Eyabi Okie-Anoma 2024 NFL Draft Profile
Charlotte EDGE rusher Eyabi Okie-Anoma had a long winding road. After six years in college, he is entering the 2024 NFL Draft. Is the former highly-touted recruit worth a flyer or is he too far gone? Let’s discuss this in Okie-Anoma’s 2024 NFL Draft Profile.
Okie-Anoma is a former five-star recruit who was riddled with off-the-field issues early in his career. As a recruit, he committed to Alabama as the No. 4 player in the country. As a freshman with the Crimson Tide, he played in six games; however, the university suspended him before his sophomore season and he entered the transfer portal. Okie-Anoma ended up at Houston where he was forced to sit out the 2019 season. In the following year, he did not play a snap before being dismissed from the team.
In 2021, Okie-Anoma got another chance at UT Martin. More importantly, he took advantage of that opportunity as he recorded six sacks, 9.5 tackles for loss, and 36 total tackles. That performance allowed him to transfer to Michigan for the 2022 season. Once again, that went well as he had four sacks, six tackles for loss, and 18 total tackles. This was done in a pass rush specialist role.
Okie-Anoma transferred to Charlotte for his final year of college eligibility. That move could be seen as a negative considering his past; however, he was following Biff Poggi. Poggi was Okie-Anoma’s high school coach and was an associate head coach for Michigan in 2021 and 2022. That move helped Okie-Anoma find the field more consistently and he logged 5.5 sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss, and 56 total tackles. It should also be mentioned that he
That is a long history of Okie-Anoma, but it is an important part of his draft stock. The team that selects him will need to be confident that Okie-Anoma’s maturity level is what he displayed in the second half of his college career.
It does not take long to see why Okie-Anoma was a five-star recruit. This is a player with NFL attributes. The speed is evident and he is fairly physical. At six-foot-four, 260 pounds, he has NFL size as well.
Okie-Anoma fires off the line and quickly builds up steam as he goes downhill. This allows him to go through offensive lineman or get to their outside shoulder with power. If he does not win with his initial move, he is a relentless rusher who looks for effort sacks.
Okie-Anoma needs some improvement in his pass rush plan and hand use. These technical aspects are absent from his game and need to be developed.
The potential as a pass rusher is evident, but Okie-Anoma is not absent in the run game. He rarely gets bullied off the line of scrimmage. Okie-Anoma holds his ground and works to shed blocks. I would not classify him as an elite run-stopper, but he is strong for someone whose specialty is pass rush.
Lastly, Okie-Anoma plays with effort. If the play is live, he is working to make the tackle. At Charlotte, there were examples of him chasing down ball carriers and making tackles on screen passes to the outside.
It is hard to be confident about Okie-Anoma’s off-the-field issues. I did not get to sit down and talk to him like NFL teams will. From an outside perspective, I have optimism. It is not great to see a player consistently in the portal; however, it is easy to see his logic. Wouldn’t you transfer from UT Martin to Michigan? Can you blame the guy for following his high school coach to Charlotte? Furthermore, he didn’t record any off-the-field issues with any of those schools.
I’d take the Okie-Anoma flyer. This is a player capable of making an impact in the NFL. A team with faith in their defensive line coach should be interested in adding Okie-Anoma and helping sharpen his technique. If that happens, he can become a respectable piece of a defensive line rotation.
The draft range for Okie-Anoma should start in the fifth round. That said, the board would have to fall properly. I’d prefer Mohamed Kamara in that range. Once the sixth round starts, selecting Okie-Anoma would be easier to justify. In the last two rounds, I’d rather take the flyer on a player who has the physical attributes to play in the NFL.
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