Obinna Eze NFL Draft 2022: Scouting Report for TCU OT
HEIGHT: 6'6 1/2"
WEIGHT: 321
HAND: 9 7/8"
ARM: 36 1/8"
WINGSPAN: 7'1 3/4"
40-YARD DASH: 5.17
3-CONE: 8.20
SHUTTLE: 5.08
VERTICAL: 27.5"
BROAD: 8'8"
POSITIVES
— Rare length and wingspan that he uses to cover a sweeping, wide perimeter around his frame.
— Shows the ability to establish first meaningful contact, extend and keep rushers at his fingertips.
— Solid upper-body strength with a violent two-handed shove to create lateral displacement on angle-drive blocks.
— Adequate linear burst to get up to the second-level and connect with smaller targets on the move.
NEGATIVES
— Extremely high-cut with an upright playing style.
— Stiff in his ankles and knees with laborious lateral movements and redirect skills.
— Struggles to sustain control on blocks because of steadily rising pads throughout the rep.
— Easily manipulated out of position by refined rushers who can use tempo, stutters and hesitations to set up their moves.
— Marginal contact balance and anchoring ability; doesn't consistently play with the necessary center of gravity or leverage to generate force through the ground.
2021 STATISTICS
- 12 starts at LT.
NOTES
— Former 4-star offensive tackle prospect out of Davidson Academy in Nashville, Tennessee.
— The Nigerian came to the United States in 2015 with the intent of playing basketball but quickly transitioned to football in his junior year of high school.
— Originally committed and played for Memphis, starting two years there at left tackle before transferring to TCU prior to the 2021 season.
— Accepted his invite to the 2022 Shrine Bowl in Las Vegas, Nevada.
— Finished his career with 37 starts, all at left tackle.
OVERALL
Eze is a three-year starter with 37 career starts all at left tackle, most recently starting 12 games in TCU's multiple, RPO, run-heavy offense. Eze has a high-cut frame with a narrow, slender lower half and vines for arms.
Eze primarily wins as a pass-protector, using his big body and rare length to present an expansive obstacle for rushers to work around. Eze is best when setting tightly aligned rushers with square hips and shoulders, maintaining inside-out leverage and forcing them to run the hoop to the quarterback. He shows solid upper-body strength and pop in his strikes, with the ability to press defenders off of his frame and keep them at his fingertips.
Eze is vulnerable to biting on stutters, opening the door early and giving two-way go's that slippery rushers can exploit with ease. This exposes poor lateral movement skills to redirect, mirror and recover past initial contact. Eze shows stiffness in his lower half and high pad level that allows defenders to work under and inside his frame with ease, resulting in marginal anchoring ability against power.
In the run game, Eze can create immediate lateral displacement on angle-drive blocks with some power in his hands to uproot defenders. He shows solid upfield, linear burst to connect and wall off second-level targets on the move, but he struggles to maintain the necessary leverage with his pads to sustain control, steer and finish blocks.
Overall, Eze is a massive obstacle to work around in pass-protection with rare length to end reps quickly once latched and deliver some knockback power in the run game, but he is a rigid mover without the necessary lateral quickness and body control to play on an island or sustain blocks consistently. This makes him worth a flier in the undrafted market as a long-term, stash-and-develop option because of his size, strength and physicality.
GRADE: 5.4 (Backup/UDFA with roster potential)
OVERALL RANK:
POSITION RANK:
PRO COMPARISON: Le'Raven Clark-lite
Written by B/R NFL Scout Brandon Thorn
