All-American Offensive Tackle Has Predraft Visit With Packers

Get to know Yale’s Kiran Amegadjie, an ultra-talented offensive tackle who could be an option for the Packers in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Author:
Bill Huber
Apr 21, 2024

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Kiran Amegadjie

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have a big hole at offensive tackle entering this week’s NFL Draft. If they miss out on all the top prospects at No. 25 in the first round, Yale’s Kiran Amegadjie could be a target in the second round. He had a predraft visit with the team, according to Tom Silverstein.

Who Is Kiran Amegadjie?

Amegadjie is one of the most talented but least experienced offensive tackles in the draft. He didn’t play in 2020 because COVID wiped out the Ivy League season. He started 10 games at right guard in 2021 and 10 games at left tackle in 2022. That set the stage for what he hoped would be a monster 2023 to set him up for the draft. However, he missed the final six games of the season with a quad injury that required season-ending surgery and kept him out of the Senior Bowl and Scouting Combine.

“I would’ve put on a show for everybody” at the Senior Bowl, he said at the Scouting Combine. “I’m confident in my skill-set.”

While he’s heard and understands the small-school critique, “I have a skill-set that nobody else in this whole tackle class has. I have the length, the athleticism, the power and the explosiveness. I might be a raw project but that might be my best attribute. I think I have the highest ceiling in this class.”

How good is Amegadjie? Despite playing in only four games during his final season, he was first-team all-conference and third-team All-American. There are obvious level-of-competition concerns, but he allowed zero sacks and five pressures in 2022 and zero sacks and five pressures again in 2023. It was a man against boys at times in the run game, where his combination of size, strength and athleticism overwhelmed opposing defensive linemen.

Amegadjie was born and raised in Illinois but his parents immigrated from Africa – his father from Togo and his mother from Cameroon. He credits them for the physical tools.

“It’s in the genes. I’ve got a lot of God-given abilities that I’m super-blessed to have and I used to my advantage,” he said at the Combine of his size and athleticism. “Those are all things that I’m going to carry as I make the jump to the next level.”

How Would Kiran Amegadjie Fit With Packers?

At the Scouting Combine, he measured 6-foot-5 3/8 and 323 pounds. His 36 1/8-inch arms are among the longest in the draft class. He wasn’t healthy enough to test at the Combine but he did work out for scouts on April 3. The source said he should be ready for rookie minicamp.

“Length is at the forefront of my game,” he told The Draft Network’s Justin Melo recently. “It’s the biggest advantage I have on the field, especially in pass protection. It’s really about getting my hands on my opponent and locking out. If I get in a position where I get my hands on a guy, I know he can’t touch me. If he can’t touch me, he can’t shed the block. It’s really that simple. For me, I’d say length is my biggest weapon.”

Amegadjie would be an interesting target for the Packers. While it’s a deep offensive tackle class, some of the top players are purely right tackles. Others might wind up at guard. Amegadjie has all the skill to develop into that coveted blind-side protector.

With Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom in place, the Packers wouldn’t have to rush him into the lineup but they would have to get him ready for the swing-tackle role.

“When you draft Kiran Amegadjie, you’re getting a flat-out ball player at the end of the day,” he told Melo. “I’m a super-talented, tough, and physical player. I work extremely hard. I’m very dedicated and driven. I want to be the best player I can be at the end of the day.

“I have the ability to be the best. I know what I’m going to be. In 10-15 years, people are going to look back on me as the best offensive tackle in the 2024 NFL Draft.”

What Is Kiran Amegadjie’s Draft Projection?

Even as a small-school player who was unable to show his skill against the big-school stars, Amegadjie is viewed as a second-round player. According to a source, he should be on the board at No. 41 but might not be if the Packers are counting on him to fall to No. 58.

“It’s clear he needs some technique work,” wrote Nathan Cooper for The 33rd Team, “but given his traits and how he’s improved year-over-year, that shouldn’t be an issue assuming he doesn’t have any setbacks in his rehab.”

He is ranked No. 56 overall at The 33rd Team, No. 57 at PFF and No. 87 at The Athletic.

“The NFL was always a dream, but my mentality shifted when I got to college,” Amegadjie told The Athletic’s Dane Brugler. “I never want to say that I just made it to the NFL. I want this to be my life.”