PFF Mock Draft: Julian Okwara Is A First Rounder
Pro Football Focus has sang the praises of former Notre Dame defensive end Julian Okwara for each of the last two years. While other draft analysts have picked apart his game and focused more on his disappointing 2019 season than his dominant 2018 campaign, PFF has continued to rank him as one of the best defenders in this draft.
Pro Football Focus senior analyst Steve Palazzolo still views Okwara as one of the best edge rushers in the draft despite the veteran missing the final four games of the season and not being able to participate in the NFL Scouting Combine.
Palazzolo has Okwara going to the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the draft. He has Okwara being selected with the No. 28 overall pick.
“Even with the Ravens franchising Matt Judon, Okwara is a fantastic fit for their defense. They have the most versatile defense in the league, and Okwara is an edge rusher with coverage-dropping athleticism. The Ravens can continue their ‘positionless football' approach on defense with Okwara, who had an excellent 90.4 pass-rush grade a year ago to go with the movement skills to play off-ball linebacker if needed. The Ravens will use that skillset to keep opposing offenses off balance.”
I do not see Okwara as an off-ball linebacker.
Where Palazzolo and I agree is that Okwara has the foot quickness, change of direction, speed and overall movement to play off-ball linebacker. But there is a lot more to playing linebacker than just having the movement skills, and that’s where Palazzolo and I depart in our analysis of Okwara.
Okwara is very long and plays relatively high, which would make him a big target for blockers working to the second level. He’s also not the most powerful lower body player, which could hinder his ability to play in the box. Okwara is able to use his quickness and length to thrive against the run as an edge player, but he loses that should he transition inside to off-ball linebacker.
Having said that, should Baltimore see Okwara as someone that could do more than play on the edge I’d be willing to rethink my analysis. Palazzolo is spot on the view that Baltimore does a tremendous job as an organization at identifying and developing defenders that can play all over the field.
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