Owen Pappoe Hopes Drive, Athleticism Arrives to Cardinals
TEMPE -- Time is beginning to wind down in the 2023 NFL Draft, and newest Arizona Cardinals LB Owen Pappoe is just ready to get to work.
"It was a long wait, but it was worth it," Pappoe said to reporters after being drafted with Pick 168 in the fifth round.
The Cardinals already have a few stud linebackers in Isaiah Simmons, Zaven Collins and Kyzir White, but the addition of Pappoe adds an athletic profile that will slide into the WILL (weakside linebacker) spot. His 4.39 40-yard dash time at the NFL Combine (among other insane scores) helped boost his stock.
"They definitely saw what type of athlete that I am, how explosive I am, how fast and I feel like any team -whatever it is that they feel like I need to correct on the field, the coach is gonna help that. I'm a very coachable player and I'm a hell of an athlete, man," Pappoe told reporters. "I'm pretty sure that's what JG and the guys saw in me and what led them to make this pick."
With his size (6-0, 225 lbs) and athleticism, there was some talk on moving him to safety at the next level. Pappoe says the Cardinals haven't talked to him about switching positions.
"They haven't talked to me about playing safety," he said. "They see me as a weakside backer, that WILL backer. I'm gonna stay in this range from 225 to 230. I feel real good running sideline to sideline, downhill when I need to be, I feel pretty good at this size."
When asked what Cardinals could expect from their newest draft pick, Pappoe said this:
"Expect a guy who loves the game of football and who's gonna give you all 110% of me every single day. I'm looking forward to working with Coach Rallis in his defense and being able to make an impact in any type of way that I can. I'm ecstatic right now, man. Words just can't explain how excited I am to be a part of the Cardinals. I'm really looking forward to helping turn this program around."
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