Scouting The 2018 NFL Draft: Edge, Duke Ejiofor, Wake Forest

Personal/Physical

Height: 6’ 4”

Weight: 270

Hometown: Houston, Texas

Born: April 22, 1995 (age 23 on draft day)

Third-team All-ACC selection as a junior, Nominee for the Bednarik Award, Named third team by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association

Career Stats

2014: 10 Games, 12 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 Sacks, 4 QB Hurries

2015: 7 Games, 28 tackles, 7.5 TFL, 4.5 Sacks, 10 QB Hurries

2016: 13 Games, 50 tackles, 17 TFL, 10.5 Sacks, 32 QB Hurries , 1 INT, 2 FF

2017: 12 Games, 43 tackles, 16.5 TFL, 6.5 Sacks, 28 QB Hurries, 2 FF

Positives

• Great body control
• Has a never ending motor
• Uses his hands very well
• Has a great outside spin move
• Has periods of being unblockable
• Has a plan of attack on every play
• Has a variety of pass rushing moves
• Crashes down the line effectively
• Sets the edge well
• Progressed every year
• An efficient tackler
• Can rush from either side, and even inside.

Negatives

• Won’t wow anyone with explosiveness
• Needs to do a better at converting his hurries and hits into sacks
• Can be slow off the snap
• Needs to sniff out screens quicker
• Needs to fight through double teams better

Draft Grade: Rounds 2 - 3

Our need for a pass rushing edge defender is almost comical by now. We haven’t had a real edge presence since the days of John Abraham. Since then, the best pass rushing addition was Calvin Pace. While other positions on defense receive a glutton of resources and talent, the edge continues to lay barron. We won’t be going edge in the first two rounds, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find some gems in the middle rounds.

Duke Ejiofor is the epitome of reliable. The tape shows a gritty defender that knows how to get the job done. He won’t jump off the screen for being an athletic freak, but he uses what he has very efficiently. I love it when you can see a nice upward progression in production for a player and Ejiofor didn’t disappoint.

Usually by this time in the draft, if you want an edge guy, they are usually one trick ponies, or injury risks. Duke is neither. His vast repertoire of pass rushing moves allows him to play games with tackles, and win consistently. There are times where he plans his rush so well it is as if there wasn’t even a tackle there at all.

I wouldn’t be shocked if Duke is chosen at the end of the 2nd round, but I am comfortable penciling him into the 3rd round. The question is, if we had the choice of Duke or an explosive playmaker on offense, which should we choose?

Here is some game tape for Duke Ejiofor...