NFL Draft Profile: Adetomiwa Adebawore, EDGE, Northwestern Wildcats
Adetomiwa Adebawore Northwestern Wildcats
#99
Pos: EDGE
Ht: 6015
Wt: 282
Hand: 1048
Arm: 3378
Wing: 8158
40: 4.49
DOB: 3/4/2001
Hometown: Kansas City, MO
High School: North Kansas City
Eligibility: 2023
One Liner:
Adebawore is a versatile, explosive player who does his best work as a penetration-style chess piece, but he lacks the physical tools, agility, bend, and pass rush repertoire to disrupt plays consistently.
Evaluation:
Adebawore appeared on Bruce Feldman’s 2022 Freaks List for The Athletic. According to Feldman, the Northwestern product benches 225 lbs. for 30 reps. He maxes out at 410 lbs. on the bench, 685 lbs. squatting, and 375 lbs. power cleaning. Adebawore reportedly runs a 4.05 20-yard shuttle and a 6.9 three-cone while jumping 10'5" in the broad and 37.5" in the vertical. Northwestern primarily lines Adebawore up as a 5-tech, but he also takes significant snaps as a 3-tech and a few snaps as a 4-tech. The former three-star recruit flashes an explosive first step, which helps him shoot gaps as an interior rusher and blow up plays. His first step also helps cross tackles’ faces and attack inside rush lanes when lined up as a 5-tech. Adebawore has large, active, and violent hands that pack some pop. He frequently gets his hands up for pass breakups and uses them to attack and swat the tackle’s hands. Adebawore has the strength to play through contact in a half-man rush around the edge. He plays with natural leverage and primarily relies on a bull rush. However, he also uses a swim move. Adebawore compresses the line on inside runs and scrapes down the back of the offensive line to the running back. His motor runs hot, and he overwhelms blocking tight ends. Ohio State (2022) tried blocking Adebawore in the running game with tight end Cade Stover several times, and it was a massacre. Adebawore is far too powerful to block with tight ends one-on-one. He doesn’t have elite arm length but is strong enough to shed blocks and redirect to the football. Adebawore is likely smaller than his unofficial height (6'2") on Northwestern’s website. He struggles to finish tackles in the backfield and has double-digit missed tackles in 2022. The senior lacks ideal agility and change of direction skills and isn’t a sudden or twitchy athlete. He doesn’t have the bend to play around the edge and flatten his rush to the quarterback. As an interior player, Adebawore creates plays by shooting gaps, but he lacks the play strength to consistently generate push along the interior or anchor against the run. Despite having natural leverage, there’s still room for Adebawore to play with a lower pad level and increase his advantage. His bull rushes frequently stall, and he lacks a diverse bag of pass rush moves and counters to turn to in these situations. Adebawore struggled against Dawand Jones’ long arms (2022) and can be neutralized by opponents who outreach him at the NFL level. Adebawore’s status as a tweener with below-average on-field agility that doesn’t match his reported testing numbers limits his draft stock.
Grade:
5th Round
Background:
Adebawore was a three-star recruit from North Kansas City High School in North Kansas City, Mo., in the class of 2019. He was the No. 1,151 recruit according to the 247Sports Composite board and No. 1,147 for On3.com. Adebawore was an unranked three-star recruit for Rivals and an unranked three-star recruit for ESPN with a 76 grade out of 100. He chose Northwestern over offers from Air Force, Army, Cornell, Navy, Princeton, Toledo, Tulane, Washington State, and Yale. As a high school senior, Adebawore was named All-Suburban White League Defensive Player of the Year, earned Kansas Class 5 First-Team All-State honors, and made the Academic All-State team. According to Rivals, Adebawore tallied double-digit sacks, more than 70 tackles, and more than 20 tackles for loss as a senior while leading North Kansas City High School to its best record in 60 years. He broke the Missouri state shot put record and won the state championship with a throw of 62' 7.75" in his final high school season. Adebawore was an All-Big Ten honorable mention in 2021.
