58.0 tackles, 16.0 for loss and 5.0 sacks in 11 games. Regarded as a three-star prospect and the No. 41 JUCO prospect in the Class of 2020, Diaby chose Louisville over mainly Kansas State and West Virginia, while also holding offers from Florida State, Tennessee and others.
Diaby was a regular fixture on Louisville's defensive line over his first two season with the Cardinals, but had a minimal impact. In 21 appearances and 19 starts over the 2020 and 2021 seasons, he only collected 57 tackles, 5.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks.
For his final year at the collegiate level in 2022, Diaby finally had his breakout season. He played a crucial role in helping produce one of the most disruptive defensive lines in college football, tallying 14.5 tackles for loss and 9.0 sacks, both of which were second on the team, as well as 37 tackles overall. He was named a Third-Team All-ACC selection for his efforts.
At the NFL Combine, Diaby measured in at 6 feet and 3 3/8 inches (6033) and 263 pounds, along with 10 3/8" hands and 33 7/8″ arms. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.51 seconds, leapt 10 feet and 0 inches (120″) in the broad jump and 37″ in the vertical. Based on these measurements and numbers, Diaby earned a Relative Athletic Score of 9.86 out of 10, ranking 24th out of 1629 defensive ends from 1987 through 2023 (98th percentile).
Strengths
Weaknesses
NFL Comparison
Boye Mafe (Minnesota - 2018-21, Seattle Seahawks - 2022)
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