Daniel

Wise

Wise (6’3/281) was a four-year starter on KU’s defensive line, seeing action at end and tackle and graduating with 44 career tackles for loss and 18.5 sacks and earning first-team All-Big 12 as both a junior and senior. Wise was exposed as a sub-par athlete at the Combine, however, testing as a 20th-percentile athlete with a molasses-slow 5.27 forty and 27 ½-inch vertical. A college overachiever with questionable NFL traits, Wise’s ceiling is likely a rotational gap shooter on passing downs.

“He was one of the best defenders at the Shrine Game and I would argue that he would have been better than some of the guys they had at Senior Bowl,” the director told Zierlein. Wise (6'3/281) did not have a great combine, running a 5.28 second 40-yard dash and testing in the 23rd percentile overall. Still, Zierlein notes that Wise shows good agility on the football field, and that he’s quick to diagnose. “He’s not always aesthetically pleasing due to inconsistent body control,” he writes, “but the work gets done.”

This is a really bad time for Wise (6'2/281) who isn’t even among the biggest interior defensive lineman. He was tabbed as a “winner” in the East-West Shrine in January, but recording one of the NFL Scouting Combine’s slowest 40 times isn’t going to help his draft stock. Heading into the weekend he was thought to be a Day 2 selection but the perception likely won’t be the same when he leaves.

“His quickness, play strength, hand technique and motor [were] optimized in a penetration-style role where he was unblockable in both 1v1s and team drills,” Marino writes, adding that the 6-foot-3, 290-pound Wise “leaves St. Pete with plenty of positive buzz after dominating the week from start to finish.” First step of the process complete for Wise, now, as he tries to lockdown a Day 2 selection. Coming into the 2018 campaign, Draft Analyst’s Tony Pauline stamped him with a fourth-round grade.

Wise was a standout on the Kansas defense; and yes, there can be standouts on teams that were as bad as Kansas, before you say anything. “He attacked team periods, showing a nasty bull rush and creative hand usage to work over the top of blockers as well,” Ledyard writes. “Unblockable is not an over-exaggeration.” He also believes Ledyard profiles best as a three-technique, but it’s worth pointing out that the defender has played all over in his collegiate career; something sure to help his stock.

What’s surprising about this isn’t that Wise got invited to the Shrine Game, it’s that he wasn’t snapped up by the Senior Bowl. Wise, a 2018 All-Big 12 First Team selection, led KU with 12.5 TFL and five sacks. He has 28 TFL over the past two years and 43 over his career despite consistent double-teams. Draft Analyst’s Tony Pauline gave Wise a third-to-fourth round grade heading into the year. The East-West Shrine Game will be played on Jan. 19 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Wise (6'3/290) sat out the second half of Saturday’s win over Rutgers due to a minor injury concern, but Beaty explained to reporters on Tuesday that this was just a precautionary move on the team’s part. Wise will practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, Beaty said. A first-team All-Big 12 performer for the 2017 season, Wise is a potential Day 2 selection for the spring draft.

As Pauline notes, Wise hasn’t received a ton of hype -- a lot of that has to do with how awful Kansas has been the last few years -- but little of that has to do with Wise, who was a first-team All-Big 12 selection last year. “Wise consistently beats blockers off the snap, shoots the gaps and disrupts the actions,” Pauline writes. “He easily changes direction and makes plays laterally in pursuit.” At 6-foot-3, 290-pounds, Wise doesn’t have elite size or power, but because of his ability to make plays and his versatility, he has a chance to be an NFL contributor next year.

The 6-foot-3, 290-pounder was a wrecking ball this season, posting 54 tackles, 17.5 TFL, 6.5 sacks, five quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles. “I haven’t really thought much about it yet,” Wise said about his NFL intentions. “Obviously we’ve been focused on this season. But now that I have time I’m going to make the best decision based off family, sit down and talk with coaches, family, all that stuff. I’m really not in too much of a rush. Being here at the University of Kansas, I love it.” Wise will seek out an opinion from the draft advisory board and talk his brother, Deatrich Wise Jr., a fourth-rounder of the Patriots in 2017.

“Cannot put into words how valuable Daniel is to our program — an outstanding leader with a tremendous work ethic and an infectious personality!,” Jayhawks HC David Beaty wrote to Twitter on Wednesday night, after Wise announced his intentions to return to school. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound redshirt junior registered 53 tackles (16.0 for loss) and seven sacks during the 2017 campaign, earning first team All-Big 12 recognition after season’s completion. Wise’s return to the line for 2018 is a key keep for the program, though it doesn’t completely ease the sting of losing DE Dorance Armstrong Jr. to the NFL Draft earlier this winter.