Can Owamagbe Odighizuwa Be Giants' Next Great Pass-Rusher?

Not everyone loved when the New York Giants selected offensive lineman Ereck Flowers with the ninth overall selection of the draft, but few can argue with the need fit and what they were able to accomplish on Day 2. Alabama safety Landon Collins should become an instant starter at strong safety, which certainly justifies the trade up for him in the second round.

Usually the talent thins out in the third round, but the Giants got another impact player in UCLA defensive end Owamagbe Odighizuwa, who presumably fell because of concerns over multiple hip surgeries in college. Questions about how his hips will hold up long-term aside, the Giants may have just added their next great pass-rusher.

It may take some time, but not every player is a finished product upon arrival to the NFL. Odighizuwa, who missed a college season due to his hip injuries, is a physical specimen who has the raw athleticism to become a very good player with some development.

UCLA’s defensive line coach Angus McClure told Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel that Odighizuwa would continue to evolve in the NFL, citing that he’s a student of the game. This Bleacher Report article (shameless self-promotion) highlights why he’ll be a better pro than he was in college by showing many of Odighizuwa’s great qualities on the football field.

Player	Height	Weight	Arm	Hands	40
	Bench	Vert	Broad	3 Cone	Short Shuttle
Justin Tuck	6'5"	268	33"	9 5/8"	4.71
Owa Odighizuwa	6'3"	267	33 3/4"	11"	4.62
Justin Tuck	24	37 1/2"	9'10"	7.33	4.29
Owa Odighizuwa	25	39"	10'7"	7.36	4.19

Odighizuwa is not unlike former Giants draft steal Justin Tuck, who also fell in the draft due to injury and needed time to develop as a pass-rusher. Tuck and Odighizuwa were both coincidentally the 74th overall picks in their respective drafts.

Odighizuwa actually may be even more explosive and athletic than Tuck was coming out of college. Among defensive lineman, Odighizuwa was one of the top performers at the combine in the 40-yard dash, vertical jump, broad jump and 20-yard short shuttle. He also bench-pressed 225 pounds 25 times and had a solid time of 7.36 seconds in the three-cone drill.

Not only is he athletic, but he was productive in 2014 both against the run and the pass. Even with limited pass-rush moves against top-notch Pac-12 competition, Odighizuwa found ways to make plays. 

The Giants won’t need to worry about his size, as he’s a chiseled 267 pounds, or his effort, as he plays snap to whistle on every play. In fact, Odighizuwa makes plays he has no business making, having chased down running backs running away from his side 10 or more yards down the field.

McClure said Odighizuwa has six percent body fat and can play anywhere on the defensive line, per Dunne.

"

Physically, he’s an extremely strong player. At 270, I’d use him inside at times knowing he’d hold up against any offensive lineman we see. He’s got great strength, great mobility. ‘Owa’ can play anywhere on the line of scrimmage and he has. He can line up anywhere from the ‘9’ technique to head up on the tight end to outside an offensive tackle on a ‘5’ technique.

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He’ll also be a willing special teamer while he works on his technique as a pass-rusher, but developing shouldn’t be a problem for him because it’s clear when you watch video of him that he loves to play the game and he’s intelligent.

Odighizuwa majored in philosophy and was a perennial honor roll student. McClure highlighted his mental acuity as one of the reasons he's a rare player. 

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The thing with Owa is he wants to know the entire scheme, not only what everybody’s doing on the defense. But he likes to know the entire scheme, offensively, what they’re doing. He wants to know everything. He’s going to take the time to learn it…To want to know all that information, that’s rare. But you see the academic side to him and the philosophy side to him just wanting to know everything. He’s just one of those guys that needs to know. His background in understanding schematics really helps him.

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In three years when we look back at this draft class and truly evaluate it, there’s a good chance Odighizuwa will look like one of the steals of the NFL draft. With coaching and time, he’s going to develop his pass-rush moves, but it's not like he'll be useless until he does.

Odighizuwa can be a 4-3 base end on early downs right away and can slide inside on passing downs to use his athleticism like Tuck did. Once his technique gets better, he has plenty of potential on the edge on third downs. He might even be able to develop more hip flexibility as he gets more confident in his technique and further removed from his hip surgeries.

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New York football Giants! I promise to give you everything I have from the day I step foot in the state of NY.

— owamagbe (@LPJ_Odighizuwa) May 2, 2015"

Teams expect to be able to get future starters in the third round, but to get a player with first-round ability who plays hard, is smart and has no character issues is rare. Even if his hips cause him problems in the future, he’s been able to overcome them before and return to play at a high level, so there’s little reason to think he couldn’t do that again.

There’s also the possibility that the hips never bother him again, in which case there isn't much standing in Odighizuwa’s way to NFL stardom. That’s the kind of risk that’s worth taking in the third round, and the Giants should reap a nice reward for taking it.