Obinna Eze — one of the more underrated players in this draft
It’s very clear there are healthy pass rushing options in this draft class, particularly at defensive end. It’s a top-heavy group at defensive tackle — but if you want an ‘EDGE’ you can get one even on day three.
However, the more I study this class — the more attractive the offensive line options are becoming too.
Here are further notes on three players…
Obinna Eze (T, TCU)
A blog favourite for some time, I originally wrote an article about Eze when he was at Memphis two years ago.
In 2020 I thought he had first or second round potential as a pass-blocking stud who was light on his feet despite his great size. Here’s what I wrote in the piece:
The first thing that stands out on tape is his really light feet. In terms of pure agility and mobility — there aren’t many college tackles who can move like this. He drops with ease, there’s no labouring in his movement and his feet are so smooth he wouldn’t wake a baby with his kick-slide.
When he’s asked to defend a speed rush he drops with suddenness to wall off a route to the quarterback. He surprises defensive ends with his ability to mirror and often they’re forced too wide and deep — making it really hard to work back to the quarterback. He’s not troubled or fazed by speed in the slightest and that’s a good start for any prospective left tackle.
On the negative side — he needed technical work (he was more of a ‘catcher’ than a lock-on, attacking blocker) and his run blocking wasn’t a plus. He also needed to refine his frame.
As I’ve been putting my horizontal board together, I’ve been watching a lot of Eze’s 2021 tape to see what kind of developments he’s shown. It’s been tremendously impressive.
Some of the same issues remain. You’d never mistake him for Trevor Penning in the aggression stakes. A lot of his run blocking duties were to force his opponent inside to try and create an edge. At the next level, he’ll face a much more varied challenge and I wanted to see more evidence of him getting off the ball and really driving his defender off the LOS — or subtly turning his man to create lanes.
Nevertheless, the positives are evident. There simply aren’t many players with his combination of size and athleticism.
For that reason I’m giving him a second round grade.
He’s 6-6, 327lbs and has 36 1/8 inch arms and an 86.5 inch wingspan according to Shrine Game measurements. He is huge — and would feel at home playing either tackle spot or kicking inside to guard in some schemes.
The immediate thing that stands out is how easily he slips into his set and looks comfortable handling the edge rush. I love the way he plays inside/out — a challenge a lot of tackles struggle with. When you have +36 inch arms — make your opponent take the long route to the quarterback. Don’t let them counter inside and shorten the journey. Eze often begins his rep by reaching out his right arm to touch the left guard, shutting off the inside. From there, his kick-slide is smooth and athletic. He can wall off against speed and handle everything that comes his way.
These are basic skills he does very well.
When he locks on and engages he’s incredibly hard to shake off. I felt more at ease with his less-attacking style watching him for TCU. If you can manage the inside counter, get into position well and just hold your position — you can do your job at left tackle. He doesn’t give up a lot of edge pressure. That’s what you’re after.
In fairness, he man-handled Oklahoma’s undersized pass rush. How he’ll fair against the Nick Bosa types is another challenge. You can only judge what you see on tape though. Eze’s combination of length, athleticism and experience showed well enough to believe he has a legit shot for the next level.
Adding to that — and this is always good to see — he combo blocks very well. He is often blocking his man initially then shows awareness to pass that defender off if the opportunity arises and seal a second block. He would progress from block A to B in a way that was very satisfying to watch. It’s something Jack Conklin did very well at Michigan State and Eze is impressive in this area.
For me he’s a highly underrated prospect.
Testing will be key. If he struggles in the vertical, broad and bench — it will limit his stock. Teams across the league value explosive traits. An athletic run in the forty or strong agility testing might help — but more than anything, teams want explosive offensive linemen. We see it in the profiles of early draft picks every year.
Here’s a quote from Florida State coach Mike Norvell on Eze, when they were both at Memphis:
“Obinna is going to be successful no matter what he does… He can play this game for a long time. Whenever the last day of football comes, he’ll continue to have success, because of the drive he has in every aspect of his life.”
He’s a player worth keeping on your radar when the combine begins.
Nick Petit-Frere (T, Ohio State)
When NPF was being mocked as a top-15 pick all over the internet, I pushed back and called him overrated. It’s funny how this happens a lot. The ‘draft media’ types get a lot wrong during the season — then they adjust, for whatever reason, and provide more realistic analysis.
Take Roger McCreary, for example. It’s not that long ago one analyst (who generates a lot of traction online) declared he was a ‘top-20 lock’ on Twitter. A well known former NFL scout chimed in to say he hadn’t spoken to a single team with a higher grade than round two. Low and behold, when said analyst posted a top-100 prospects list recently, McCreary was at #43 — one spot below average mid-round lineman Darian Kinnard (who is listed 33 spots higher than Boye Mafe).
I do not have all the answers in the slightest. I am a bloke with a blog and a comparatively tiny audience. But come on. This is absolute rubbish.
Kinnard (#42 overall) was tried at guard at the Senior Bowl and is limited strictly to the right hand side, where he’ll get tight end support, or right guard. I think he’s a fringe third or fourth round pick. In this top-100 list, he’s 41 spots higher than Abraham Lucas and 47 spots higher than NPF.
Anyway, enough complaining. You watch the tape and make your own minds up.
When a player is promoted well above their station, you end creating a dislike for no real reason. I didn’t like NPF in the top-15. But now he’s being talked about as a late third rounder, I feel obliged to flip and say he’s become underrated.
Yes, you can linger on the Michigan game. Unlike Rasheed Walker (see my Friday piece), he had a torrid time against Aidan Hutchinson. It flagged some issues.
Unlike Eze he doesn’t do a good enough job playing inside/out. There are inside counters he concedes that are easily avoidable. He needs to engage better with his hands. The hand placement is poor or at times, non-existent. He doesn’t attack blocks well enough and he’s just too passive and defensive.
You fear a little bit if Hutchinson can get after him so easily, what will other quality rushers at the next level do?
However — his Oregon tape was a lot better. His Minnesota tape was somewhere in the middle
NPF is very good at dropping into his set and you can see he’s very athletic. You can see why he was a five-star, #13 overall recruit. He blocks superbly on the move and his kick-slide eliminates the speed rush threat. I think he’ll do a better job against the quicker edges where he can match-up as an athlete. He needs to be able to show he can do a better technical job against the more brutal power ends. That could be a case of tweaks to his technique and some extra strength training.
I want to see his length measurements at the combine. The inside moves are a concern and while Eze trusts his length, NPF is the opposite. Is there a reason for this?
Even so — he clearly is a tremendous athlete with left tackle potential. And whenever you talk about players with his apparent profile and upside — you have to remember how desperate the league is for this type of player.
All of the tackles in this class have warts. Charles Cross doesn’t bend his knees properly and has played in a pass-friendly offense for two-years which has called for a very limited set of tasks. Trevor Penning showed he has a fair bit to work on with his technique after a very hit-and-miss Senior Bowl. Bernhard Raimann struggled in Mobile.
You are not going to draft the perfect tackle in 2022. Whoever you go for, they will present a set of challenges. They all need development.
The Seahawks are likely going to need to add at least one tackle this off-season. I’m not convinced they’ll retain both Duane Brown and Brandon Shell. They might view Stone Forsyth as an option but he’s a sixth rounder who generated little buzz in year one. Nobody on the staff talked him up publicly as a 2022 starter.
There will be options for Seattle at #41 and #72. While it’s a tackle class with a lot of rough diamonds — it’s also a class that could provide great value and a ton of upside.
Cameron Jurgens (C, Nebraska)
I know I wrote about Jurgens on Friday already but I felt obliged to share more after watching a couple more games. There’s a reason why I’ve put him in gold on my horizontal board.
His aggressive playing style is beyond enjoyable. Watching him play is a treat.
When I put together a mock off-season for the Seahawks and had them paying Brian Allen a small fortune, that was before I properly studied Jurgens. Frankly, he’s a far cheaper, viable alternative.
I love how he pulls and blocks on the move. He can snap quickly, drop and pivot to the left hand side and actually block the edge in space, while moving laterally. His athleticism is incredibly impressive. Everything is controlled. It’s controlled violence.
There was one block against Minnesota where he got on the move after the snap and I can’t believe he got across as quickly as he did to take on the unblocked defensive end. Not only that, he still managed to get his hands inside for the perfect placement, he anchored and stoned the rusher. You just don’t see many center’s do this.
On the next snap he literally did the same thing to the right side. How many teams have their center peel out to block edge rushers in space, on the move?
It’s interesting that they occasionally pulled him into space so quarterback Tyler Martinez could roll out. Jurgens was basically his personal protector on the move. You couldn’t help but wonder if some designed bootlegs for Russell Wilson, with Jurgens wheeling out to the right, could work for Seattle.
He’ll gladly progress to the second level when given the opportunity. He plays to the whistle, often looking for someone to hammer if there’s no direct responsibility in front of him. When he turns defenders he gets them on skates, driving them off the spot to create interior rushing lanes.
There are viral clips online of him progressing to the second level and running defensive backs out of the play 40 yards downfield, before throwing them to the turf:
Watch @HuskerFBNation Center #51 @CameronJurgens on this play! #Effort #Finish pic.twitter.com/uFrNczBYpS
— Joe Moore Award (@JoeMooreAward) September 19, 2021
On some snaps he’ll hit three different defenders. It was like watching Gimli recording kills in Lord of the Rings.
Again against Minnesota he engaged a defensive lineman, blocked him out of the play with a powerful turn — then identified a stunting linebacker looping around. He passed the D-liner off to the right guard and slammed the door shut on the linebacker.
Look at this pocket — and look who’s holding position from the interior, not allowing any interior pressure:
Check out the power and movement he creates:
good Monday to Nebraska center Cameron Jurgens (#51) and no one else pic.twitter.com/aoU21g2yMu
— Mike Golic Jr (@mikegolicjr) July 19, 2021
Everything about Jurgens is impressive. The athleticism, the power, the attitude, the agility. He has a BAMF vibe.
At SPARQ he ran a 4.98 forty and jumped a 32 inch vertical which suggests he’s explosive. That will help his stock. I really hope he has +33 inch arms but even if he doesn’t — I want the Seahawks to consider drafting him. For me, he’s the right combination of physical profile and tone-setting ability. He is a similar size to Brian Allen — who excelled in the Rams’ blocking scheme.
I’m putting Jurgens in round two on my board. He’s seriously underrated and one of the more exciting players to watch in this class.
Horizontal board
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Interesting stuff Rob. Assume we don’t give Duane Brown a new contract (I would). If we can’t get Lucas at 41 (but he played RT in 2021 anyways), would you trust a rookie or Stone to take over or would you try to get an experienced player? I think what we do at LT, C and RB will impact on Wilson’s decision to stay or go.
Not sure they have much choice if Brown moves on. Not a lot of LT free agents
Brown is fine and will be reasonable.. hope they bring him back, one building block on the draft and a another quality FA and we are cooking with gas.
Glad that there are good centers to look at. After my last post about going over the Remington Trophy nominees I was getting worried. I did notice that one didn’t get a combine invite that seemed like was a surprise was James Empey. His old O line coach that is now at Baylor seemed very upset that he didn’t get a chance at the combine. I saw that they compared him to a Jeff Saturday type and that has me intrigued. Has anyone done more scouting on him to see if it is true?
Hey Rob, I noticed your board doesn’t include either of the Alabama CB’s, Josh Jobe & Jaylen Armour-Davis, or the CB from Penn St, Tariq Castro-Fields. They seem to have good size and have done some good things on tape…just not watched them or not good fit’s for the Seahawks? CB is always a tough one for me to judge…
I’ve watched a little of Montaric Brown now and yeah, that dude is fun to watch! Thanks for highlighting him!
I’ve also noticed that OT/OG Matt Bedford is no longer listed on the PFN Sim, so not sure if he is going back to school?
I haven’t studied them yet. Seeing as you’ve mentioned them I’ll start today.
Thanks for the heads up on Bedford.
I worry about smaller centers holding their spot in the NFL. Especially with a QB like Wilson, it seems important to have a center that can anchor, and not get pushed back into his face.
I understand that in a zone scheme, and with more designed rollouts, the smaller (more athletic) centers can have certain advantages. But I think it’s important to have a guy who can hold up if the defense lines up a guy right over center, or in short yardage.
Jurgens seems perfect for the screen game too. I’d way rather pick up a rookie C to develop than pay one. Love these new finds!
Whatever it takes. Just get a legit Center!
Same. Pay one. Play one (a rookie perhaps) As long as they can give better than whatever has been going on for what feels like forever at center.
Props to you, Rob, for sneaking in a LoTR Gimli kill streak reference. Ha!
Jurgens has the fire. Assuming his measurements meet our minimum standards (or maybe irregardless) do you think he comps better, equal, or worse than last year’s group of Quinn Meinerz and Creed Humphey? (Not asking if he’ll be an all-pro like CH, but if you’d grade him similar in pre-draft analysis).
Similar grades until I know measurables and testing
Thanks for the updates Rob. Ian Cummings from PFN definitely agrees with you on Jurgens & had him ranked 78th overall. Seems like quite a few coming around now to players you’ve long projected higher.
https://www.profootballnetwork.com/ian-cummings-2022-nfl-draft-risers-boye-mafe-logan-hall-leaping-toward-top-50/
Based on my studying of Fangio D plus Brandon Staley, one of his disciples and current HC of Chargers (other Seahawks Fangio disciples are Sean Desai and Clint Hurtt), my best guess at D linemen we will target must be players who can hold up at the point attack to stop the run first, while also having enough length and quickness to disengage for adequate pass rush (this may sound obvious).
The reason I emphasize these abilities is mostly because of the great success had by Staley while with the Rams in 2020 where the “gap & a half” concept was implemented for D lineman. Where single gap principles (the old LOB way) required heavy box and single high safety to fill each gap and stop run first (which was totally successful when unique talent such as Earl Thomas in his prime was roaming at safety) and 2-gap orinciples require D-linemen to align head-up or not shading left or right of their O-line counterpart; then engage and “read-react” which has been obsolete in the NFL for a long time since this effectively negates pass rush as there’s no initial upfield burst at the snap.
1-gap and 2-gap are not used as regularly as “gap & a half” in the Fangio/Staley system; which instead is a quick burst by d-lineman into their gap (usually across an O-lineman’s face ie: diagonally), create havoc with some upfield burst (so as to maintain pass rush and pocket pressure) while remaining engaged with O-lineman, then react by disengaging and if need be with a running play, covering your backside hole created by the initial burst. In theory, there’s very few tackles for loss with this style, but also is shown to be effective at smothering runs for 0-2 yard gains when implemented effectively with the added benefit of disrupting the pocket should it be a pass play –at best it’s an attempt to meld the best of both worlds in the sense of effectively countering a run or a pass out of your base alignment.
So, guys I think fit this mold of having burst to disrupt pockets for pass rush and length to engage/disengage for run stopping are (in no order):
-Jadaveon Clowney (A bit too light at ~265lbs, great length, but anchors well)
-Chandler Jones (Also a bit too light at ~265lbs, also great length, and I’m not going to deny his upside)
– Randy Gregory (6’5″ ~255lbs, a bit light and not known for run stopping, young)
-Von Miller (6’3” ~250lbs, pass rush situations – hell yes, as a run stopper, I’m not so sure and again quite light)
-Sebastian Joseph-Day (6’4″ ~285-300lbs, thrived in this system, especially at run concepts, but also had benefit of playing next to Aaron Donald)
-Akeim Hicks (6’4″ 320lbs, interior pass rush with ok run stopping)
-Rasheem Green (6’4″ 280lbs, he fits just right as a rotational inside-out rusher with upside, and I have to imagine will be a priority re-sign)
-Emmanuel Ogbah (6’4″ 275lb, similar to Green except more apt for EDGE than inside and probably more $$$)
-Calais Campbell (6’8” 300lbs, his game transcends def schemes, OLD is my only argument against)
-BJ Hill (6’3 310lbs, run stopping with some pass rush ability – fits the bills, plus blog favorite)
-Anthony Barr (6’5 255lbs, LB who can be disruptive when asked to 2-pt stance on LoS.)
-Jason Pierre Paul (6’5″ 275lbs, and OLD but maybe could help, fits the profile)
-Tim Settle (6’3″ 325lbs, interior pass rush with size, youth 25 years of age, 33″ arms is ok)
-Ogbonnia Okoronkwo (6’2” 255lbs, Rams trend, rotational pass rush with run stopping prowess relative to size size, rotational piece, 78pff)
-Dante Fowler Jr (6’3″ 255lbs with ok pass rush and decent run stop)
-Bilal Nichols (6’4” 290lbs, underwhelming so far, but profile fits, similar to Rasheem Green and Ogbah with inside/out rush, more run stop than pass rush ability)
-Lorenzo Carter (6’5″ 250lbs, light, but has decent run stop for size and is athletic. He could fit on the cheap compared to bigger names with similar size)
Names from this list that definitely fit profile:
Green, Joseph-Day, Ogbah, Hill, Hicks, Nichols
I’m inclined to believe the Hawks will target Joseph-Day given he’s shown an ability to play well in this system already (maybe the Aaron Donald effect, but maybe from personal ability too), and Green as mentioned earlier. Anyone else from the entire list is just a guess, but there are certainly a lot of names I like.
I didn’t mention at the top, but this is only a free agent list with no draft prospects.
If evaluating youngsters, generally, 6’4″> and 280-300lbs is the sweet spot with wiggle room for as low as 255lbs when looking at more pass rush specialists, but also need some ability to stop run as they’ll be playing in predominantly light boxes (<7 man box).
Caveat – I'm an interested amateur. Take all of this with a heavy dose of salt!
Purely based on their Senior Bowl measurements, Perrion Winfrey, Eric Johnson, and Zach Carter would all fit the bill.
Nice write up.
I looked at Vic Fangio’s former starters in the front seven, from his time with the 49ers, Bears, and Broncos. He ran a predominantly a 3-4 defense. His two starting DE’s averaged 6ft 4in tall and 290 lbs, range of 285 lbs – 335 lbs. His nose tackles were around 315 – 325 lbs and averaged 6ft 3in tall. His two middle linebackers were as light as 230 lbs and as big as 255 lbs. His outside linebackers were all under 260 lbs.
The same measurements for the Rams 3-4 personnel this year were in line with the measurements of Vic Fangio starting front seven. Aaron Donald was a DE, A’Shawn Robinson at 6ft 4in tall and 330 lbs was a DE, and Greg Gaines at 312 lbs was the nose tackle. OLB’s were Leonard Floyd at 6ft 5in tall 240 lbs and Von Miller at 6ft 3in 250 lbs.
I think we should focus more on players that fit the above weight and height criteria above. DE’s and OLB’s between 270 -280 don’t seem like a fit as starters.
I would add Quinton Jefferson to this list?
Ya. 6’4″ 290lbs with pass rush ability. Definitely.
I thought of him at one point when compiling this (not comprehensive) list, but forgot to follow up on his measurements. Thanks!
Great post Beast!
Jergens baby! Dude looks nasty!
The NFL better sort this out pronto:
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/02/20/source-up-to-155-players-will-announce-scouting-combine-boycott-on-monday/
There is no need for ‘bubbles’. Just get on with the combine.
No kidding… this is ridiculous.
Weird for the NFL to suddenly latch onto this bubble idea after the playoffs just went off without a hitch…
Nuts, isn’t it?
Super Bowl… no bubbles or anything. Loads of people together.
Combine… no you can’t have your support staff to perform at your best.
FFS
If they don’t sort this I’m (a ton of us here) are going to be super bummed.
After this last season it’s free agency and the draft that’s keeping me into this team.
Read this news yesterday. FFS is 100% correct here. They literally had a regular ass superbowl with metric tons of cash rich middle aged goofs dancing in sky boxes to hits from back when they were in High School. But the combine is creating protocols not grounded in the NFL’s own reality…..awesome
It’s a total and utter nonsense.
But what do we expect from the NFL these days? It’s a joke operation.
I mean, why go to all the trouble of moving the combine to primetime — then create an environment where none of the top players are going to be there?
For me they should’ve introduced financial incentives for competing ages ago to make sure people do a full set of drills. Compensate the players for doing everything IMO. If you want a show, put on a show. The prime time combine two years ago was crap because nobody wanted to do the testing at 10pm.
I didn’t even realize that the primetime thing had happened until it happened. Such a mess. For years I had been getting stoked for the combine at it’s regular time and pacing.
Totally agree that financial compensation for doing all the events. So sick of this idea that the players should be grateful to be there.
Now this “bubble,” crap coupled with talk of running drills and tests on the same day?
Just go back to the way it was with ample time to break down players and discuss.
If this continues I can see the nfl killing it’s own content creation with players opting out of meaningless bowl games (that’s another topic,) and just start training for a solid 12-16 weeks which is a solid training block for any athletic discipline and just wait til their pro – days.
Eager to see some positive steps on defense side and OL where we have new coaching staff. On Oline i want see strong center draft or signed in free agency.
A real center is so freaking essential to this line. Or any line. I’m not going to break it down (though I should) but lost in the over arching Wilson discourse on whether sacks are on him or on the line or both…probably both…is how many oline combinations has he played with.
I don’t feel like it is a normal amount over the years. I know every team has injuries so subs are necessary. I’m talking about the year to year or multi game starting line up.
I recall reading something years ago about the Manning brothers and how both played with the longest tenured lines. And Peyton talking about how important it was to have consistency sometimes over quality to make a line run.
Rob, i haven’t really watched much of Ojabo. What makes him a better prospect than Mafe?
A lot of people don’t think he is better.
For me they are both really good prospects.
It’s probably more that Ojabo has a pretty interesting story. Michigan is good at publicity. And Michigan > Minnesota per national attention with bigger games and more names for the draft. I’m not the brightest draft nerd but minnesota may have one draftable player in Mafe so it’s hard to get into that program to find other names.
All in all, the work that needs to be done to rectify, adapt & improve our roster for Waldron overall O & preferred OL blocking scheme, as well as the litany of stuff on D side of the ball to adopt whatever the end variant is of Vic Fangio’s Split Field Match Zone coverage based 34 D front scheme seems extremely daunting, if not virtually impossible to adequately do via just the 2022 offseason. They’re both fairly significant shifts in how schemes operate, position priorities for each and in player profile/molds for each position group and or specific individual positions. Couple that with essentially not having even 1 experienced let alone somewhat to very experienced, pretty solid+ quality likely multi year starting answers at 2 of the highest positional value & usually in cost to address positions in starting LT & starting Outside CBs, nobody under contract who has shown ability to be quality & type of starting FS & starting SS in Fangio scheme, among other issues like the consistent injury/durability issues of so many players, aging of so many players with precious few promising but especially proven young players.
We all know PC/JS have badly needed to significantly alter their roster building strategy for several years, like their quantity over quality approach, putting blinders on & only locking in on “their guys” especially in the draft very often significantly over drafting prospects & missing out on much better prospects, etc. But they also need to significantly alter the proportion the other way in regards to so often mainly considering the perceived bargains of older, coming off/still recovering from major injuries and or injury prone players with their potential short term/immediate benefits & ignoring the risks & cumulative costs of doing that so frequently (time, energy & assets spent regularly having to replace them and or find some sort of injury replacement, constantly having so many Free Agents to deal with each offseason, effect lack of continuity & consistently changing chemistry has, etc). It’s 1 thing to take a bit of a gamble on a normally pretty durable player coming off injury especially if pretty productive & in 27byears old or younger age range, quite another to have a roster thats 30-40% made up of largely consistently poor durability, 29/30-35+ year old, declining and or inconsistent performance/production players. Between pretty poor drafting results/returns, refusal to do much of anything decent let alone savvy & good even very selectively in vet FA and for most part ill advised, generally high cost trades for vet players, coupled with poor longer term strategy & planning when looking at age, injury, potential FA, etc in roster management planning (some positions u can generally throw a rook into regular rotation or starting role or modestly easily find solid vet replacement a good portion of the time at lower to modest asset costs, other positions u kind of need to plan 1 ideally 2 years out for as they most often take at least 2 if not 3-4 years to really develop into their prime abilities, and or generally more often than not usually cost higher value/amounts of draft capital, trade assets and or salary cap capital to acquire/address). They need to be very savvy & smart and look much more at getting best possible quality & fit players who still have an at least 3 if not 4-5 years left in their legit primes who shouldn’t likely be declining much if at all towards end of 3-5 year contracts in order to help rebuild & improve the tattered, aging foundation of roster. It would be 1 thing if honestly could say we’re pretty close to being a legit SB winning contender where strategically adding a couple aging vets like a Chandler Jones could legitimately help push us to or over top of being a SB winning contender, especially if we also had remotely well proven O & D Coordinators & staff with schemes that are in their at least 2nd ideally 3rd year of implementation. IMO none of that is really the case for Seahawks.