Campbell: Onwuzurike Has 'Ton of Upside To Rush the Quarterback'
The Detroit Lions front office was quite happy when defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike fell to them in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
General manager Brad Holmes even revealed that he may have considered trading up into the first round to ensure he would end up in Detroit.
"He was one that we felt like his skill set was worthy of being selected in the first round," Holmes explained. "So we made a few attempts to get him, but sometimes the draft gods smile on you a little bit and bless you with what you were wanting."
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Even in Round 2, the discussion to potentially trade up again came up, but the plan was to try to remain as patient as possible and to trust their draft board.
In the end, Holmes and Co. were ecstatic that Onwuzurike was still there at pick No. 41.
Holmes explained further, “It was more discussions of trading up, not only just for Levi but even when we got into Round 3. There were times where we were thinking, should we move up to get our guy? But again, only coming into the deal with six picks, we were just trying to make sure that we stayed patient, stayed disciplined and trusted our board."
In a recent Sirius XM radio interview, head coach Dan Campbell expressed that the defense is gaining a player who was explosive and who could adapt to whatever the game plan called for.
"He plays much bigger and stouter than his 290 pounds would show or indicate. And No. 2, when he gets an edge, he's got a ton of upside to rush the quarterback, because he's so explosive off the ball," Campbell said. "That's what really intrigues us about this guy, the potential that he's got. And right, he's got this demeanor about him like it really means something to him to want to disrupt the play, to wreck a play, to ruin an offensive lineman's day. That means something to him."
