Oluwole Betiku Jr. Overview
Position: Edge Defender
Height: 6’-3”
Weight: 250 pounds
School: Illinois
Oluwole Betiku Jr. NFL Draft Profile
After spending the 2019 season with Illinois, Oluwole Betiku Jr. is hoping to take his talents to the NFL level. Seeing the first major action of his collegiate career, Betiku played a career-high 474 snaps during his final collegiate season. While on the field, Betiku recorded eight sacks, four quarterback hits, 13 hurries, and 11 run stops.
Betiku was born in Nigeria and entered America with hopes of making it as a basketball player. However, he took to the gridiron in 2013 and immediately set the high school world on fire. A consensus five-star recruit, Betiku had his choice of programs heading into college. He eventually settled on USC, but struggled to climb his way up the depth chart. During his first three years, he played in just 100 snaps before deciding to take his talents to Illinois.
Strengths
- Physical freak, doesn’t look like he has an ounce of body fat on him;
- Reportedly put on a show at the Illinois Pro Day;
- Has the athleticism to succeed in the NFL;
- Former five-star recruit out of high school;
- Serviceable bull rush that led to an above-average pass rush win rate.
Weaknesses
- Terrible agility, basically a bull rush or nothing type of pass rusher;
- Despite his lofty recruit status, hardly saw the field before his final season;
- Stiff, unnatural, and slow movements and techniques;
- Objectively bad as a run defender;
- Erased by elite collegiate competition;
- Fundamentally flawed in ways that five years at college couldn’t fix.
NFL Comparison: Gary Guyton
Teams With Need at Position: Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Projection: Undrafted Free Agent
Bottom Line on Oluwole Betiku Jr.
Oluwole Betiku Jr. is a good athlete that simply never quite figured out how to play football. Despite his massive raw athletic skills, he simply doesn’t look natural or comfortable on the football field. Betiku is terrible moving laterally and can only win as a straight-line rusher. He couldn’t see the field before his final season, and top tackles across the country erased him in both the run and pass game. Even against weak competition, Betiku Jr. couldn’t hold up his end of the bargain as a run defender. Quite frankly, it’s hard to picture him being anything more than a camp body.
Anyone bringing Betiku into camp is hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. The athleticism and build are there, and he was once a consensus five-star recruit. There is a nonzero chance that the right coaching staff could finally allow him to realize his potential, but it’s a longshot. He had five years at two different programs to put it together, and he couldn’t do it. His NFL career will probably start and end during his first training camp.
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