Packers Select South Carolina OLB Kingsley Enagbare in Fifth Round of NFL Draft

The Green Bay Packers used a fifth-round pick on Kingsley Enagbare, a powerful pass rusher from South Carolina. But, please, call him J.J.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On Friday night, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst didn’t think outside linebacker was a pressing need.

On Saturday afternoon, in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, he drafted South Carolina’s Kingsley Enagbare with the 172nd overall selection. Enagbare had 15 sacks and 24 tackles for losses in four seasons. He had a poor Scouting Combine and was worse at pro day, his 40 going from a plodding 4.87 to an even-worse 4.96.

“Lucky to get him where we got him,” Packers assistant director of college scouting Patrick Moore said. “Thick, good athlete — has bend, has burst, has power, obviously played good competition at South Carolina, so good player for us as an edge.”

“Really,” he added, “power is his game.”

Enagbare was the 179th overall selection. The Packers were scheduled to pick at No. 171 but traded back with Denver and acquired an additional seventh-round choice (No. 234).

Here’s the story on Enagbare.

Measureables: 6-3 3/4, 258. 34 3/4 arms. 4.87 40, 4.54 shuttle, DNP bench.

Analytical stats: Enagbare had a breakout junior season with six sacks, seven tackles for losses and three forced fumbles in just eight games. He wasn’t as impactful as a senior, though, with 4.5 sacks, seven TFLs and one forced fumble in 12 games.

Holding penalties are a good way to judge blocking difficulty. Enagbare drew six of them, behind only Florida State’s Jermaine Johnson’s nine. According to Sports Info Solutions, out of 32 edge defenders in its draft guide, he ranked fourth with a pressure rate of 17 percent. On runs at his gap, he forced it to bounce to another gap 10 percent of the time, tied for 22nd. He missed only three tackles, a solid rate of 7 percent. According to Pro Football Focus, 161 edge defenders had at least Enagbare’s 246 pass-rushing snaps. His pass-rushing productivity, which measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap, was tied for 12th.

Personal touch: Don’t call him Kingsley. Rather, it’s J.J. “It was a childhood nickname that my mother gave me,” he told the school athletics site. “There was a little show that I used to watch, ‘Jay Jay the Jet Plane,’ and I would act like him all the time.”

He switched to No. 1 before the 2021 season. "I've seen what (defensive back) Jaycee (Horn) did and what (wide receiver) Deebo (Samuel) did with the number, and they set a pretty high standard, so I want to match that.” In his free time, he said in that Gamecocks Online story, he paints shoes. “I like to customize them. I've painted about a dozen or so. I've done a few for a couple of teammates.”

Having started his collegiate career as a defensive tackle, Enagbare worked with the Gamecocks’ defensive backs coach to get him ready for life on the edge.

“With his type of ability, I just knew he’d be a more marketable player and more of an asset for his team, any team, when you have the ability to pass rush, play inside and you have the ability to play in coverage,” Kevin Pope told The State. “It makes you a well-rounded defensive player.”

NFL Draft Bible Scouting Report: Built to be a pass rusher has great length paired with explosive athleticism. Decent speed to run down ball carriers in the backfield and contain running quarterbacks. Off the snap, his first step is explosive, is able to cover ground and get up field quickly. When rushing around the edge, Enagbare shows exceptional bend and flexibility in his lower half. He has struggled as a run defender.

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