ASU football DL Nesta Jade Silvera gets drafted in 7th round by Las Vegas Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders selected former Arizona State defensive lineman Nesta Jade Silvera Saturday with the 231st pick of the NFL Draft.

Silvera played the last year of his collegiate career with ASU, using his fifth year and final year of eligibility to come to Tempe and put up his best statistical season.

He finished 2022 with 56 total tackles (18 more than any other season) and tied for first on the team with 4.5 tackles for loss in 12 games for the Sun Devils.

Silvera, who was a four-star prospect out of American Heritage High School in Plantation, Fla., stayed in his home state and spent his first four seasons at Miami.

Recognized as one of the top defensive lineman coming out of high school, he became a fixture on the defensive line for Miami from 2018-21, playing in 41 games.

He earned an All-ACC Honorable Mention in 2020, leading all interior lineman with 35 total tackles and eight tackles for loss.

Silvera is known for using his size and ability to read different running schemes to stop the run and quickly fill the gaps with his lateral movement.

“His upper-body strength will leave you wide-eyed, as his physical dominance in the run game often made him look like a man amongst boys. He pairs his brute strength with a quick get-off, allowing him to quickly reset the line of scrimmage in his favor,” according to The Draft Network.

Silvera was the only Sun Devil who received an invite to the NFL Combine, showing his combination of strength and speed with a 1.77 10-yard split and a 9-foot, 3-inch broad jump.

“I stood on a lot of my combine numbers and a lot of the stuff I did there. Obviously position work, I wanted to show what I could do,” Silvera said during combine week. “Show that I could move, show that I’m very agile. I’m like a linebacker playing defensive tackle.”

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