Play like a Raven: Levi Onwuzurike
In this series of posts, I explore the prospects in this year’s class that play like a Raven – the guys I think could have a red star against their name on the draft board in the Castle.
Let me tell you, I am the first to admit when I don’t evaluate a position well. I’ve had plenty of misses at linebacker – Manti Te’o springs to mind. Running back is not my best, stand up Elijah Holyfield.
But I’m pretty good in the trenches. And I think, best at defensive tackle. I love a defensive tackle.
Aaron Donald was a top 3 player on my board, I was very high on Vita Vea, DeForest Buckner, Jeffrey Simmons, Jonathan Allen and going further back Fletcher Cox. And if you want a less-highly drafted diamond in the rough, I would have taken Jurrell Casey and our very own Justin Madubuike a lot higher than the third round in which they were taken.
Having stated my credentials, especially at picking elite players out of the crowd of early drafted defensive tackles, allow me to introduce you to my favourite defensive tackle in this year’s class: Levi Onwuzurike.
It is said that this is a weak interior DL class, while I think that’s partially true, there are a lot of intriguing developmental interior players, just maybe less that fit the bill as a more traditional, one-gapping DT for the more vanilla 4-3 defenses.
If you’re a 3-4 defense looking to plug a gap on your line there are many different flavours in this class and you can even get creative to add to the pool, spring guys like Milton Williams and Dayo Odeyingbo inside on your board.
But the guy at the top of the class for me, yes - above Christian Barmore, is Levi Onwuzurike. He is scheme diverse so the 4-3 teams will be looking at him but I think the Ravens and other 3-4 teams will like him more because of his proven ability to two-gap on the Washington defensive line.
You can look at his stat line and think - this isn’t Christian Barmore, but consider that Onwuzurike was mostly an every down player for the Huskies and that he commanded attention from Offensive Lines in college. You regularly saw him double teamed and in the pick-your-draftable-defensive-lineman-poison game that offenses played against Washington, they regularly tried to neutralise Onwuzurike over Tryon.
The first thing that stands out to me on tape is how much of an easy mover he is for his size, especially laterally. With defensive tackles, I feel like movement skills can be difficult to evaluate, there are different levels of movement abilities in that list of who’s who at the position I mentioned in the opening. There are very different shapes and sizes of interior defensive linemen but you can develop a feel for whether a defensive tackle, at his size, moves well – Onwuzurike moves well. His footwork is particularly impressive, you can see him stalk like a spy linebacker against mobile quarterbacks.
You see a kind of consistent pressure with Onwuzurike and while it isn’t as splashy as the more heralded prospects in the past at the position, you see more than enough pass rush traits to project disruption inside at the next level. I’ve already said the double team was frequently applied to him, especially when rushing the passer but he still finds a way to be disruptive against this, not always but often. He has a developed arsenal of pass rush moves that are not just limited to his hands – you can see him slow play pass rushes deliberately before utilising his explosion and quick feet to create his own rushing lane against a double team.
What’s most impressive in his pass rush though is when he combines his hands with his excellent lateral movement – it can be devastating to more heavy-legged offensive linemen. He has fast and violent hands, including really tight swim and rip moves which use an economy of motion but are extremely effective. If there was one thing to work on with his hands I’d like to see more accuracy out of the club move that precedes his finishing moves, but I’m nit-picking.
The powerful hands and the elite movement skills, combine with an urgency off the snap that resembles real defensive end-like explosion, and speaking of that – you even see some modest bend and dip from Onwuzurike when they rush him off the edge. He has the requisite interior bull rush strength to push the pocket, using one heavy paw to walk the interior lineman back into his Quarterback’s lap, keeping the other hand free for a potential disengage. I feel comfortable projecting him as a disruptive interior presence at the next level.
Surprisingly, given my effusive praise of his pass rush potential, this phase of play wasn’t his best for me. He is a smart and dominant run defender. If you thought he saw a lot of double teams when rushing the passer, watch him defend the run. He always keeps his eyes in the backfield and he will manipulate the point of attack to his will. You better bring more than just one guy if you want the ball carrier to go through Levi O’s gap. And even if you do, chances are he’s going to get in the way.
He occupies double teams for breakfast and you can see him split them pretty regularly too. He cedes very little ground from the line of scrimmage when two guys get on him. His footwork helps him here but so too does his raw power, which is significant.
He can stand up a little too easily at times and lose the leverage he will need at the next level but more often than not, he will hit you with a heavy and accurate paw early in the rep and then use his feet and base to establish a two way go for himself to make a play on the ball carrier. You cannot escape his grasp if you run at him – he’ll often throw out one of his considerable wings from behind a block and yank the running back to the ground.
I’ve hit briefly on the main criticisms of him – losing leverage occasionally in the run game, lack of consistent disruption in his pass rush. I believe though, when you evaluate the traits and strip it back to the things that make a defensive tackle successful at the next level – specifically his excellent feet, powerful hands and surprising get-off, you can be sure you’re getting a good one in Onwuzurike. Relentless, tough, smart, with a proven ability to two-gap and the resilience to play against two guys consistently – he has the look of a Raven defensive lineman.