Hakeem Adeniji Overview
Position: Offensive Tackle/Guard
Height: 6’-4”
Weight: 302 pounds
School: Kansas
NFL Combine Performance Data
40 Yard Dash: 5.17 seconds (unofficial)
Bench Press: 26 reps
Vertical Jump: 34.0”
Broad Jump: 115.0”
Hakeem Adeniji 2020 NFL Draft Profile
After four seasons at Kansas, offensive lineman Hakeem Adeniji is hoping to take his talents to the NFL level. The 6’-4”, 302-pound tackle had arguably the best season of his career. Appearing in 798 snaps, Adeniji allowed three sacks, one hit, and five hurries during his final year of play.
Adeniji barely garnered any attention out of high school as an unranked prospect, according to 24/7 Sports. Despite the lack of fanfare, the Texas native managed to receive an offer from the Air Force. However, that offer was redacted due to a cashew allergy, of all things. With the Air Force out of the picture, Adeniji ended up joining his former high school coach at Kansas.
Everything ended up working out in the end, as Adeniji started during all four of his years with KU. In 2017, Adeniji allowed four sacks, four quarterback hits, and 13 hurries on 851 snaps. He followed that up by allowing three sacks, two hits, and 10 hurries on 822 snaps as a junior.
Strengths
- Strong, powerful lineman that rarely gets moved off his base;
- Understands how to use his leverage to move bigger linemen in the run game;
- Above-average athletic ability;
- Multi-year starter in college;
- Good hand placement and technique;
- 53rd percentile arm length among offensive linemen.
Weaknesses
- Below-average height and weight for the tackle position;
- Will probably have to move inside at the next level;
- Slow out of his stance at the snap;
- Bad footwork that will need to be refined by NFL coaching;
- Reportedly practiced at guard, but never played it in the game;
- Underwhelming lateral agility and poor footwork is a bad combination against speed moves.
NFL Comparison: Dennis Norman
Teams With Need at Position: Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets, Seattle Seahawks
Projection: 6th Round
Bottom Line on Hakeem Adeniji
Hakeem Adeniji was a solid collegiate tackle, but he’ll probably have to move to the interior if he wants to continue his playing career. The Kansas product s undersized relative to the typical NFL tackle, so he’ll need to be nearly perfect in every other facet of his game to avoid a position change. Unfortunately, his game requires a lot of refinement before he’s ready to start in the NFL. Adeniji’s footwork is an absolute nightmare. Despite his natural power, he struggles to set his base and is highly susceptible to speed rushers. Simply put, he has too many flaws to have a realistic chance of working out at tackle.
Adeniji is going to need a lot of coaching, but most of his flaws are fixable if he’s moved to guard. He reportedly spent time practicing at guard in 2019, so he should be able to learn the position sooner rather than later. His underwhelming size and lateral agility won’t be big issues at guard, and he certainly has the strength and arm length required for the position. While he has a low floor, he could be a solid guard if everything breaks right.
Main photo:
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