NFL Draft Profile: David Ojabo, 4-3 Defensive End, Michigan Wolverines

NFL Draft profile scouting report for Michigan defensive end, David Ojabo

#55
Pos: DE/OLB
Ht: 6040
Wt: 250
Hands: 0900
Arms: 3348
Wingspan: 8068
40: 4.55
Shuttle: 4.45
Vertical: 35
Broad Jump: 1002
DOB: 5/17/00
Eligible: 2022
Aberdeen, SCO
Blair Academy

David Ojabo
Michigan Wolverines

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One-Liner:

Springy standup rusher with very good length and great explosiveness. Ojabo struggles to read tackles and offers little as a power rusher. 

Pros

Explosive two-point stance rusher with very good length. Ojabo possesses a great get-off and burst to consistently threaten and win the outside shoulder of tackles from wide alignments. His speed causes tackles to be off-balance, allowing him to extend and knock them off balance at the top of the rush. Ojabo transitions his bull rush to an outside rip also preceded by a push-pull. His lateral agility and explosiveness make him tough to block on an island as he beats quick sets with an inside spin. He occasionally sets up the outside track with an inside jab. Ojabo’s motor is good, getting home without winning the hand battle at times. When he extends, he utilizes his very good length and keeps blockers out of his frame. He collapses inside off of extension against blockers with horizontal pads. Ojabo is a good wrap-up tackler who has the awareness to go for the football and force fumbles when he is unable to finish the sack with a tackle. His springy athleticism gives him great range to the sideline and allows him to cover tight ends underneath. 

Cons

A raw player, Ojabo does not read tackles and attack what they offer to him, wasting rushes. He frequently forces an outside track rush when blockers already overset. Ojabo processes slowly making cut and chip blocks very efficient against him. Not arriving at extension consistently allows blockers to latch. A lack of hand violence prevents him from shedding afterward. When locking out, Ojabo is susceptible to getting snatched. Average ankle flexion prevents him from turning tight corners at the top of his rush. He can not dip his shoulder under tackles. Staying upright hurts him when stunting inside and allows low blockers to twist and finish him. Ojabo possesses below-average leg drive and offers little threat as a power rusher. 

Summary

Springy two-point stance rusher with very good length and great explosiveness. Ojabo is tough to block on an island due to his quickness and threatens the outside shoulder. He struggles to process and fails to take advantage of oversetting tackles consistently. His average ankle flexion prevents him from turning tight corners. Ojabo projects as a developmental pass rusher who can get on the field as a designated speed pass rusher in his rookie season. As he continues to develop his game, he has the athleticism to develop into one of the better rushers in the league by adding a bull rush and improving his hand violence. 

Background:

Originally born in Nigeria, Ojabo moved to Aberdeen, Scotland in 2007. Ojabo then moved to the United States for High School and attended Blair Academy under coach Jim Saylor. Before starting to play football, Ojabo played basketball and Soccer for Blair Academy. In his first two seasons playing organized football, Ojabo had 68 tackles, 14.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. He had a four-star rating and was the fourth best prospect in New Jersey. In High School, he won the prep state title in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.93.

In his freshman season at Michigan, he redshirted and did not see game action, but did win Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year for the team. His sophomore season he played mostly on special teams and saw a little bit of game action. He was an Academic All-Big Ten honoree during his sophomore season. His Junior season was one to remember. He was a second team All-American selection by the Associated Press and second team academic All-American by CoSIDA. He was a first team All-Big Ten selection as well as becoming the program record holder for forced fumbles in a season (five). In his 13 games he had 35 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and 3 passes defended. Ojabo helped lead Michigan to the College Football Playoff where they lost to Georgia in the Semifinal. 

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Grades‌ ‌

2nd Round

Quote

"That was tough to see him go down like that. Not quite sure what's going on with him right now because I've been in the whole interview circuit, but I'm definitely going to go see him. Been praying for him. It's always tough to see a teammate and close friend go down like that." -- Aidan Hutchinson on David Ojabo pro day injury