Nick
Saldiveri.
Nick
Saldiveri.
Old Dominion· 6'6"· 318 lb· 5.21s 40
"A right tackle body with guard feet, and everyone in the room knew the position change was coming; the bet was that a grip that strong and a base that wide would outlive the quickness that never showed up."Pre-draft read
A three-year starter at right tackle for Old Dominion whose tape read as guard tape the moment he reached the NFL. Saldiveri plays from a wide, heavy base and generates force from the ground up rather than from a strike. He is at his best on down blocks and duo, getting his hands inside, rolling his hips and displacing a defender who has already committed his weight.
In protection he is a catcher more than a puncher, setting with patience and leaning on a firm anchor and long arms to absorb bull rushers. Lateral quickness is the limiting trait, and both edge speed and interior counters made him late to spots. The signature is composure: his hands rarely drift outside the frame, and when beaten early he rides the rush past the pocket.
Gap and duo run scheme that asks its guards to down block, fold and finish downhill rather than reach defenders on the backside of wide zone.
Year 1: swing interior backup who plays in heavy packages. Ceiling: multi-year starting guard in a downhill run offense.
An outside zone offense built on backside cutoffs and reach blocks, where his late first step and lateral range would leave running lanes unsealed.
The right side of a gap-scheme line is the only place his tape projects cleanly.
New Orleans Saints OL Nick Saldiveri Highlights, Old Dominion, Senior Bowl, NFL Combine Results
Nick Saldiveri Right Tackle/Guard Highlights
Nick Saldiveri Highlights | Welcome to the Saints
Saldiveri is a small-school developmental blocker with legitimate NFL size and a right tackle resume that everyone in the building read as guard tape. He redshirted in 2018, saw limited work in 2019, then lost a full year when Old Dominion cancelled its 2020 season during the pandemic. He returned as the anchor of the Monarchs line and closed with an eleven-start senior season split between right guard and right tackle, earning second-team all-conference honors and a Senior Bowl invitation.
The evaluation was about traits, not production. His value lives between the tackles: heavy hands, a strong grip, and enough length to survive when his feet are late. The Sun Belt schedule and the missing 2020 season left him short of reps against pro edges, and Mobile confirmed what the tape suggested, that speed to the corner would eventually push him inside. The flags were pad level on the move and a first step that arrived a beat behind the snap.
Boards had him as a Day 3 developmental interior lineman with starter upside, the classic scheme-specific mauler who needs a year on the bench. New Orleans disagreed with the timing enough to trade up for him at 103, betting that a body that size with that grip strength would become an inexpensive starting guard inside two seasons.
- 01
Point-of-attack power
Generates real displacement on down blocks and duo, rolling his hips through contact once his hands land inside the defender's frame.
- 02
Grip strength
When he latches, the rep is over; defenders struggle to disengage and rarely shed him late in the down on run or pass.
- 03
Functional length
Long arms let him cover up a 3-technique and re-establish contact even when his first step arrives behind the snap.
- 04
Anchor against power
Sets with a wide base and absorbs bull rushers without collapsing the pocket back into the quarterback's lap.
- 05
Positional versatility
Three years of right tackle work plus senior-year guard reps gave him usable snaps at both spots on the right side.
- 01
Lateral quickness
Struggles to reach and cut off defenders in space, and quick interior counters get to his edge before his feet reset.
- 02
Late first step
Fires a beat behind the snap on too many reps, which forces him to catch blocks instead of dictating the point of contact.
- 03
Pad level on the move
Rises out of his stance when climbing to the second level, turning linebacker blocks into shoves rather than seals.
- 04
Level of competition
Sun Belt edges and a cancelled 2020 season left him short of pro-caliber reps for a prospect that far along in his eligibility.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 5.21sp50
- Vertical
- —in
- Broad jump
- —in
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Old Dominion | — |
| 2021 | Old Dominion | — |
| 2022 | Old Dominion | 11 |
| Career | — | 11 |
Offensive linemen do not accumulate box-score statistics. Redshirted 2018; Old Dominion cancelled the entire 2020 season due to COVID-19, so no season row exists for that year. Only the 2022 game and start counts are confirmed by the school's official bio; 2019 and 2021 totals are left unverified rather than estimated.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Only in archetype, not outcome — a strong-handed gap-scheme guard who wins by latching and finishing rather than by moving in space.
The realistic ceiling: a durable, unspectacular starting guard whose value is that the offense never has to plan around him.
The floor that arrived: a powerful late-round interior body whose career stalls on availability before the technique ever gets a full runway.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
The rookie year was exactly what the draft profile predicted: four games, no starts, and a redshirt spent learning guard from the inside out while the veterans in front of him held the line together. The payoff came in 2024, when injuries opened the door and Saldiveri played eleven games with six starts at guard. The tape was uneven but honest for a first-time starter, strong on gap runs, exposed against quick interior rushers, and it looked like the beginning of a cheap starting answer for a line that badly needed one.
Then the knee took the career. He hurt it in December of 2024, worked back through the offseason, and reinjured it in an August 2025 practice; the Saints placed him on injured reserve on August 2 and he missed the entire season. He never made it back. On May 12, 2026, New Orleans put him on the reserve/PUP list, ending a second straight year before it began. As an evaluation the pick was defensible and the fourth-round price was fair for a starter-caliber guard, but the return is six career starts and two lost seasons. This is not a bad read of a player; it is what happens when a durability question nobody flagged decides the outcome.