New York Giants Draft Prospect: Edge Adetomiwa Adebawore

Nick takes a look at a potential Day 2-3 edge rusher.

Author:
Nick Falato
Publish date:
Mar 14, 2023 4:14 PM EDT

In this story:

Adetomiwa Adebawore, EDGE/DL

Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 282 lbs.
Class: Senior
School: Northwestern

Combine Measurements

Arm length: 33 ⅞”
Hand size: 10 ½”
Age: 22 (03/24/2001)
40-yard-dash: 4.49
10-yard-split: 1.61
Vertical jump: 37.5”
Broad jump: 10’5”
Bench press: 27 reps

A former three-star recruit out of North Kansas City High School in Kansas City, Missouri, where he was the 75th-ranked strong-side defensive end and the 27th Missourian recruit during the 2019 cycle. He also had offers from Navy, Tulane, and Washington State. His younger brother Adepoju was a five-star recruit who just committed to the University of Oklahoma.

Notables

An exceptional athlete who rose his stock at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine. Adebawore finished his college career with 97 tackles, 24.5 for a loss, 12.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, an interception, and six passes defended, with 93 total pressures and 70 STOPs. His junior and senior seasons were impressive, and he had 30 or more pressures with 9.5 sacks across those two years.

Adebawore was used across the defensive front of Northwestern’s defense but was primarily an EDGE in either a frog stance or a two-point look. He earned Third Team All-Big-Ten. Adebawore’s steady drumbeat started at the 2023 Reese’s Senior Bowl, where he had three solid practices.

Strengths

Excellent twitched up athlete at 282 pounds
Very sudden at the LOS with elite lateral agility and explosiveness
Bursts low to high with an excellent center of gravity - stays low as he penetrates
Turns tight corners due to good change of direction and elite agility

Utilizes athletic ability to penetrate or cross the face of OL while slanting

Low center of gravity while pass-rushing allows him to avoid contact
Able to play with elite leverage (similar to Azeez Ojulari) - Shorter with elite length
A violent heavy handed player who is rarely stagnant as a rusher - always throwing some sort of counters
Had a variety of moves, deploys them solidly
Had an insanely impressive sack against Illinois, where he defeated a double-team

Illinois: Q1, 13:10 3rd & 5

Showed the ability to convert speed to power - very good pop in his hands
Good overall bull-rush
Responsive pass rusher who throws a variety of different pass-rush moves
Solid overall functional strength
Elite competitive toughness - never NOT hustling - motor for days
A versatile player who has experience playing all over the defensive line

Get More 2023 Draft Profiles here.

Weaknesses

Some teams may have an issue with his height
Better used in a penetrating system than one that requires DL to anchor/read
Questions about holding up as a gap-control IDL are fair, albeit his functional strength was solid at Northwestern
Played like a bull in the china shop at times - led to over pursuits and missed assignments
Employs many pass rush moves, refinement could improve
Doesn’t consistently threaten high-side - fair questions about flexibility through contact
Not a lot of experience dropping into coverage for 3-4 EDGE
Struggled as a run defender against Dawand Jones (gigantic Ohio State tackle)
Needs to finish more consistently (missed 13 tackles in 2022, 25.5% missed tackle rate)

Summary

Adebawore is a phenomenal athlete who fires off the snap with excellent explosiveness while maintaining a low center of gravity and leveraging his arm length. He played across the defensive front at Northwestern, where the coaching staff frequently had him penetrate/slant to utilize his lateral agility, natural leverage, and upfield burst to disrupt offensive intentions.

Adebarwore may not have the most refined pass-rushing plan, but he possesses many moves, can convert speed to power and is relentlessly violent when separating from blockers.

He’s best suited as a three-technique tasked to penetrate, but I can see a world where he plays the Jihad Ward role for a defense like Wink Martindale’s unit. Questions about Adebawore anchoring against IOL consistently are fair, but he was not bullied much on tape at Northwestern.

He plays with a good center of gravity and has solid functional strength. The drumbeat keeps getting louder for Adebawore, and - although he may not be for everyone - he’ll work well in a system that leverages his athleticism. He’s more than just an athletic player; he still has developmental aspects to his profile.

GRADE: 6.14