Xavier Nixon: 5 Things You Need to Know About the Florida OT

While Xavier Nixon is no Matt Elam or Sharrif Floyd in terms of being a top prospect from the Florida Gators, he is a talented offensive lineman who shows flashes of extreme talent. 

He struggled with consistency throughout in career at Florida. However, Nixon has loads of experience playing against elite competition, which NFL teams love.

Let's take a look at five things you need to know about the former Florida offensive tackle. 

Background

Full Name: Xavier Nixon

Birthday: September 17, 1990

Hometown: Fayetteville, N.C.

High School: Jack Britt High School

Major: Sociology

Year: Senior

Nixon was a big-time recruit coming out of high school. He was ranked the No. 3 offensive tackle, according to Rivals.com.

Nixon was also invited to the 2009 U.S. Army All-American Bowl before he chose Florida as the college he'd attend.

Statistics

2009: Five starts, 221.8 rushing yards per game, 30 rushing touchdowns, 236.1 passing yards per game, 28 passing touchdowns, 35.9 points per game

2010: Eight starts, 166.9 rushing yards per game, 31 rushing touchdowns, 184.3 passing yards per game, 12 passing touchdowns, 29.8 points per game

2011: Nine starts, 143 rushing yards per game, 17 rushing touchdowns, 185.7 passing yards per game, 13 passing touchdowns, 25.5 points per game

2012: 11 starts, 187.7 rushing yards per game, 22 rushing touchdowns, 146.3 passing yards per game, 13 passing touchdowns, 26.5 points per game

Xavier Nixon made his first start at left tackle during his freshman season. He was the first freshman to start a game for the Florida Gators since 1992.

Nixon finished his career with 33 starts and played in 46 games.

All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com and refer to overall team statistics.

Draft Process

Measurables

Height: 6'6"

Weight: 321 lbs

Arm Length: 33 1/2"

Hand Size: 10 1/8"

Pro day results

Bench press: 19 reps

Xavier Nixon wasn't invited to the NFL Scouting Combine. He only did positional drills at the Florida pro day, other than the bench press.

Unfortunately, the 19 reps he did on the bench press was a pretty poor showing for an offensive lineman.

Pro day result courtesy of WalterFootball.com.

Interesting Facts

The amount of talent that Xavier Nixon had to go up against in the SEC this season is simply ridiculous. Few left tackles, if any, have to face this type of elite talent week in, week out.

Nixon went up against the likes of Jadeveon Clowney, Jarvis Jones, Sam Montgomery and Damontre Moore. While he struggle against some of them, there were also times when he completely dominated them.

Observations

There are some who feel that Xavier Nixon should be considered an offensive guard in the NFL instead of an offensive tackle. One of those people is RotoExperts.com writer Jayson Braddock, who isn't very high on Nixon as a prospect:

"

OGs cont'd 8) Brennan Williams 9) Hugh Thornton 10) David Bakhtiari 11) David Quessenberry 12) Brian Winters 13) Xavier Nixon 14) Kyle Long

— Jayson Braddock (@JaysonBraddock) April 21, 2013"

Justin Felder of Fox11 in Green Bay feels that Nixon's ability to play in a number of schemes could help him transition to the NFL:

"

Former #Gators tackle Xavier Nixon speaking at combine. 3 diff schemes in college may help transition to NFLtwitpic.com/c5wf0g

"

"— Justin Felder (@Justin_Felder) February 22, 2013"

Former teammate Sharrif Floyd had this to say about Nixon when asked about the best offensive lineman on Florida's roster in 2011:

"

If I had a choice, I’d say Xavier Nixon. Just technically sound, and he’s just on his stuff. On the inside I’d say (Jon) Halapio because I’m at 3-technique and I’m mainly on him.

"