Explosiveness: Ika displays good explosiveness off the snap and can do a lot to challenge the feet of his opponents as a pass rusher. He’s tasked with controlling the A gap and can use that initial quickness to beat offensive linemen to the spot to help close down pathways for the running back. This is one of Ika’s best qualities and it’s something he’ll be able to hang his hat on at the next level.
Pad Level/Leverage: Ika shows good pad level overall but there are multiple instances where his chest opens up and he gets dumped on the ground. This tends to occur more often in run defense, as he forgets to drop his weight and sink into the spot. Despite this, Ika has plenty of natural strength and can establish good leverage when he sets his hands.
Pass Rush Plan: Ika has plenty of pass rush ability coming from his nose tackle spot. He uses that first step to get into the face of his opponents to establish leverage. He has a couple of solid moves but mainly relies on speed to power and the rip underneath. There are times when he can break into his gap and quickly toss the hands of the center/guard. His hand placement is great and shows good quickness to quickly shed his opponents.
Run Defense: Ika has plenty of ability in run defense due to his high-level processing skills, but he struggles to maintain consistent pad level when engaging with opponents. Ika establishes good initial leverage with hand power and lower half strength but fails to maintain quality body control throughout the rep. Ika can lock out opponents and shed them quickly without too much trouble. Additionally, he has good vision and discipline when reading blocks, while staying patient in the gap to clog running lanes for the ball carrier. He lacks elite length but can still get hands on when ball carriers are coming through his gap.
Versatility: Ika should make for a quality nose tackle at the next level, using his strength and gap control to play 0-tech or shade nose. He has the foot quickness to slide over as a three/two-technique and win as a pass rusher.
Strength/Power: Ika has plenty of natural power in his lower half. He has a dense frame that carries some nice strength to maintain leverage at the line of scrimmage. His strong core allows him to drive offensive linemen back in the bull rush.
Block Shedding: Effort, power, and hand placement allow him to consistently shed blocks at the line of scrimmage. Ika has plenty of consistency against drive blocks where he can match power to power but can struggle to frame reach blocks and his lack of length causes him to struggle to adjust. Despite this, his accurate placement and quickness allow him to make sharp movements when trying to reset the line of scrimmage.
Hand Usage: Ika has great hand usage and can manipulate offensive tackles with ease due to great placement. As a pass rusher, he has little trouble shifting his hands mid-rush to direct the lineman back into the quarterback.
Flexibility: Ika displays solid flexibility given his body type. He can unlock his hips quickly when engaging with opponents and can generate plenty of pop from that alone. He’s somewhat stiff in his ankles when working around offensive linemen but will survive at the next level.
Gap Shooting: Ika has plenty of lateral mobility to work from gap to gap. He can quickly readjust his body when trying to find the best angle to manipulate his opponents. As a gap penetrator, he wins with power and vision but lacks the length that would make him elite in this area.