OLB/DE Owamagbe Odighizuwa
Age: 23
Height: 6-3
Weight: 267
College Career: Came on strong as a senior with 11.5 TFLs and six sacks after missing the 2013 season due to injury. Played all four years he was healthy, but doesn’t have impressive stats, mainly because he wasn’t asked to be a pure pass rusher. Mostly played 5-tech and 4i-tech at UCLA, asked to two-gap and play the run. Second-team All-Pac 12 in 2014.
Strengths: Stout run-defender. Pass rush ability is better than he gets credit for. Tape is better than the statistics. Good frame that is all muscle. Powerful athlete who tested very well at the Combine. Good length and huge hands. Good first step. High motor guy. Doesn’t stay blocked. Ability to play all over, from 3-technique to outside linebacker.
Weaknesses: Probably not an every-down 4-3 or 3-4 defensive end at his size. A bit of a tweener. Hasn’t been asked to drop into coverage very often. Had surgeries on both hips, which could be a major red flag for some teams and will likely drop him back.
Bears Outlook: Odighizuwa is getting knocked as a pass rusher mainly because there isn’t a whole lot of tape of him strictly rushing the quarterback. But if you really dig in on the tape, you see a guy who can definitely get after the quarterback when given the opportunity. I think he has the ability to make a seamless transition to 3-4 OLB, yet he can still be used to play on the line at times in Vic Fangio’s system. As for the hip surgeries, it’s a valid concern, but Odighizuwa had his best season after the surgeries and still tested very well at the Combine in February.
More: Hoge’s Entire Bears Big Board
Adam Hoge covers the Chicago Bears for WGN Radio and WGNRadio.com. He also co-hosts The Beat, weekends on 720 WGN. Follow him on Twitter at @AdamHoge.
