The NFL Combine has gone and now it is time to look toward the NFL Draft. Most people believe it to be so that Joey Bosa is the clear cut best DE in the draft but I think Mr. Ogbah from Oklahoma State has something to say about that.
Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogbah was one of the big Combine winners last week. Ogbah is 6’4” and 275 pounds of complete terror and power. No wonder is middle name means “God’s power.” Ogbah is a Nigerian and for the most part is still learning the game of football, but he is learning very quick. Now at the combine, he posted great numbers. He posted a 4.63 40 time, 20 reps on the bench, 35.5 inch vertical, 121-inch broad jump, 7.26 3 Cone Drill, and a 4.5 20-yard shuttle. Ogbah’s 40, vertical jump, broad jump, and arm length are all better than Joey Bosa. After these numbers, Ogbah’s number definitely raised his draft stock considerably.
Before the draft many teams didn’t see speed and quickness in his game tape, but his combine times beg to differ. So the numbers he posted will make NFL teams reevaluate his game film and look to see if these numbers translate to his on the field game, and they will find out that the numbers and the game film do match up.
In the run game, he is hard to wash down because of his size. And he is willing to read and react to the plays instead of just charging up the field. He has a quick first step off of the line and has a relentless motor. He uses his long arms to contact the block first and create his pass rush move off of that. His favorite moves seem to be the bull rush and the rip and club. But has also shown that his speed rush and spin has resulted to some of his sacks. In his career, he has a higher sack per game number than Bosa. Ogbah has .736 and Bosa has .634 and they also both have 5 forced fumbles, but Ogbah did this in five less games. And let’s take into account that Bosa played for a team that was usually up and had to throw the ball a lot to try and keep and stay in the game. So, even though Bosa, in theory, had more chances to rush the passer in games and had more games to play he still did not have more than Ogbah’s 26.5 career sacks.
Ogbah in the NFL is best suited for the 4-3. He can play any position on the DL, but will probably do most damage as the left defensive end against the right tackle. Ogbah’s ceiling is very high in the NFL and a team like Tampa Bay at number 9 in the draft could definitely use a player like Ogbah. Tampa Bay needs a DE or DT to help get double teams off of Gerald McCoy, so having Ogbah on the same side will make teams have to make the decision of either doubling McCoy and leaving their RT on an island with Ogbah, or having no help across the line.
