Joseph Ossai 2021 NFL Draft Profile

Overview

Joseph Ossai is a junior out of Texas. Ossai has been starting college games since his freshman year. Due to his size and length, Ossai played a lot of inside linebacker during the earlier portion of his collegiate career. It was not until he shifted to edge rusher that he really started to find his groove. He has long arms that allow him to disengage easily from blockers on the edge. Ossai also has an extremely high motor that rewards him with tackles on busted plays.

Joseph Ossai’s biggest hindrance is his inexperience as a pass rusher. Though talented and immensely athletic, he is still raw when it comes to pass rushing. This is no fault of his own though, as he was forced to play inside linebacker earlier in his career. He also does not possess the type of speed that puts fear into opposing offensive tackles. Too often Ossai has to win blocks with effort over fundamentals. Ossai has also shown the tendency to be a little slow with his hands. He has to work on his ability to process information more quickly so he can play faster on the field. If the scheme gets too complicated and diverse, then you will see it in Ossai’s play early on.

Strengths

Long arms;

Very high motor;

Practices with high intensity;

Always finds himself around the ball;

Can lineup anywhere on the edge;

Violently attacks ball carriers.

Weaknesses

Inexperience as an edge rusher;

Slow off the snap;

Not overly strong or fast;

Not great in coverage;

Struggles to shed run blocks,

NFL Comparison: Tyus Bowser

Projection: Second round

Bottom Line on Joseph Ossai

Ossai has late first round talent but will likely fall to the second due to his inexperience at the position. Any team with a need at pass rusher that manages to draft Ossai in the second round has received good value for their selection. Ossai is a raw machine that is waiting to be unleashed by competent coaching and a good scheme. Anyone that has any experience developing pass rushers would love to get their hands on Ossai.

At the end of the day, Ossai should end up being a quality starter in the NFL. He may not develop into a perennial Pro Bowl player, but he should have no issues contributing wherever he ends up. Ossai projects similarly to someone like Tyus Bowser. He may not come in and start right away, but will eventually develop into a three-down starter. The early part of his NFL career will likely see him as a situational pass rusher. He will have to do the majority of his work on third downs until he proves he can disengage from run blockers at the NFL level.