Vikings Draft Profile: Could Minnesota Land the “Other” Michigan EDGE?
The Michigan Wolverines knew they had an exceptional talent at defensive end going into the 2021 season. That player was obviously Aidan Hutchinson, who has emerged as a consensus top-3 pick in this April’s draft. The question was about the newcomer that had virtually no football experience in his entire life. David Ojabo was born in Nigeria, spent much of his childhood in Scotland, and then eventually came to the U.S. in 2017. At that point is where he picked up football, and it was off to the races from there. Now, Hutchinson is all but unattainable for the Vikings in this year’s NFL Draft, but could the Vikings draft class include Ojabo?
Throughout his two years of high school ball, Ojabo flashed incredible physical gifts and took these athletic traits to the track as well. Per athletic.net, he topped out at 10.93 in the 100 meters during his senior year. For reference, Steelers RB Najee Harris’ top time was 11.13. Yeah, the dude is fast. These athletic abilities landed him a spot at Michigan, but he quickly got buried in a deep EDGE depth chart. Going into the 2021 season, he had recorded a whopping one tackle. Playing opposite of Hutchinson though, he quickly burst onto the scene as one of the country’s top pass rushers.
Statistics
- 2020 (1 Game): 1 tackle
- 2021 (13 Games): 35 tackles, 12 TFLs, 11 sacks, 3 PDs, 5 FF, 1 FR
Strengths
The Vikings draft class needs to include someone with immediate star power. Ojabo is that type of player because of his physical skills. I know it’s pretty much all I’ve talked about to this point, but you can’t talk about Ojabo’s strengths without talking about his athletic ability. It is the main way that he terrorized opposing offensive lines in 2021, mainly using a combination of speed and change of direction to overwhelm tackles. It’s not an outlandish statement to say he’s even more of a freak than teammate Aidan Hutchinson.
One of his go-to moves is a spin that absolutely obliterates anyone trying to stay in front of him. I mean, just look at this. No human should be able to move that quickly. In a recent Vikings draft class, Danielle Hunter ended up being a star because he was able to use these types of freakish moves.
Where Ojabo separates himself is in his closing ability. Once he gets around the edge, that is where his track background come into play. He moves quickly enough laterally to get by offensive lineman, but then he hits a second gear and hunts down any ball carrier in front of him. It’s also worth noting how remarkable it is that he can stay perfectly in balance with all the spinning and contorting. There doesn’t seem to be a move that throws him for a loop, and that is the most intriguing part of his game. Finally, the fact that he can combine his closing speed with incredible length is devastating, particularly against the run. It doesn’t take much for him to get his mitts on a ball carrier once he gets within striking distance.
Weaknesses
For David Ojabo to be part of the Vikings draft class, they will need to believe he can diversify his skills. Obviously, at some point the fact that Ojabo only has true three years of football games under his belt is going to hurt him. I mentioned earlier that he gets the vast majority of his wins off his athletic skills. That wasn’t by accident. In fact, Ojabo has virtually no technical movements in his repertoire. He doesn’t use leverage, hand skills, or general power to go through opponents.
Against some of the better offensive lineman, this proved to be a challenge. One game in particular that was quiet for a very long time was the Big Ten East championship against Ohio State. Obviously, he eventually broke through and recorded a sack towards the very end of this game, but he failed to generate much pressure throughout much of the game.
It will be imperative for Ojabo to get develop some better technical moves in the NFL. No one lasts long at that level on athleticism alone, especially in the trenches. But the fact that he has been able to produce the type of numbers that he has on just athleticism alone makes him an incredibly intriguing prospect, especially if he can go to a defense with some already established defensive linemen.
David Ojabo’s Fit on the 2022 Minnesota Vikings
No. 12 feels like the range where David Ojabo should go in this NFL Draft. He could go a couple picks earlier, or he could go a couple picks later, but this feels like a good value spot to snatch him up. The Vikings draft class should certainly have some sort of focus on the EDGE position as well, whether that is in the first or second day of the event.
Additionally, if the Vikings manage to retain one Danielle Hunter, this means Ojabo could enter a 4-3 defense with established stars at three of the four defensive line positions with alongside Hunter, Michael Pierce, and Dalvin Tomlinson. Sounds like an excellent environment for a raw but promising pass rusher to end up if Ahmad Gardner and Derek Stingley are off the board. He should be one of the top choices for the 2022 Vikings draft class.