NFL Draft Profile: DE Donovan Ezeiruaku

Breaking down Boston College DE Donovan Ezeiruaku

With most of the major free agent moves now done, it’s time to look ahead to the NFL draft. The Washington Commanders currently hold the 29th pick and while it’s entirely possible they look to trade down and recoup some of the draft capital lost in trades for Laremy Tunsil and Deebo Samuel, they do also need to add some talent, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Last week in the State of the Roster breakdowns I wrote, I said I believed defensive end was the biggest need for the Commanders going into the draft, so this week I’m going to look at some edge rushers.

One of the most common names I’ve seen linked to the Commanders at 29, and one of the most requested names I received on twitter for a breakdown, was Donovan Ezeiruaku. Ezeiruaku comes out of Boston College and at the NFL combine he measured in at 6-foot-2, 248 pounds with 34-inch arms. 6-foot-2 is a little undersized and it does show up at times, but the arm length does help make up for it too. But with that shorter frame comes some upside too.

The thing that jumps off the screen when watching Ezeiruaku is his ability to bend and dip around the edge. He has an elite ability to get low and turn the corner sharply which makes it very hard for tackles to secure the edge against him.

This clip shows two great examples of Ezeiruaku’s bend and dip around the edge. On the first play of the clip, Ezeiruaku comes off the snap slightly slow and fakes working inside against the right tackle. However, after his second step, he suddenly bursts outside towards the edge. You can see his ability to get low and dip underneath the tackle who attempts to use his hands to cut him off. By getting so low, he gives the tackle very little to target. Once he gets beyond the tackle we can see the ability to bend the edge. He stays low and turns the corner sharply, showing good ankle flexion to cut that angle down and get past the tackle in a hurry. From there he’s able to close quickly and make the sack.

On the second play of the clip, Ezeiruaku gets chipped by the tight end, which delays him getting into his rush. Despite that, Ezeiruaku makes up for lost time. He dips and bends at an insane level to get under and around the right tackle. The tackle barely gets a hand on him and Ezeiruaku closes quickly on the quarterback. Unfortunately, the chip help bought the quarterback just enough time to make his throw, but the rush from Ezeiruaku was still a good one.

That ability to dip and bend around the edge is what Dan Quinn would call Ezeiruaku’s “super power”. It’s his elite trait that makes him very hard to block on the edge. While being undersized can hurt him in other areas, starting a bit lower and being able to keep his balance while dipping even lower and bending around the edge is a big positive. It’s a natural trait that can’t really be taught and not many rushers have it. Another natural trade Ezeiruaku has is his quickness.

On this play, Ezeiruaku again works against the right tackle, but this time he surprises him with a quick shift to the inside. Having that ability to dip and bend around the end so tightly will often cause tackles to overset against him to try and cut off his best rush outside. Ezeiruaku knows that’s coming and so he adjusts his rush accordingly. You can see here he takes two quick steps up the field and catches the right tackle overcommitting to the edge, leaving a gap inside. Ezeiruaku sharply jumps back inside, crossing the face of the tackle and using a club and swim combination to knock his inside hand down and skip by him. Ezeiruaku closes on the quarterback who hurriedly gets rid of the ball to avoid the sack.

Having that dip and bend along with that quickness makes Ezeiruaku a very intriguing pass rush prospect. Those are two traits that can’t really be taught, they just come naturally with his born athleticism. That gives him upside that not many rushers have and any team that drafts him will believe they can tap into that upside by coaching up other areas of his game while he makes use of the rare talents that others lack. Any team that does draft him will have to teach him a wider variety of rushes. At the moment he has an over reliance on one particular move.